'Not So Certain The American People Are Impressed By Message Votes': McConnell Slams Tax Bill Voting

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During remarks on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke in opposition to a major tax package and hammered Democrats for bringing it to the floor for a vote.

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Transcript

00:00Today, as the Senate prepares to leave town for the August state work period, the Democratic

00:10leader has decided to squeeze in one more vote that isn't ready for prime time.

00:17To our colleagues on the Finance Committee and to anyone paying attention in recent months,

00:24it's been clear that the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act that Chairman Wyden

00:31wrote with the House needed some serious revisions in order to earn 60 votes here in the Senate.

00:40We don't need a vote today to tell us that's still the case.

00:46Colleagues on this side of the aisle have serious unresolved concerns.

00:53They don't like how many, how more than 90% of the supposed benefits of the bill as written

01:01come as a $30 billion expansion of cash welfare instead of relief for working taxpayers.

01:11They're concerned about how it would weaken the work requirements tied to those benefits

01:18under current law.

01:20For a bill with the potential to so seriously impact working Americans, one might expect

01:27its proponents to engage seriously on resolving obstacles to bipartisan support.

01:35You might have expected the Chairman of the Finance Committee or the Democratic leader

01:41to provide regular order, to schedule a markup, to give this bill a shot.

01:50He's actually passing the Senate.

01:53But alas, you'd be wrong.

01:56Of course, months without progress on this front aren't for lack of effort from Ranking

02:02Member Crapo, and I'm grateful for his dedication to addressing Republican concerns.

02:10Today's vote doesn't seem to be intended to produce a legislative outcome.

02:16In fact, the Democratic leader himself admitted this week that even losing the vote would

02:20still be a political benefit for vulnerable Senate Democrats running for re-election.

02:27Well, I'm not so certain the American people are impressed by message votes, and I don't

02:37think they'd give out points for incomplete work.

'Not So Certain The American People Are Impressed By Message Votes': McConnell Slams Tax Bill Voting

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