WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) today joined David Asman on Fox Business Tonight to discuss the Senate infrastructure bill and why he refused to expedite a vote on final passage to usher in the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend spree.
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Partial Transcript
Hagerty on protecting taxpayers’ interests: “Well, I certainly do see it as a problem, David and the last thing I’m going to do is accelerate the process and make it easier for Chuck Schumer to shove this through just so we can get to the $3.5 trillion, totally partisan tax and spending spree that he’s got in store for us. Each of my Republican colleagues going to have to make their own decision. But I think what we’ve done is bought ourselves some time to actually dig in and understand what’s happening and allow the American public to understand what’s happening. You know, I was sent to the Senate by the people of Tennessee, not to make things more convenient for Chuck Schumer, to expedite things as he wants to. I was sent there to protect the taxpayers’ interest. And that’s exactly what I want to do here.”
Hagerty on challenges in the Senate: “I knew I would have a tough job coming into the United States Senate. And I saw the threat coming toward America from the socialist radical policies that the left are putting out. I realize now it’s going to be lonely too, but I’m here to represent the people of Tennessee and to look after their best interests, and that’s precisely what I intend to do.”
Hagerty on not expediting Chuck Schumer’s spending: “Well, if you look at this initial infrastructure bill it’s been billed as infrastructure, but only about a quarter of it is what you or I would call infrastructure, David. I’m talking about roads, bridges, highways, things that actually have a return on investment for taxpayers. A large portion of this is what others call soft infrastructure, but it’s really more government involvement, more distortion of the economy. And again, that’s what’s driving this into the deep, deep red. Again, we’re talking over a quarter of a trillion dollars. The bill itself over 2,700 pages. A King James Bible is 1300 pages just to put it into perspective. This is crazy. They just opened the numbers up to us hours before Chuck Schumer then tries to push to expedite it because he’s got this $3.5 trillion package it’s waiting on the back end. He’s trying to shove us in that direction. I’m not going to do anything to expedite his movement toward the ‘transformation’ of America that Joe Biden has talked about.”
Hagerty on Democrats’ $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend spree: “I think Chuck Schumer would have enjoyed passing this in the dark of night last night. That was the plan, that was the scheme. Move right into the $3.5 trillion package over the weekend and hope that this is all, you know, distorted by people’s focus on what’s happening with Governor Cuomo, or mask mandates, and restaurants in New York City that he could slip this through and in the process transform America and put the Green New Deal fully into motion. You know, he’s going to destroy the fossil fuel industry, more death taxes, more taxes on job creators, more personal taxes, they’re going to kill capital investment in American, they’re going to shove more American jobs overseas. That’s where we’re headed and someone needs to make this clear. This gives us the opportunity to have the conversation you were having right now for your viewers. And I want to continue talking about this.”
Hagerty on what happens next: “We go back to Washington tomorrow. The floor of the Senate opens back up at noon and I’ll see where we go from there. I’ll see how many of my colleagues have thought about this, have dug into what the Congressional Budget Office numbers have revealed to us, and see if we can make some movement happen in a positive direction from our side. What I don’t want to see is Chuck Schumer get a free pass to move right in again, in the dead of night last night, and then move right into this $3.5 trillion bill that is so deeply concerning, I think to most of America. And as they hear more and more about it, I think we’re going to see a much broader resistance to what’s about to happen.”