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Feb. 1, 2024 - Firebrand - Matt Gaetz

31:35

Episode 147 LIVE: Welfare In Drag – Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

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	Thank you.
	music Matt Gaetz, the biggest firebrand inside of the House of Representatives.
	You're not taking Matt Gaetz off the board, okay?
	Because Matt Gaetz is an American patriot and Matt Gaetz is an American hero.
	We will not continue to allow the Uniparty to run this town without a fight.
	I want to thank you, Matt Gaetz, for holding the line.
	Matt Gaetz is a courageous man.
	If we had hundreds of Matt Gaetz in D.C., the country turns around.
	It's that simple.
	He's so tough.
	He's so strong.
	He's smart and he loves this country.
	Matt Gaetz.
	It is the honor of my life to fight alongside each and every one of you.
	We will save America.
	It's choose your fighter time.
	I'm sending the Firebrand.
	Welcome back to Firebrand.
	We're broadcasting live out of room 2021 of the Rayburn House Office Building here at the Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C. The House of Representatives has just passed legislation reforming the tax code, and it is no bueno.
	It is not a tax bill.
	It's a welfare bill.
	I am going to expose in this episode how the Uniparty worked together to great effect against those of us who are trying to advocate for regular Americans and not the ones that the lobbyists and the special interests are paying off to do their bidding.
	So, unfortunately, they are uncorking the champagne on K Street right now at your expense.
	We're going to go through all of that.
	Thanks, everyone, for joining the live stream on X. B. Sully says, happy to be here to connect with fellow patriots.
	Let's take this country back.
	Fully agree.
	And Dr. Hardcore on Rumble wants everyone to Google Blinken-Morrell CIA collusion.
	And I remember that.
	I remember the Blinken-Morrell CIA collusion.
	That was during the Trump campaign against Biden, where you had Blinken as a senior Biden campaign official working to try to get these 51 so-called intelligence experts to discredit all of the corruption that was being exposed regarding Hunter and Joe where you had Blinken as a senior Biden campaign official working to try to get And it was, in fact, someone at the CIA telling folks that they might not get their manuscripts approved for their books.
	They might have to go through more difficult red tape if they didn't do what the Biden campaign wanted them to do.
	That's what you'll find out if you'll Google it.
	And I remember being in those depositions.
	And there should be greater consequences in terms of not funding the very enterprises that were misused for politics.
	In the 2020 election.
	And that's why I have to break this cycle of continuing resolutions.
	So, I'm going to get now into this tax welfare mess that we are in in the House of Representatives.
	In the House Ways and Means Committee, they have jurisdiction over tax policy.
	And so, you had the chairman of that committee in the House, a Republican, Jason Smith, work at the behest of the Democrat lead on tax policy, Senator Wyden, And they came together with this bill, and I'll give you the opportunity to hear how Republicans and Democrats work together to pass it first.
	So here's Jason Smith introducing this legislation.
	Take a listen.
	The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-American.
	The legislation locks in $600 billion in pro-growth tax policies by restoring three key provisions from President Trump's successful 2017 tax reform that have a proven record of creating millions of jobs.
	Raising workers' wages and sparking more investment and economic growth right here at home.
	This bill restores full R&D expensing, interest deductibility, and 100% expensing.
	Each of these policies will help American businesses grow, create jobs, and sharpen their competitive advantage against China.
	This will create over $70 billion in new R&D investment and over 900,000 new jobs, increase small business investment by $400 billion, and generate $58 billion in additional take home pay for American workers.
	Today, America's small businesses are being pummeled by high prices and interest rates.
	This package raises the expense cap for small businesses beyond the limit set in the 2017 tax reform.
	And it cuts paperwork for those small businesses by updating the IRS form last changed when Eisenhower was president.
	Not only are we helping businesses here at home, but this tax relief package also ensures America is standing with our key economic partner, Taiwan, by ending double taxation on American workers and businesses operating in both countries.
	The child tax credit provisions reflect the same structure established by the 2017 tax reform.
