'Let Me Just Finish': John Kennedy Has Heated Exchange With Janet Yellen Over Debt Ceiling

uh senator kennedy from louisiana is recognized thank you mr chairman thank um thank you madam secretary and mr chairman for for being here uh madam secretary when you were here and we all look forward to you coming um i ask you to tell me what you thought inflation would be at the end of this year and you told me two percent do you still stand by that prediction um clearly inflation this year is going to be above 2 percent um just the experience so far this year makes that clearly true but i think we are seeing monthly inflation rates uh taper off what do you think it will be at the end of the year if not two percent um probably closer to four percent okay and um that's that's already um almost must be the case based on what's happened this year but um in my estimation um there are the types of supply bottlenecks with the economy i don't want to spend too much time on inflation and i'm sorry to interrupt but we have so little time and i talk slowly what party controls the house the democrats what party controls the senate um the democrats i believe we can agree that president biden is a democrat i believe okay senator schumer who's a democrat and my friend controls the senate floor and he can raise the debt ceiling by just amending the budget resolution can he it's possible that that could be done yes ma'am so why didn't he do it why don't y'all do it because because this is just finished why don't y'all just do it and we don't have this fight because why do you insist on on doing it the hard way because it's very important to recognize that raising the debt ceiling is about paying bills that congress is why don't you just amend the budget resolution democrats have provided votes in the past when both houses of congress who are controlled by republicans when the republican party was in the middle of reconciliation 2017 is a good example and democrats uh pitched in to do their duty to raise to raise the debts but i just i just i just i know all that and we we and i appreciate your perspective but let me ask you again there's a real simple solution why don't y'all just amend the budget resolution it just takes 50 votes by my democratic friends and the vice president why don't you just do that problem solved done easy peasy finish let's grab a cocktail well it it will be up to the leadership of congress are you going to recommend that we will confer with them on what is the best strategy to move forward it's not often i haven't been around this place as long as you have um but it's not often around here that we have a a problem that has an easy solution and this is a real easy solution and i get politics i understand why politically you folks want to have republican fingerprints on the uh the the uh the the the spending fiscal knife i get that but do you really is it is your politics so important that you want to gamble here on the united states when you have a very very simple solution that you refuse to take i want to see that the debt ceiling is raised as i've said i believe it would be catastrophic not to do so but i equally believe that deficits have been run under both democratic and republican administrations it's important to recognize that and that means that paying the bills for those deficits is a shared a shared responsibility and it should not be the responsibility i agree with that very eloquently put but it's a fact isn't it that you just you and your folks just want republicans spend uh fingerprints on the democrats effort to tax spend and regulate america into europe now it's your prerogative to do that but this is all about the administration's desire to have republican fingerprints on it and later call it bipartisan and you know that madam secretary with all the respect i can muster and so do the american people thank you mr chairman senator kennedy i rarely speak between witnesses but i wonder if secretary ellen takes you up on the offer to go get a cocktail if um if you would pay or you'd skip out on paying the bill and expect secretary ellen to pay senator menendez is recognized from new jersey uh thank you mr chairman i i had not intended to pursue this line of questioning but uh i must say my distinguished friend and colleague from louisiana always sparks my interest [Music] republican

Channel: Forbes Breaking News

Views: 915,637

Rating: 4.8986726 out of 5

Keywords: Sen. John Kennedy, Sec. Janet Yellen, debt ceiling

Id: CMdFT0-glA8

Length: 6min 43sec (403 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 28 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/jlevy1126]

Could someone help me understand this a bit more. Why shouldn't, if it's possible, the Democrats avoid shutdown by amending the resolution and passing with 50 votes? Is there any reason other than the political?