Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business this morning to discuss Democrats’ Build Back Better, Joe Biden’s Comptroller of Currency nominee, and Jay Powell’s re-nomination to be Federal Reserve Chairman. Excerpts and full video are below.
On Democrats’ Build Back Better:
“Janet Yellen is doing her best to spin this thing. At least Penn Wharton and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget have both analyzed this Build Back Better plan. Remember the $1.7 trillion cost is based on things like the child tax credit for example expiring after one year. We all know that’s not going to happen, but this is the budget trick they use… we’re talking about something that’s $4.5-5 trillion over the course of ten years. And of course that becomes permanent. It’s not just ten or twenty, it’s generations. It fundamentally changes America, which is what they want to do and why we’ve got to oppose it.
“As you know all 50 Republicans oppose it. So the timeline really depends on at what point do both [Senator Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema] or all 50 [Democrats] say ‘ok this is good enough now.’ To your point about the cost, these are the things that every day this thing hangs out there, Maria, it becomes less popular with the American public. It becomes less tolerable for commonsense thinking people, as we are now according to Jay Powell yesterday going to retire the word transitory. The inflation situation makes it more difficult to do this because I don’t care what anybody says, this is going to add to inflation. You can’t put several trillion ‘free’ dollars out into the market,especially in an already expanding economy, and expect the cost of things to come down. It just doesn’t work that way. So I actually think that we’re getting closer to a longer pause and the longer the pause, the less likely it gets done at all in my view.”
On Dr. Saule Omarova Nomination:
“Those are only two of dozens of bad ideas that she has promoted to the [Banking] Committee and in her academic writings over the course of time. There is not a vote scheduled on her. I cannot imagine that they’re not going to pull her nomination and I don’t know for the life of me what they’re waiting for. Again, the longer her nomination hangs out there, I think the worse the politics is for the Left because, well, this is pure socialism on display without an apology and I just don’t believe the American people are ready for that.”
On Powell’s Re-nomination and Cordray Nomination Rumors:
“We were relieved that Jay Powell was nominated for a second term. I think he could have been less doveish over the course of the last nine or ten months. But I think he’s on par with basically the right approach and I trust him. The problem is everybody that comes after him and [Richard] Cordray would certainly be a problem. One chairman can only do so much when they’re surrounded by Elizabeth Warren acolytes and that’s what Cordray would be. We’ve already experienced that with the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau]. To have him in a supervisory role would be problematic for sure. I think it would be a very difficult senate confirmation process. Now 50 Democrats and the Vice President can do whatever they want, but we would certainly make it difficult.”