Democrats wasting trillions of taxpayer dollars on a left-wing wish list of socialist agenda items would be like living in some kind of wonderful dream world for MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle. Opening her 9:00 a.m. ET hour show on Thursday, the liberal host reached back to her childhood and praised the massive $3.5 trillion spending bill being pushed by Democrats as a “Barbie DreamHouse of improvements to the human condition.”
“A good day to check your accounts because for millions and millions of American families, there’s some brand new money in the bank. I’m talking about the new expanded child tax credit payments from the government,” Ruhle gushed as the show began, celebrating increased payments being doled out to American families as a political bribe from the Biden administration. She cheered the incoming welfare checks as “President Biden getting a great opportunity to show that his administration is providing real help to Americans who need it.”
“But there is a lot more where that came from, potentially,” Ruhle excitedly proclaimed, before gleefully touting: “As we speak, Democrats have packed $3.5 trillion with a ‘T’ of help into what would be the single biggest and most expensive bill ever passed through Congress if, and that’s a big if, they can get it passed.”
The anchor then turned to a panel of so-called “experts,” which just amounted to group of fellow hack journalists parroting Democratic Party talking points. Ruhle swooned:
This is the kind of spending bill that could break records. It has the child tax credit, it has free pre-K, it has expanded Medicare benefits, clean energy. It is the Barbie DreamHouse of improvements to the human condition, we all want to live in that Barbie DreamHouse, but how are we going to pay for it?
While Ruhle was living out her Barbie fantasy, NBC congressional correspondent Leigh Ann Caldwell assured her that “Democrats insist that’s it’s going to be fully paid for” with massive tax increases on hard-working American families and businesses. Though Caldwell also admitted “they’re gonna rely on economic growth, which of course could be a big, big budgetary gimmick.” The reporter noted that “progressives are pretty happy at this moment, but it’s the moderates that we have to watch.”
Ruhle did express concerns – about how Democrats could best sell the major government overreach: “...we are talking about a massive expansion of the U.S. government, maybe the biggest in 100 years. Democrats seem to think that once people see what’s in it, they’re gonna just love it. Is it that simple?”
Politico’s White House correspondent Eugene Daniels lamented: “No, it’s never that simple, we know that.” However, he was certain that Americans would happily support the massive spending:
We’ve done a lot of polling, a lot of people have done a lot of polling on these separate different things and people are impressed with them, they like them....People are seeing the stuff that improved their everyday lives, they liked. You know, they didn’t care if you called it infrastructure. And so it seems like Americans are going to be interested in this.
Most importantly, Daniels predicted bribing people with their own money would really help Democrats in the midterms: “...when you can sell these kinds of things, especially today, this child tax credit, all this money being sent to people...They’re going to lean in on selling – for the midterms and for whoever runs for president in 2024 – ‘Look at what we did for you at home, no matter what.’”
Rounding out the one-sided discussion, NBC White House correspondent Mike Memoli cheered: “...the President is celebrating the fact that what is in this legislation is exactly what he and what many other Democrats campaigned on in the last campaign....they want to do everything they can to say that there’s going to be a political benefit, both to fulfilling your promises but also to showing tangible results.”
In reality, Ruhle’s “dream house” of socialism is nothing more than a nightmare house of cards that will inevitably collapse, leaving future generations to pay the massive cost of a government deeply in debt.
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Here is a full transcript of the July 15 segment:
9:00 AM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Hi there, I’m Stephanie Ruhle, it is Thursday, July 15th. A good day to check your accounts because for millions and millions of American families, there’s some brand new money in the bank. I’m talking about the new expanded child tax credit payments from the government. Moms and dads getting hundreds, in some cases thousands of dollars for their families. President Biden getting a great opportunity to show that his administration is providing real help to Americans who need it.
But there is a lot more where that came from, potentially. As we speak, Democrats have packed $3.5 trillion with a ‘T’ of help into what would be the single biggest and most expensive bill ever passed through Congress if, and that’s a big if, they can get it passed.
I want to bring in some experts on all of this. NBC’s Mike Memoli at the White House, Leigh Ann Caldwell on Capitol Hill, and Politico’s White House correspondent Eugene Daniels, co-author of the Politico Playbook. Leigh Ann, let’s start with you. This is the kind of spending bill that could break records. It has the child tax credit, it has free pre-K, it has expanded Medicare benefits, clean energy. It is the Barbie DreamHouse of improvements to the human condition, we all want to live in that Barbie DreamHouse, but how are we going to pay for it?
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: So, Steph, that is one of the $3.5 trillion questions, is how this is going to be paid for. And Democrats insist that’s it’s going to be fully paid for. And they say that because there’s a lot of moderates who have a lot of anxiety about this price tag. Including Senator Joe Manchin, who told me yesterday that that is something that he wants, is to be fully paid for. But, however, he did not say it was a red line for him. And so that is a good sign for Democrats.
