Murphy to Sec. Yellen: “How is adding $4 trillion in new taxes good for the American people?”

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. (NC-03) participated in a Ways and Means Committee hearing with Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen regarding the Biden Administration's FY2023 budget. In his remarks, Murphy pressed Secretary Yellen about the inflationary consequences of imposing new taxes on struggling families and canceling billions in student loan debt. Click HERE to watch Rep. Murphy's remarks.

Rep. Murphy's introductory remarks:

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Madam Secretary. You understand, I'm sure, that this is Congress; this is the people's house. We go back to our district, and we actually talk to the people who are at the pump, buying gas, in the grocery store, as opposed to President Biden who's been in D.C. for 50 years. There's been a common theme that throughout his presidency of so many self-inflicted crises that he is tone-deaf to what's going on with the American people, and I will point out two things that have been a little bit fallacious in the discussions here today. We talk about the job growth and everything. The unemployment rate prior to the epidemic during the Trump Administration was the lowest it had been.

During this pandemic, we fired people for not getting vaccinated. People came out of their jobs. All that's happening is people returning to their jobs. We also know that during the Great Resignation, many people eliminated themselves from the workforce. So, on one hand, people want to blame the pandemic for what's going on today, and other people want to take credit for what's going on today. We know for a fact that since Biden took office, the inflationary rate in this country rose, rose, rose—it was 7.9 percent the day prior to the Russian invasion. So, to blame fuel prices and everything on the invasion of the Russian dictator is absolutely incorrect. So, I would ask you this: how then, in the face of today's skyrocketing inflation, which we all agree is a regressive tax, where we see fuel prices going through the roof. We're about to see food prices double. How can you say and justify that adding $4 trillion in taxes are good for the American people, and the inflation that the average American—which Biden just doesn't understand—how can it be good for the average American?"

###