Chapter 1: What is the bipartisan INVEST Act and why is it significant?
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Joining us now with Insight Live from Capitol Hill, Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York. He's a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, member of the House Financial Services Committee, and so we have a lot to talk about. Congressman, it's great to see you. Thanks for being with us here on Bloomberg TV and radio. You heard what Eric was just telling us here.
It looks like we are going to go over the cliff. Should our viewers and listeners, people who are actually on these plans, these Obamacare plans, should they expect this to be their new reality?
It looks like it. I mean, Democrats have been trying to ring the alarm for a long period of time. And almost for the last 15 years, the Republicans have said that they had an alternative plan, yet no one has seen them produce anything. And this is something that should have been talked about. We've been advocating for it.
We've been talking about an extension, if nothing else, to the Tax Credit for the Affordable Care Act. so that it can be figured out and we'll have more time. Republicans have refused to do that. So it just seems that they, as we've been saying all along, are in complete disarray.
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Chapter 2: How does the INVEST Act address healthcare affordability issues?
And this is what we were talking about before, and now it's going to become reality.
So the affordability crisis that we've been talking about and the president calls a Democrat hoax, it's about to get worse, right? If we look at this through a wider frame, this feeds into higher costs that people are facing across the board, Congressman. There's no question.
I mean, the American people, as we saw when the president was in Pennsylvania just recently, talking about this is a Democratic hoax, and everyone that was spoken with when they left said, this is not a hoax, because they know what their pockets feel like, and they know what their insurance plans are looking like, so that they will soon have to make a choice, many of them, of whether they continue healthcare or not, because they may not be able to afford it.
And so the crisis is here now that's caused by the President of the United States, and unfortunately the President is also the de facto Speaker of the House. So the Deputy Speaker follows the Speaker, who happens to be the President, and nothing has been done, and nothing has been at least talked about for an agreement in a bipartisan way.
And so now we're on a cliff, no conversation, and guess what? January 30th is not that far behind also.
Well, we just were talking about the possibility of another shutdown, and I don't know if anyone has the appetite for that. But I just want to ask you quickly about one of the options that is under consideration in the House of Representatives, realizing these both failed today in the Senate. There's a discharge petition that's been put up by Brian Fitzpatrick.
It's also got a Democrat on this as well. It's Brian Fitzpatrick, as I mentioned, on the Republican side. If there are enough votes here, this could be forced to the floor, Congressman, and it would extend the Obamacare subsidies by a couple of years, but also would add eligibility requirements. Is that something that you would vote for if you had the chance?
Well, I haven't seen it. I would have to see it. I know there's something that they're trying to put together at the last second. You know, I think that, again, here we should have had the opportunity to have a dialogue and a conversation, a negotiation, as opposed to what's taking place right now. So I would have to, you know...
before we get out of here next week, is to look at it to make a determination. But you can see how Congress is currently operating with this Republican leadership. Everything seems to have to be done by a motion to discharge. We cannot get anything on the floor so that we can vote in regular order. It is such craziness that's going on.
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Chapter 3: What challenges do small businesses face under current policies?
Congressman, I want you to put on your foreign relations cap here and talk to us about what's happening off the coast of Venezuela because the United States has decided to seize an oil tanker. The president says that we will probably keep the oil. There are questions about what happens to the crew and whether more of these are about to happen. The U.S. has just sanctioned six more of these.
Is this the way things work now in the Caribbean?
Well, look, they are illegal in the way that it's working now. I think that, number one, you know, you first heard that the president was down off the coast of Venezuela because of drugs. Clearly, by taking this oil tanker, it's not about drugs.
And clearly, you should have seen, if you could take an oil tanker in the way that they have, that you don't have to shoot down boats in the way and kill people in the way that they have. So it is not about drugs. It's about regime change to one degree and getting access to Venezuelan oil. Those seem to be the main motivations of the president of the United States.
And this is not the way that we generally have historically operated in the United States. This is really how Russia operates. And so we are losing our values, as we've seen from the national security report that came out that says, you know, Russia, China, and the United States, forget about our friends and allies and how do we work with them. So all of this is coming to a head right now.
So I... strongly disagree, and I think that the American people disagree. The president should be coming to Congress if this is a war that he's trying to get us into.
That's why I do have a bill dealing with a War Powers Act so that it demands that the president comes and talk to Congress and stop trying to work around Congress to avoid us so that we can do our oversight responsibilities in an appropriate way.
When does that go to the floor, Congressman, and will you get a single Republican vote?
Well, I think that we would get him. We're working, you know, diligent now, talking to other members. And that's why the speaker refuses to allow the bill on the floor, because he knows if it reaches the floor, he would have a strong bipartisan vote. And so that's why they try to block it and make rules that will not allow the bill to come to the floor at the appropriate time.
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Chapter 4: How does the INVEST Act aim to support small business owners?
No.
Well, he is. I mean, look, and there's some reason why the president of the United States, you know, we see that Russia's already killing Ukrainians on a daily basis just about. Russia is now joining hands with Nicolas Maduro. And why the president of the United States is not standing strong and making sure that, you know, you talk about using power.
uh you know to to control the situation uh yet he just seems to bow down to the will of russia and whatever russia says and russia can do whatever they want and it's okay with this administration but it's not okay with the american people it's not okay with democrats in the house and the senate and we're going to make sure that we have those voices and i would hope
that some of my Republican colleagues would finally join us and stand with us to hold this president accountable and make sure that we keep the high standards and morals that we have with our European allies and others.
I don't know if that'll cover the seizure of oil tankers like we saw, Congressman, but if this did in fact come from a shadow fleet, if this boat was operating illegally, do we owe that oil back to somebody? And what happens to the crew?
But look, I will tell you generally, in all of the time that I've been in Congress before, before this is done, there is at least with the Intelligence Committee, sometimes with the Armed Services Committee, and sometimes with the Foreign Affairs Committee, and sometimes in a combination thereof, and definitely with both Democrat and Republican leadership in the House,
There is a dialogue and conversation. They go in the skiff or they go down to the White House and they have a dialogue and they talk and they plan and at least indicate what they intend on doing.
And in this situation, it's just chaos where you have a president who's just running amok doing whatever he wants to do and oftentimes violating the normal states and I believe also violating the rules of law.
I want to ask you about the INVEST Act while you're with us, Congressman, because you've got a lot of small business owners who are watching and listening right now. And I just talked about the state of small business with the head of the SBA, Kelly Loeffler. Here's what she told us.
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Chapter 5: What role does Congress play in addressing foreign affairs?
And so we're trying to make sure that we are reaching to the small business and the average everyday worker, like 62% of them who are invested in the markets. So it's not just the super rich friends of the president that having benefits, but it is the working people of America. And that's what we're trying to do there because clearly the president's policies are not working.
Well, I know it's a bipartisan effort right now. I'd like to stay in touch with you on that. Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York, we thank you so much.
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