	We maintain work requirements while enhancing the benefit to support families crushed by today's inflation and remove the penalty for families with multiple children.
	It's both pro-worker and pro-family.
	The reforms include meaningful tax relief for those affected by natural and man-made disasters and encourage more construction of safe, affordable housing.
	At the end of the day, we are replacing bad tax policy with good tax policy by cutting off funding for the Employee Retention Tax Credit, a COVID-era program that costs six times its original amount, It is so riddled with fraud that the IRS put it on its dirty dozen list of the worst scams in America.
	This will save America- We are back live.
	And did you notice that the way they said they're paying for this tax cut is by repealing COVID dollars?
	So there's all this money stacked up.
	That money that is pulled back in a rescission is not actually a pay for because it doesn't continue.
	So they're using...
	Non-recurring savings in order to drive up the debt long term.
	This bill will increase America's debt.
	So it's really funny to hear Jason Smith talk about interest rates.
	We know, we've covered extensively on this program, that the highest interest rates that you are paying right now for home loans, car loans, on credit cards, all of that is driven by the debt and federal spending.
	And when you engage in a Tax cut, which isn't really a tax cut.
	It's just a giveaway.
	That's going to drive up the debt.
	There's no question about it.
	Then, this argument, well, we have to pass this bill for China.
	We have to be competitive against China.
	This is going to be the new drumbeat every time they want corporate welfare.
	Every time some big business has the right lobbying firm, has given out the right bribe money and campaign donations, and they want your money for their goals to reduce their risk profile, it's always going to be, oh, well, you know, we have to...
	We have to beat China.
	We don't beat China by becoming more like China.
	China has fused government and industry.
	That is not what we should do in the United States of America.
	Matter of fact, following the China playbook, We'll inevitably lead to us losing to China.
	They'll run the China playbook better than we do.
	So we have to run the America playbook with more free enterprise and a flat tax code.
	Not a tax code with all these jagged edges and special giveaways and nooks and crannies for the powerful.
	It wasn't just Republicans who were in favor of this bad bill.
	It was able to pass with an overwhelming majority because Democrats loved it too.
	Here's the Democrat lead on the Ways and Means Committee, Richie Neal.
	Take a listen.
	The gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized for 30 seconds.
	Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
	We've heard the arguments here.
	This is what's possible.
	And despite what some have said here, this does expand the child tax credit.
	It's clear.
	No legislation that comes to this floor is perfect.
	We tried very hard and we succeeded on the Democratic side in improving this legislation.
	So what's in front of us tonight is pretty simple.
	Sixteen million children will benefit from the improvement to the child tax credit.
	That's a fact.
	We've got a few other facts to share about how inflationary this bill is, and the real stinker is that this legislation is going to be a massive giveaway to illegal aliens.
	The point was made brilliantly by my colleague Chip Roy of Texas.
	Take a listen.
	I do rise in opposition to this legislation, and I do so reluctantly because I know of the significant amount of work by my friend from Missouri, by those, frankly, on both sides of the aisle to reach agreement, my friends on ways and means, important provisions in this legislation that are critical for job growth, for economic growth, critical for the well-being of our country.
	Numerous businesses I know in Texas and around this country that understand the importance of the expensing provisions, interest provisions, research and development.
	But unfortunately, as happens in this town, this legislation comes with provisions that, frankly, the people I represent are tired of.
	And it's provisions that would continue to expand the welfare state, as the Wall Street Journal editorialized about, by expanding the child tax credit in ways that will continue to fund people directly through refundable credits, which we find to be problematic.
	And we think undermines the kind of economic activity and incentive to work and incentive to, you know, produce value that we think is critically important for economic growth.
	But importantly, that that provision is also available to parents who are here in this country illegally of children born in the United States.
	We think that's a problem.
	We think that is not just allowing essentially birthright citizenship anchor babies, but funding it.
	That's a problem.
	Now, my colleagues on this side of the aisle rejoin that that was a product of the 2017 bill that was pushed by and passed by Republicans, including President Trump.
