Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart was confused on Monday’s The Daily Show why the GOP’s spending reforms in the Big Beautiful Bill would target the areas of the budget where the most money is spent. Together with economic commentator and author Kyla Scanlon, the duo would conclude that it is easier to cut from people than lobbyists.
Stewart wondered, “The thing that strikes me about this is, whenever we talk about an economy being irresponsible in terms of spending, the go-to fall guy for that, the go-to scapegoat, are the poor. Is that the conventional wisdom in economics, you know, ‘our deficit is out of control? You nor we could take it out of? Medicaid.’ Is that—is austerity conventional wisdom when there’s deficit spending?”
Scanlon admitted that if you want to cut spending, it makes sense to focus on the areas where the government spends the most money but still opposed such a move, “Yeah, so austerity is reducing the deficit by cutting spending or raising taxes, and so the common idea about cutting spending is that you’ll go after the things that we spend a lot of money on, which is Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and so that's the first thing they went after. I don't think it is a smartest thing to go after, but it is a big part of what the government spends money on and so I think it was, you know, first to go, which is sad because you shouldn't go after people, and you should think about raising taxes instead of cutting them.”
You could defund the entirety of the Defense Department and ICE and still have a massive budget deficit, but Stewart wondered why, if Republicans really care about the deficit, they actually increased those two entities’ budgets:
When I look at the budget and I go, so the Defense Department got a raise. Now their budget is going to be a trillion dollars. We have created a brand-new ICE unit. They get $150 billion. The Pentagon’s never passed an audit. All I see is senators and Republicans out on TV going, 'The big problem in this country is able-bodied people who still get Medicaid.' But none of them go out and go, “Our big problem is we spend $500 billion a year on defense contractors, and they can't pass an audit.” Why is it that the go to then is people?
This country faces multiple grave national security threats from an imperialist Russia, nuclear-aspiring Iran, and expansion-seeking China. Countering them requires defense investments, but Scanlon reduced Republican motives to cowering in the face of defense lobbyists, “I mean, I think people are easier to cut from. Like, there’s a lot of lobbying that goes on with the Defense Department. There's a lot of companies that have big contracts. They are going to make sure that those contracts are insured and kept up to standard, and so it is much easier to go after things like Medicaid and Medicare because the everyday person can't really have a lobbyist, you know, fighting for them.”
Stewart may not like it, but the only way to fix the nation’s budget is through reforms to things like Medicaid. Republicans instituted modest work requirements, and if he opposes those, there is no way he is serious about the deficit.
Here is a transcript for the July 14 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
7/14/2025
11:31 PM ET
JON STEWART: The thing that strikes me about this is, whenever we talk about an economy being irresponsible in terms of spending, the go-to fall guy for that, the go-to scapegoat, are the poor. Is that the conventional wisdom in economics, you know, “our deficit is out of control? You nor we could take it out of? Medicaid.”
KYLA SCANLON: Yeah.
STEWART: Is that — is austerity conventional wisdom when there’s deficit spending?
SCANLON: Yeah, so austerity is reducing the deficit by cutting spending or raising taxes, and so the common idea about cutting spending is that you’ll go after the things that we spend a lot of money on, which is Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and so that's the first thing they went after. I don't think it is a smartest thing to go after, but it is a big part of what the government spends money on—
STEWART: Right.
SCANLON: —and so I think it was, you know, first to go, which is sad because you shouldn't go after people, and you should think about raising taxes instead of cutting them.
STEWART: So that's — why is it — so, when I look at the budget and I go, so the Defense Department got a raise. Now their budget is going to be a trillion dollars. We have created a brand-new ICE unit. They get $150 billion. The Pentagon’s never passed an audit. All I see is senators and Republicans out on TV going. “The big problem in this country is able-bodied people who still get Medicaid.” But none of them go out and go, “our big problem is we spend $500 billion a year on defense contractors, and they can't pass an audit.” Why is it that the go to then is people?
SCANLON: I mean, I think people are easier to cut from. Like, there’s a lot of lobbying that goes on with the Defense Department. There's a lot of companies that have big contracts. They are going to make sure that those contracts are insured and kept up to standard, and so it is much easier to go after things like Medicaid and Medicare because the everyday person can't really have a lobbyist, you know—
STEWART: Oh dear, god.
SCANLON: — fighting for them.
