During a town hall event on Sunday, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) was asked how his policies are considered ‘moderate.’
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00:00Teresa, can you just repeat that, please?
00:02The first number is 439-358.
00:08Right over there.
00:13Thank you for the opportunity.
00:24So you describe yourself as a moderate,
00:26yet you support all of the policies
00:30that this authoritarian administration is putting forth,
00:34including tax cuts for the corporations and the ultra-wealthy,
00:40the tariffs that are going to make everything more expensive for us,
00:44kidnapping and deporting two-year-olds who have cancer and sending them off.
00:48So my question to you, none of this is helping us.
00:51We're getting hurt.
00:53We in the community are being harmed by this.
00:55What are you doing to stand in opposition to this administration,
00:59and what specifically are you doing that warrants the label moderate?
01:04So, again, my record speaks for itself.
01:15I have been rated the fourth most bipartisan for a reason,
01:22which is a very simple fact.
01:25That unlike many of my colleagues, I actually do work across the aisle.
01:29I actually do sit down with my colleagues.
01:32There's not a single local elected official who can honestly say
01:36that I have not sat down with them and worked with them regardless of their party.
01:40There's not a single one of my Democratic colleagues in the Congress
01:44who can say that I don't do that.
01:46When it comes to folks, if you want me to answer the questions,
01:52let the question be asked and then listen to the answer.
01:57If you're just going to yell back and forth, the time is going to run pretty quick.
02:03So, folks, when it comes to the economy, okay, we have an affordability crisis.
02:12This crisis didn't just start.
02:14We've been dealing with it for the last four years.
02:17Everything went up, the cost of groceries, the cost of housing.
02:22For instance, in Rockland County, the average mortgage cost went up $1,000 a month.
02:28That's over $12,000 a year on an annual basis, okay?
02:33And so what we're dealing with is trying to reverse a lot of this.
02:37What happened? What caused that?
02:40What caused record inflation?
02:41$5 trillion in new spending in the first two years of the Biden administration
02:47is what gave us record inflation.
02:50And so when you have record inflation, you have to be able to curtail inflation.
02:58So what happened?
02:58Interest rates went up, right?
03:00And that drove up mortgage costs.
03:03You have to be able to reverse that.
03:06So you bring down interest rates.
03:09You bring down spending, right?
03:11Right now, we are $36 trillion in debt.
03:16We are spending $7 trillion on an annual basis
03:19with $2 trillion in deficit spending
03:25and $1 trillion in interest payments on our debt.
03:29At the end of this year,
03:31the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is going to expire.
03:36And we're getting there.
03:37If the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires,
03:41do you know what will happen?
03:42The standard deduction will be cut in half.
03:45That will be the largest tax increase in American history.
03:51The corporate tax rate is set at 21%,
03:54and I don't support lowering it.
03:57I don't support changing the corporate tax rate.
04:00I do support lifting the cap on salt,
04:03which directly impacts all of us in this room.
04:07Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,
04:09the state and local tax deduction
04:11was capped at $10,000 per individual.
04:17And that was passed by a Republican Congress
04:20and signed by President Trump.
04:22I didn't support it then,
04:24and I don't support it now.
04:26And that is why,
04:27as we negotiate the reconciliation bill,
04:31I have been working to lift the cap on salt.
04:35That will provide immediate tax relief
04:37to all of us in this room.
04:39Prior to 2017,
04:4150% of households itemized their deduction
04:48in our district.
04:49After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,
04:52it was down to about 18%
04:53of households itemizing their deduction.
04:56Most people chose to take the standard deduction.
04:59I want to lift the cap on salt
05:01because all of us know
05:03our property taxes are among the highest in the nation.
05:06And so that is critically important.
05:09That is a big proponent of the bill
05:11that we are in the process of negotiating right now.
05:15And so that is...
05:17Folks, I was answering the tax question
05:24with respect to tariffs.
05:32Tariffs are obviously something
05:35that has been a big point of discussion
05:38for many years.
05:40Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders,
05:43both previously on the record,
05:44said that they supported increasing tariffs.
05:47And part of the reason is...
05:50Part of the reason is
05:51because other countries have had
05:54significantly higher tariffs,
05:57barriers to entry,
05:58and price controls on U.S. goods.
06:01And when you look at, for instance, Europe,
06:05Europe has price controls on U.S. prescription drugs.
06:10U.S. prescription drug costs are significantly higher.
06:15U.S. prescription drug costs are significantly higher
06:19because we are subsidizing Europe.
06:23Europe puts price controls on U.S. drugs.
06:26If you want to pay higher drug costs,
06:29and I guess you want Europe
06:30to keep their price controls in place,
06:32is that what you're arguing for?
06:34At the end of the day,
06:36we need...
06:37We need...
06:39A negotiation
06:41between our country
06:44and other countries
06:45to reduce overall tariffs,
06:47to reduce barriers to entry
06:49for U.S. goods and products,
06:51including cars,
06:53including agricultural products.
06:56We want to be able to sell those
06:58in other countries.
07:00But when you have Europe
07:02blocking American cattle from coming in,
07:07or you have Japan blocking U.S. cars
07:10from coming in,
07:11that's not fair trade.
07:12So negotiating a fair trade deal
07:15is critically important,
07:16and that's what we're in the process of doing.