	To which I say, right.
	So what?
	It's still wrong.
	It's still bad policy.
	We shouldn't do it.
	And we should not be perpetuating it now.
	All through the 11th hour last night, I worked hard trying to find a way to come up with a provision that might be palatable on both sides of the aisle, this side of the aisle, to find a way to say, let's get that provision pulled off so we can move the pieces that will be good for economic growth and prosperity that I think has bipartisan support and clearly support on this side of the aisle.
	Unfortunately, we have not done that.
	And I'm getting a lot of correspondence from people that I represent who are sick of the same old game in this town.
	Who are sick of saying we're just going to keep doing the same thing and we're going to in this case again continue to expand the welfare state and in this case do so in a way in which it entices people To be in the United States illegally, benefit from being here illegally,
	and do so at a time when we have a heightened level of illegal traffic into the United States, 300,000 people crossing the border in December, millions who have crossed under this president, and we're now, in the middle of that crisis, going to continue to fuel the fire.
	I think that is a mistake.
	I think it is a mistake for the country.
	I think it is a mistake on policy.
	And I think it is a mistake politically.
	I reserve.
	We are back live.
	Grammy McGee on X. Complaints about the big corporations being all that matters to far too many people.
	I agree that's why you had the glue for this bill to pass because there was such a giveaway to corporate America and we don't stand for that.
	We want the middle class of the country to succeed and we believe that corporations ought to be successful but the best way to make them successful is not to give them these targeted Opportunities to not pay taxes.
	It's to have a fair, flat tax across the board that everybody pays and then everybody makes a contribution and everybody can thrive.
	And you don't have government putting their hand on the scale.
	A lot of comments in the live stream also.
	Yes, sir.
	Ski says, Gates, air these traitors out.
	Rizzy on YouTube says, Matt, time to make sure government is hated but our country is loved.
	And then Rizzi on YouTube also says that Roy is a rhino for Ukraine.
	That is actually not true.
	Chip Roy is in the fight against the efforts by the Uniparty to send more money to Ukraine.
	So I think his voting record on those matters has been pretty closely aligned to what you've seen from myself, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massey, Tim Burchett.
	There's a good group, Andy Biggs.
	There's a good group that stands against The inflationary act of sending money to Ukraine and I would count Chip Roy among that.
	So on this tax bill masquerading around the floor, really it's a welfare bill, the feistiest debate The most tense back-and-forth exchange was between myself and Drew Ferguson.
	Now, you'll remember that Congressman Drew Ferguson is from Georgia.
	He has announced that he is not seeking re-election to the Congress, and he was one of the 20-plus members who refused to vote for Jim Jordan at the end of Jim Jordan's campaign for speaker.
	Here's my debate against this bad welfare bill and my exchange with Congressman Ferguson.
	Take a listen.
	To the extent that this is a tax bill, there are good provisions in it on business expensing for economic growth.
	But my friends, this is not a tax bill.
	This is a welfare bill masquerading as a tax bill.
	The Wall Street Journal was correct to identify the ways in which this legislation vastly expands the welfare state.
	And so this is how the bipartisan agreement came together.
	If the Republicans were willing to give the Democrats what they wanted for illegal aliens to get massive subsidies and welfare, then the Democrats were willing to give the Republicans what they wanted on a bunch of business welfare.
	The child tax credit, as currently contemplated, will be a massive pull factor to bring people into this country illegally.
	And we could have, as the majority party, demanded constraints to stop them from being able to use the money that way, but bipartisanship was more important than good policy.
	And as my friend from Kentucky, Mr. Massey, noted recently, If you aren't paying taxes and you get a refundable tax credit in the form of a check, that's not a tax cut.
	That's not even tax policy.
	That's just welfare.
	That's just giving people money that didn't initially pay it in and a bunch of them Are here illegally.
	But it is not just a welfare bill in that respect.
	It's also corporate welfare.
