State Sen. Sharif Street, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman, along with Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, the Democratic National Committee vice chairman, aired their grievances against the House spending bill in a Friday press call.
The trio framed the bill, the first version of which failed to pass, as cutting healthcare benefits in exchange for tax cuts for billionaires — an angle they hope to use to pressure Pennsylvania Republicans into voting against it.
Deluzio, speaking first, denounced the bill as “fiscally reckless,” and claimed that conservative hard-liners voted against the first bill, “because, I guess, they want to take healthcare away from even more Americans.”
“This Republican plan is fiscally reckless,” he said. “It would add trillions, by some measures, around $3 trillion to the national debt that we all would pay for. It would funnel tax giveaways to the richest people on the planet, the biggest corporations, at the expense of cuts to healthcare, food assistance, and more. It’s not that complicated what they’re trying to do. It’s dangerous. Going to hurt a lot of folks who we represent in Pennsylvania.”
Kenyatta gave an even more impassioned appeal, using profanity while trying to portray the bill as part of a sinister plot by the rich to harm the poor.
“And so you have to ask the question, what is enough for these guys, who are putting their interest and their need for tax breaks at the top of the list over everything else that we should be doing?” he asked. “When is enough? How many jets do you need? How many planes do you need? How many private islands can you even spend time on?”
“How many people do you have to harm so that you can get just a couple of extra zeros in your bank account?” Kenyatta continued. “That is the question that I think we have to answer in this moment, because it seems to me, the answer to that rhetorical question is that there is, it is a limitless amount of Americans that they are willing to f*** over so that they can feel better for themselves, so that they can have even more money in their bank accounts.”
The Pennsylvania Democrats floated Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), and Scott Perry (R-PA) as vulnerable targets who could be pressured into voting against the bill, but the speakers focused on Fitzpatrick as a favorite target. Kenyatta said he and Street would tour vulnerable districts, especially Fitzpatrick’s, to try to rally support against him.
Kenyatta said he and Street “are going to be showing up around this commonwealth, back in Pennsylvania’s 1st District, talking to people about what they need to do and to not allow people like Brian Fitzpatrick to play a moderate on TV, comes home and say, ‘Aw shucks,’ and then go to D.C. to gut people’s livelihoods.”
Street voiced hope that the megabill could be stopped, citing an example from the first Trump administration as precedent.
“Donald Trump wanted to repeal the Affordable Care Act when he was president the first time,” Street said. “He had the House and Senate, and when the American people spoke up, he was unable to do it because congressional members, like … Vice Chair Kenyatta said, out of fear for their own seats, wouldn’t vote it through.”
“He’s got thin margins,” Street added. “There are a number of people who need to understand that their constituents are watching and they’re paying attention, and there will be a political price to pay. And while Donald Trump may not have to run for reelection again, congressional Republicans are up there, are on the ballot, and they need to understand, and they will understand that they could lose their seats.”
