Pelosi to Cheddar: GOP Has Saddled Millennials with 'Unconscionable' Debt
*By Carlo Versano*
Young Americans face a double burden from crushing student debt and the ballooned federal deficit that resulted from President Trump's tax cut, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin in an interview that aired Wednesday.
Pelosi called the economic position many millennials find themselves in, even as the economy remains strong, "unconscionable."
"Republicans foisted onto future generations \[an\] economy that is unfair, that is not really lending itself to growth in a strong, predictable, confident, certain way," Pelosi said.
Democrats have already begun making the case to young voters that they are the party of fairness. Pelosi pointed to encouraging millennial turnout in the midterm elections and said that H.R. 1, a sweeping anti-corruption and voting rights bill that's currently in committee, is among her top legislative priorities. That bill is getting "tremendous response" from young voters who want to see more transparency around so-called "dark money" in elections and know that their vote matters, Pelosi said.
That bill also includes provisions that would create automatic nationwide voter registration and crack down on gerrymandering. Conservative lobbyists have [called](http://conservativeactionproject.com/conservatives-oppose-h-r-1-the-ultimate-fantasy-of-the-left/) it "the ultimate fantasy of the left," and the GOP opposition means it has virtually no chance of becoming law while Republicans control the Senate and White House.
Nevertheless, Pelosi sees that type of legislation as key to attracting broad millennial support in 2020.
"That's hard to break down the skepticism that is there, but we're on a path to do it," she said.
While President Trump and the GOP will likely run on a message of tax cuts and economic prosperity, Pelosi seems to believe they are vulnerable on the fairness message.
"Eighty-three percent of the benefits of their tax bill went to the top 1 percent," Pelosi said. " I think that it's important to note that we want an economy that works for you... not for the top, the wealthiest people in our country."
On the burden of student debt, Pelosi said she recognized that it weighed on millennials "like an anvil" as they begin their professional lives, and makes everything harder ー from getting married to starting a business. She did not mention to Cheddar any specific actions Democrats in Congress will take with regard to student debt relief, though she noted that a now-expired provision of Obamacare was built to expand funding of community colleges and Pell grants and mitigate interest rates. "We have to go back to that," she said.
With a temporary break in the impasse over border wall funding heading toward a Feb. 15 appropriations deadline, Pelosi didn't show her cards on how House Democrats are negotiating to ensure the government isn't shut down again.
"I think that the shutdown was a bitter pill for some of the Republicans to swallow and they might like to avoid that," she said.
Vice President Kamala Harris received impressive amount of media coverage in January for making history. However, the media attention waned significantly and some are now even saying she has almost disappeared from public view. Reecie Colbert, founder of BlackWomenViews Media, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss more.
If you thought you heard the last of the Mueller report back in 2019, you'd be wrong. While the bombshell report was the biggest story in Washington for years, much of the report remained redacted. Our friends at BuzzFeed News weren't satisfied, so they sued to have certain passages unredacted. They notched another win when a federal appeals court ordered ten passages from the report to be released.
Matt Topic, BuzzFeed's attorney in the case, and Jason Leopold, reporter at BuzzFeed News, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The U.S. reported its first confirmed case of the omicron variant in California on Wednesday. Scientists and health officials are racing to understand the variant, with the WHO saying it's still too early to determine whether it's more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to vaccines than other variants. Omicron has pushed members of the WHO to commit to start talks over a "gobal pandemic treaty" for future pandemic preparedness.
Priti Krishtel, co-founder and co-executive director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Wednesday was not a good day for those who believe in abortion rights in this country as the Supreme Court heard arguments on a Mississippi abortion law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The majority of the court appears poised to roll back abortion rights, and the questions from the conservative justices seemed to indicate the law for nearly 50 years is likely to change.
Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior vice president and executive editor of Rewire News Group, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss Wednesday's hearing.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, has been busy since completing his prison sentence in November. He's getting into the NFT space, selling his federal prison badge and the original manuscript of his book "Disloyal" as NFTs. Cohen joined Cheddar to discuss his latest venture and why he thinks there is still much to be revealed about his case.
Jonathan Adler, Law Professor at Case Western Reserve University, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Tuesday's ruling and provide legal context to recent battles over vaccine mandates.
Carlo and Baker wrap up the week talking about the Biden economic boom that no one seems to notice, a verdict in the Jussie Smollett case, the first Starbucks union in America and the pleasures of the "dude nod."
A new bill in Congress shows just how bipartisan cannabis really is. Rep. David Joyce, a Republican from Ohio, teamed up with progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on a cannabis expungement bill. Cheddar cannabis reporter Chloe Aiello spoke with the congressman about the legislation.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus have lined up to support the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act introduced by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif. 41st District). The representative joined Cheddar to discuss how instituting a four-day workweek in the United States can be beneficial for both employees with the need of a work-life balance and employers looking both to retain talent amid a labor shortage and improve efficiency in their workforces. "We live in a different time than 90 years ago when we established a 40-hour workweek," he said. "We've had a lot of technological changes, the American worker is exponentially more productive than previous generations, so it's time to reexamine Americans and the way in which they relate to work."