	These R&D tax credits that they've put in there are so targeted, they're bought and paid for by the lobbyists who fund their campaigns and give them donations, and it is entirely wrong.
	We should have a flat tax code, and the R&D tax credits that they're putting in Are deeply misguided.
	They continue to distort the economy.
	And frankly, it's just another flavor of a lot of the Green New Deal tax credits that you act like you're against.
	But indeed, Mr. Speaker, that is not the case.
	This is not a tax bill.
	It is a welfare bill in drag.
	And that may be appealing to some of the proponents.
	I yield back.
	The complete mischaracterization about the child tax credit is the most intellectually dishonest conversation that I have heard on this floor in a very long time.
	This is about making sure that people that work And their families have the ability to get ahead.
	But let me tell you something.
	We all believe on this side of the aisle that you should work in order to receive federal benefits.
	That is something that this bill does.
	And I find one — 15 seconds, Mr. Chairman, because I think it's important to recognize — 15 seconds.
	The gentleman from Florida just characterized this bill.
	The Child Tax Credit piece, which is something that President Trump signed into law, is giving people that are here illegally a check.
	I hate to see that mischaracterization from my colleague from Florida about President Trump's signature bill.
	I yield back.
	The gentleman from Florida is recognized.
	If my characterization of the child tax credit is intellectually dishonest, I'd love to hear the warrant behind that claim because none of my colleagues can state how a huge sum of this money is not going to hand up in the hands of illegal immigrants.
	And when it comes to evaluating that context in the era of Trump versus the era of Biden, it is somewhat embarrassing that I would have to remind a Republican colleague that it's the Biden administration that's let in 10 million additional people, which vastly blows out the cost of this particular endeavor.
	Under Trump, you didn't have an open border, so there was less a concern about drawing more people here illegally through this child tax credit.
	I yield back.
	DK on X wonders how people can just lie with a straight face.
	Dennis on YouTube says that the swamp creatures don't like a flat tax.
	Go shopping on YouTube says flat tax only.
	And on Getter, Unsheepled says that a flat tax will never pass.
	Because the well-connected get too much out of a system like the one we have organized.
	And you know what?
	Yes, under an ideal circumstance, I would want our tax policy to broaden the base and lower rates and be a flatter system.
	And while the system we have right now is certainly not ideal...
	We should not advance bills that make it worse, that go in the wrong direction of a flat, fair, easily-to-comply-with tax code.
	This is going to be inflationary, this is going to drive up interest rates, and it's going to put a ton of money in the hands of illegals who didn't pay the tax in, but are going to get the refund.
	And here's the answer, Congressman Ferguson said.
	Anyone can get this child tax credit with an employee ID number, not a social security number.
	And all these people who are coming across the border illegally and getting this phony asylum status, they get a tax ID number.
	So they're going to get the checks on all of this.
	We easily could have written into this bill that you have to have a social security number that is valid in order to receive the benefit.
	But you see, they didn't do that because they wanted the Democrat votes, and so they were willing to do a massive giveaway to illegals in order to facilitate their corporate welfare.
	Further debate on The Point was made by Kentucky's Thomas Massey.
	He was a guest on this program recently.
	Take a listen.
	Look, there's something in this bill called tax credits, but they're also called refundable.
	So what is a refundable tax credit?
	It's welfare by a different name.
	We are going to give cash payments, checks, to people who don't even pay taxes.
	The hard-working constituents that I represent in Kentucky are tired of getting up at 6 a.m., driving an hour or two to work, working their hind ends off, To watch their neighbors collect these checks, of which there will be more of after this bill.
	It's just wrong.
	Now, does anybody find it interesting that the Democratic leadership has not even claimed time in opposition to this bill?
	Why is that?
	Why aren't they opposed?
	Now, there are a few Democrats opposed.
	Maybe some don't think it goes far enough, or some are opposed to what they call corporate welfare in here.
	But by and large, the Democrats are not opposed to this because this is an expansion of the welfare state.
	That is what it is.
	So here's my concern about that.