How this major spending bill is going to be paid for? Democrats say they’re going to increase taxes on corporations, they’re going to increase taxes on the wealthy. They’re also going to have a lot of health care savings, they say, and also they’re gonna rely on economic growth, which of course could be a big, big budgetary gimmick. But how it’s not going to be paid for, they say, on people who – raising taxes on people who make under 400 – families I should say – who make under $400,000, and family farms.
And so this is going to be a big debate moving forward because progressives are pretty happy at this moment, but it’s the moderates that we have to watch. Not only Senator Joe Manchin but people like Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, who is up for re-election this cycle. And it’s going to be very difficult to maintain their support throughout the process, Steph.
RUHLE: Eugene, all these pieces taken separately may look good but we are talking about a massive expansion of the U.S. government, maybe the biggest in 100 years. Democrats seem to think that once people see what’s in it, they’re gonna just love it. Is it that simple?
EUGENE DANIELS: No, it’s never that simple, we know that. We’ve done a lot of polling, a lot of people have done a lot of polling on these separate different things and people are impressed with them, they like them. That was at the very beginning of this infrastructure conversation, when we were talking about what is infrastructure and when it became clear that the two tracks were necessary. Have one roads and bridges and then have this kind of catch-all of improving people’s everyday lives. People are seeing the stuff that improved their everyday lives, they liked. You know, they didn’t care if you called it infrastructure. And so it seems like Americans are going to be interested in this.
I think there are going to be some concerns from – like Lee Ann was saying – especially from those moderates on how to pay for it, but when you can sell these kinds of things, especially today, this child tax credit, all this money being sent to people. The White House is going to have an event where Vice President Harris and the President are going to talk about those things. Trying to make something like that permanent, that changes lives. And I think that is what Democrats, and especially this White House, are hoping to lean in on, right? They’re going to lean in on selling – for the midterms and for whoever runs for president in 2024 – “Look at what we did for you at home, no matter what.” And I think that part of it is something that they’re to – hoping will work for the American people.
RUHLE: Eugene, could this bill be so ambitious that it costs us the chance to pass the bipartisan hard infrastructure bill?
DANIELS: No, that is a concern. Some of the Republicans who have already signed on to this bipartisan deal, remember when they started scrambling and being worried when President Biden had to kind of give this implicit veto threat, he went back on that, made it very clear that he wants to sign both of these bills. But it still – they still are very tied together, right? And so, you know, let’s say some Republicans were to defect from the bipartisan deal, it makes it harder for Democrats to do the $3.5 trillion deal through reconciliation, right? So that is some of the conversation happening on the Hill.
But also, Republicans want to, even though they don’t want to give Joe Biden a win here, don’t want to give the Democrats a win either, they know that infrastructure is popular. And so they can look at their own streets in their home states and look at the roads and the bridges that are messed up. And so it seems like they are still on board, but it is kind of rickety as they get closer and especially as they start hearing how much money this $3.5 trillion is, and also more importantly, what the CBO is gonna score some of these things, that, I think, is going to be – gonna provide some consternation for them.
RUHLE: Michael, those very same Republicans want to go back to their home states and say, “We put together a bipartisan deal, we want to fix the roads and bridges, but we couldn’t come to agreement on all of the human infrastructure stuff.” That’s what Republicans want to happen. What does the White House want to happen? Obviously there’s a lot of big stuff in here. What are their biggest priorities, the President’s?
MIKE MEMOLI: Well, Steph, the story of this Biden administration as relates to its legislative agenda is constantly minding that high-wire act when they have the slimmest of majorities in the House and no margin for error in the Senate. You heard Lee Ann lay out that yesterday it was the progressives who were expressing their support for this package. But the White House knows that we’re going to be minding votes of Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, and others, right up to the very last minute. And so that’s why the White House is trying to create as much momentum behind this. You had the Senate leaders announcing this deal on Tuesday night, the President very quickly heading up to the Senate Democratic luncheon yesterday to reinforce this idea.
And part of what that argument is, is the President is celebrating the fact that what is in this legislation is exactly what he and what many other Democrats campaigned on in the last campaign. It was right around this time, Steph, you remember well, the President was laying out the details of that Build Back Better agenda, the different planks of that. And his argument to the Democrats is that, “This is what we campaigned on.” And they want to do everything they can to say that there’s going to be a political benefit, both to fulfilling your promises but also to showing tangible results. And that’s why the President later this morning is going to be marking that child tax credit that so many Americans are going to be seeing in their checking accounts just today. That’s something that’s not just a mission accomplished moment from what they did in the rescue plan earlier this year, but it’s part of that reconciliation plan. They want to extend it five more years, Steph.
