During a Senate Democratic press briefing on Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) spoke about the Republicans' budget resolution.
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00:00Families lose, billionaires win. That's the Trump economic agenda. And in just three months
00:14he's destroyed the momentum and economic growth from the last three years. The economy is
00:20down, prices are up, Trumpflation has arrived. Make no mistake, that's the Trump economy.
00:28And then there's the reconciliation bill that will make things worse. So we're in the spring
00:33here with baseball, so let me put it very simply. Strike one, the reconciliation bill knocks
00:40down $2 trillion from health care, housing and education. Strike two, it gives that money
00:46to the very richest Americans, the billionaires. And strike three, it runs up enormous debt,
00:53some $52 trillion, according to CBO, over 30 years. You know, the bill has specific problems
01:01as well. Take health care, take Medicaid. They're demanding devastating cuts that would wipe out
01:06our rural hospitals and health care clinics and do enormous damage to our veterans, those
01:11with disabilities, those in drug recovery programs, to our children. A third of the children in
01:15my state are on the Oregon health plan or Medicaid. State and local taxes. The President wants families
01:23to pay more so billionaires can pay less. Take Pell Grants. Republicans want to decrease
01:29them in order to make education more expensive. And that agenda makes no sense. We have a better
01:38idea than families lose and billionaires win. And it's families thrive and billionaires pay
01:43their fair share. Instead of slashing Medicaid, let's work together to improve health care
01:49for low-income families and for others in our society. Instead of slashing Pell Grants, let's
01:53make education more of an opportunity for every child in America. Instead of exploding the debt
02:00to give massive tax breaks to billionaires, let's invest in the foundations for families to
02:04thrive. It's a positive vision to take America together forward. Let's make that happen, not
02:12families lose and billionaires win.