	You know, is it mean to give away money?
	No, it's not mean.
	Oh, we could consider it compassionate.
	Until you think about the implications.
	Now, this tax bill, they say it's paid for.
	What does that mean?
	What does it mean when it's paid for?
	There's some gimmicks in here that are not going to reduce the debt.
	This is actually going to cost.
	Now, by Washington, D.C. math, it's paid for.
	But when you look at the debt, when you look at the national debt, it will go up as a result of this bill.
	Everybody in here knows it.
	We know these are gimmicks when you call it a pay-for.
	This bill will increase our debt.
	What's that going to do?
	It's going to cause inflation to go up.
	That's going to affect everybody, including the people you're trying to give the money to for having kids.
	This is bad policy.
	I'm opposed to it.
	And I urge a no vote.
	And I yield back to the gentleman from Texas.
	We get the feedback from Getter, Cher, saying Thomas Massey is right.
	We are tired of that in Missouri as well.
	So this was the debate.
	I've shown you what Jason Smith had to say about the bill, what the Democrat lead Richie Neal had to say about the bill.
	I showed you our arguments against it overwhelmingly on the live stream.
	You are not for this madness.
	Trigger warning on YouTube.
	End the madness.
	We should figure out a way to do live polls on this stuff, Joel.
	But in the meantime, I have to report to you that this legislation passed with 357 yes votes and only 70 no votes.
	So I'll break that down by party.
	169 Republicans voted yes.
	Only 47 Republicans voted no.
	188 Democrats voted yes, and only 23 Democrats voted no.
	So if you look at the yes votes, the 357 yes votes, 188 of those came from Democrats, and 169 of them came from Republicans.
	So we passed a welfare bill yesterday that we dressed up like a tax bill, but it's really a welfare bill in drag, And we passed it with more Democrat votes than Republican votes.
	It's a Democrat bill.
	And they got the Republicans to do their bidding even when we were in the majority.
	It's disgraceful.
	Now, I want to also preview the work that's coming up next week on tax policy.
	There's something called the SALT debate around taxes.
	And no, that's not sodium.
	SALT is an acronym for state and local taxes.
	And there was this big deduction that people got in blue states for their state and local taxes off of their federal income taxes.
	And one of the ways that we actually paid for Part of the Trump tax cuts was to remove that deduction.
	And as a Florida man, I supported that because if you have some crazy high taxes in New York or Connecticut, sorry New Yorkers and people from blue states, I love you, but I don't think people in low tax states should have to subsidize people in high tax states just because you guys have a bunch of goons in your state legislatures and on your We're good to
	people in Arizona, Florida, South Carolina to subsidize the high taxes that other people are paying.
	And so the New Yorkers, the New York Republicans, who special breed of cat, they want to introduce a bill to increase the extent to which married people can claim that deduction against their federal taxes with their state and local liabilities. they want to introduce a bill to increase the extent I will oppose this.
	I call on all Florida representatives to oppose the efforts to degrade, erode, or even take one grain of salt away from the Trump tax policies.
	It is the obligation of every Florida representative to defend those Trump policies on salt.
	And not to go back to subsidizing people in high tax states.
	And if Floridians vote for the advancement of this type of legislation, then they are betraying the people of the Sunshine State.
	It's that simple.
	We have a demand that we're making of the leadership.
	If they want to bring that salt bill to the floor, we want legislation on the floor that says that you don't get welfare unless you have a valid social security number.
	So if they're going to get a salt vote, we want to vote to make sure that illegals are not just raping the system.
	Because they're able to use a tax ID number instead of an actual social security number.
	Those negotiations are ongoing and I will be participating in their continuation as soon as we conclude this program.
	So thank you so much for tuning in, for lending your advocacy and your enthusiasm We give weekly reports on the bills.
	You can read them, understand them, click through to the links on some of the reporting on the major things going around here in Washington and also back home in Florida.
	And of course, make sure you're subscribed with notifications turned on.
	We'll be back soon.
	Roll the credits.

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