On Friday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) argued that extending Obamacare subsidies isn’t additional government spending and “We’re actually extending a tax credit that currently exists.”
Co-host Becky Quick asked, “You bring up inflation, and you’re right to do so. We just got the CPI. It was not quite as hot as had been anticipated, but inflation is higher than the Fed’s target range or than anybody feels comfortable with. The problem is, inflation is often caused by government spending. Additional government spending is not likely to get it to the point where we are going to see less inflation out there. How do you handle that?”
Jeffries answered, “This is not additional government spending –.”
Quick cut in to say, “It is additional government spending, you’re looking for another $350 billion of additional government spending over the next ten years.”
Jeffries responded, “We’re actually extending a tax credit that currently exists. And what’s interesting, is that, in their one big, ugly bill, where Republicans raised the debt ceiling by about over $4 trillion, exploded the deficit and the debt, but then they used a policy framework called current policy baseline, which is to say, that if you just extend current policy, it has no fiscal impact. So, the question is, why are Republicans willing to use that approach when it comes to massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors, but are unwilling to do it for working-class folks?”
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