Senator Marshall: We Should Call This the AOC Shutdown
Senator Marshall Joins Newsmax to Discuss the Democrat Shutdown & Drug Prices
Washington – On Thursday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined Newsmax to discuss the White House’s efforts to slash drug prices and the Schumer Shutdown.
Click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full interview.
On the current status of the government shutdown negotiations:
“Well, wake up, America. Day number two, Schumer Shutdown. Or maybe we should call this the AOC Shutdown, it sounds like. I don’t know if you saw Nancy Pelosi bristle when they asked her about the AOC’s involvement in this, but, really, this is a political shutdown. Chuck Schumer is bowing to his far left, that vocal, vocal, screaming, yelling, far left of his party. There’s no way this gets fixed until next week.
“I think that Chuck Schumer has got to figure out when will his political base, so to speak, his far left, is running that party, when are they going to say enough of this, and realize that he’s being blamed for this because this is squarely on his back. The Democrats voted against opening the government so that it’s on their back.”
On what kind of deals are being struck and whether Senator Marshall will support them:
“Well, look, I think we need to keep these issues separate. A funding deal is totally separate than the policy issue here. On this Obama era, Biden era funding issue right now, we need to realize that fraught with fraud. This has grown to $150 billion a year boondoggle, basically aid for big corporations, insurance companies.
“And we think that there’s probably 30 to $50 billion a year of fraud in that, and it’s not that’s not going to be fixed in a day or two. So we got to fix the fraud number one. At the end of the day we I think that we will continue the Obama era funding for this, the subsidies, but the Covid era subsidies, I think those are what we need to be talking about.”
On the left-leaning mainstream media questioning what the Democrats’ strategy actually is:
“Absolutely, and just remind people that the Appropriations Committee, under Susan Collins’ leadership, has appropriated 90% of the funding for the federal government through the committee right now. And what we want to do is do this through that particular order where the Appropriations Committee passes budgets in the light of day. They come to the floor, and we vote on them. We make amendments.
“But Chuck Schumer wants to negotiate the funding in a dark corner. He wants to do business as usual, where he gets together with the Speaker of the House, the President of the United States, and he cuts a deal that suits him, and his bridge is to nowhere. But we want to go back to regular order. The House has done its job. They’ve got it through their 12 committees. They need to finish it across the floor. So we’re this close, as they say, we’re just inches away from getting all that funding across the finish line.”
On the White House’s announcement to reduce drug prices:
“Yeah, well, certainly, 70% of Americans have a chronic disease. A large number of those are on a prescription drug. When I talk to folks back home, one of their biggest concerns is the cost of prescription drugs, and of course, it’s because there’s so much out of their pocket. For decades now, PBMs, pharmacy benefit managers, have dominated the scene. They’re taking 50% or more out of every dollar. They’re running community pharmacists out of business.
“So, what this is going to do – Trump RX – is going to drive down prescription drug prices. We’re so blessed with miracle drugs out there. We have the greatest innovators in the world, but this is going to make them more affordable. It’s going to force European countries to start paying their fair share as well. It’s kind of down in the weeds, but I think that ultimately, this is going to bring the cost of prescription drugs down. But at the same time, let’s not forget, America is very sick, that 70% of us have a chronic disease, and we need to go back and take a look at our lifestyles, at our diet, at the water we’re drinking, those types of things as well.”
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Contact: Payton Fuller
