Bell Family Chiropractic
111 Sherlake Ln STE 101, Knoxville, TN 37922
(865)383-7730
Bessent says no formal White House health care proposal as shutdown drags on - ABC News
He hedged when asked about the president's push to end the filibuster.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that there is no formal proposal from the White House to defund the Affordable Care Act and instead send money directly to Americans, despite a social media post from President Donald Trump on Saturday promoting such a plan.
"The president has also come forward with a new proposal overnight, saying it's time, instead, to do away with Obamacare and said to have the money go directly to the people. Do you have a formal proposal to do that?" ABC News' "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos asked.
"We don't have a formal proposal," Bessent said, but he added that the Affordable Care Act "has become unaffordable."
Schiff dismisses Trump's call to send Obamacare subsidies directly to people
Pressed by Stephanopoulos about whether such a plan would be proposed to the Senate, Bessent said that the administration was not proposing one “right now."
In one of his social media posts, Trump said he was "recommending to Senate Republicans" that money going to insurance companies instead be sent to the American people to buy health care.
"George, the president's posting about it. But again, we have got to get the government reopened before, you know, we do this. We are not going to negotiate with the Democrats until they reopen the government. It's very simple, reopen the government, then we can have a discussion," Bessent said.
Bessent also said that he had not spoken with Trump about a proposed $2,000 tariff dividend to be paid out to Americans that Trump touted earlier Sunday morning on his social media platform.
Calling opponents to tariffs "fools," Trump claimed "A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone."
"The $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways, George," Bessent said. "You know, it could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president's agenda -- you know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, deductibility of auto loans."
Bessent also hedged when asked about Trump's push to end the Senate's filibuster, which the president repeatedly posted online about over the weekend.
Government shutdown updates
"Is the best way to end the shutdown right now to end the filibuster?" Stephanopoulos asked.
"The best way is for five Democratic senators to come across the aisle" and vote for a continuing resolution to fund the government, Bessent said.
Popular Reads
Here are more highlights from Bessent's interview:
On the shutdown's impact to the economy
Bessent: We've seen an impact on the economy from day one, but it's getting worse and worse. We had a fantastic economy under President Trump the past two quarters, and now there are estimates that the economy -- economic growth for this quarter could be cut by as much as half if the shutdown continues … There's also cargo is being slowed down. So you know, we could end up with shortages, whether it's in our supply chain, whether it's for the holidays. So you know, cargo and people are both being slowed down here, and that's for safety's sake, George.
On Trump's claims that prices are down
Stephanopoulos: President Trump is still insisting that prices are way down, even though last month's report showed inflation stuck at about 3%. Are Americans worried about inflation just wrong?
Bessent: Well, George, I can tell you what we're not going to do is what happened under the Biden administration, where the administration and the media gaslit everyone and said, 'Oh, you know, there's a vibe session, you don't understand how good you have -- had it.' And what happened then was we had the worst inflation in 40 or 50 years -- 22, 23% -- but the basket of goods and services for working Americans was up more than 30%. And what we're seeing is we had to stop the increase first, now we are starting to see prices level off, come down. Gasoline is down. Interest rates are down. Some mortgages are down. And I think we are making substantial progress on that. And I think over the coming months and the next year, prices are going to come down.
Bessent insists tariffs are primarily about rebalancing trade
Stephanopoulos: The president's main argument, though, seems to be that we're, it's about taking in the revenue, and he also promises --
Bessent: No, no, no -- George --
Stephanopoulos: -- a dividend, a dividend of at least $2,000 a person, not including high income people. How is he going to pay that dividend of $2,000?
Bessent: It's not about taking in the revenue. It's about rebalancing. And the revenue occurs early on, and then as we rebalance and the jobs come home, then it becomes domestic tax revenue.
Stephanopoulos: Are you worried that the President's focus on revenue, though, which is what he's been focusing on in his public statements is going to hurt your argument at the Supreme Court?
Bessent: Not, not at all. It's completely consistent that the revenues come in at the beginning. Then as we rebalance, which is the goal of this, bring back high paid manufacturing jobs to the U.S., then it will then morph into domestic tax revenues.
Related Topics
24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events
Comments
Post a Comment