Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA): Dems Are Only Against "Stupid" Tax Reforms
President Trump signed stopgap legislation on Friday to avoid a government shutdown, keeping federal agencies open until December 22nd. That gives Congress two more weeks to pass a complete spending bill, or run out of money. Cheddar caught up with Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA), to talk about some of the biggest political issues on the Hill right now, from GOP tax reform to a potential presidential impeachment.
Both the House and the Senate have passed bills in the last month in support of the Republican Tax plan, which will raise the national debt by $1.3 trillion. Democrats have openly criticized the bill, and opted to vote against it. But, Lieu says that he and his colleagues are not against tax reforms in general, just against “stupid tax reforms.”
“The current GOP proposal raises taxes for millions of middle class families, it blows a hole to our deficit and federal debt because a lot of it is not paid for,” he said, “and most of the benefits flow to the wealthy and corporations. That’s not what America needs right now.”
Many wealthy Americans live in the Los Angeles 33 district, which Lieu represents, but the congressman told Cheddar that his constituents are “actually pretty smart” and understand that trickle-down economics does not work.
Lieu, who’s also a member of the House Judiciary Committee, voted in favor of impeachment articles introduced by Rep. Al Green (D-TX) Thursday. The articles did not pass, but there were 58 votes in favor. Some Democrats, such as House Leader Nancy Pelosi, are not advocating impeachment proceedings, and others argue that impeachment proceedings could interfere with the ongoing Robert Mueller investigations. Lieu says he agrees with both sentiments, but that impeachment hearings take a long time.
“I sit in the House Judiciary Committee, if there were impeachment proceedings, that’s where it will start,” he said. “We are watching the President of the United States commit obstruction of justice in plain view, and we need to have discussions about it.”
Lieu added that Mueller’s investigation became a “game changer” when he only charged former presidential advisor Mike Flynn with lying to the FBI.
“I’m a former prosecutor and you don’t do a plea deal like that when you only charge one count, when you could’ve charged many,” he said. “He did that deal to go after people above Michael Flynn, there’s only a handful of those.”
Following the surprising big beat on estimates for the January jobs report, William M. Rodgers III, vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, joined Cheddar News to break down the data. “We ended 2021 with a strong crescendo to a recovery that had taken hold, and we started 2022 in good fashion." He also discussed the dueling pressures of wage growth and inflation.
Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior vice president and executive editor of the Rewired News Group and co-host of the podcast. "Boom! Lawyered," joins Cheddar Politics to discuss Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement, legacy and potential replacement on the Supreme Court.
The Biden administration delivered a temporary win for student loan borrowers this year by extending the moratorium on federal payments for a few more months. That moratorium is coming to an end on May 1st and borrowers will again have their monthly loan payment plopped in their lap.
Stephanie Vanderslice, a creative writing professor paying off debt through the Parent Plus program, and Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
2022 was already going to be a big year for the Supreme Court. We have decisions on major issues like abortion and gun rights on the way. Then, Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement and that set up a major confirmation fight for later this year. Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSblog, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The Labor Department released a better-than-expected report of 467,000 jobs added in January. Heather Boushey, Council of Economic Advisers Member for President Biden, joined Cheddar to tout the administration's handling of the economy amid the pandemic and the upward revisions for the previous month. "It also shows that, because of the revisions, the economy was stronger over the past couple of months," she said. "I don't think that this can be said enough, but economic forecasting during an historic pandemic is extremely difficult." Boushey also addressed issues involving wage growth versus the rapid rise of inflation.
The Labor Department's January jobs report showed 467,000 jobs were added, compared to the 150,000 that were projected, a sign that employment is continuign to return to pre-pandemic levels. Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at investment bank Stifel, joined Cheddar to break down the report, noting the big gains but adding a note of caution. "Remember, even with this morning's stellar report, we're still millions below that level that we had reached prior to the onset of COVID-19," she said." Yes, we are recapturing jobs. We still have further ground that needs to be made before we can talk about reaching that previous peak." Piegza also discussed the role of the Federal Reserve going forward as the employment figures turn more positive.
As President Biden's poll numbers fall with Black voters, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass. 7th District) joined Cheddar to discuss what she feels could help the embattled administration: deliver on policies. Pressley pointed to stalled legislation such as new voting rights laws and Build Back Betters and canceling student loan debt, which would go a long way to improving his standing with Black constituents. "President Biden has the authority and the power to alleviate this burden, which would also help in closing the racial wealth gap, and he can do it by executive action with the stroke of a pen," she said. "And it doesn't require one vote from Congress. So, the Biden administration just needs to deliver to Black America in a tangible and impactful way."
