August 2, 2022
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The Portman Variation
Senator Portman joined FOX Business Cavuto: Coast to Coast This afternoon to discuss House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and the Democrats’ latest reckless tax and spending spree. Senator Portman, who visited Taiwan in April as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation, said he supports the visit and said it is important to show leadership in the region against China’s growing aggression. Portman touted the Democrats’ new tax-and-spending bill, which includes $326 billion in new taxes on investment, especially manufacturers, that would exacerbate inflation. Portman said it’s the opposite of what Congress should be doing because the country is in decline. This bill will inevitably burden American workers and consumers who are already struggling with high inflation and will not address the inflationary mismatch between demand and supply in our economy.
A transcript of the interview can be found below and you can also watch the interview. over here.
Senator Portman on Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan
“Jackie, I couldn’t agree more. I don’t agree with Speaker Pelosi much, but on this one, I think she’s absolutely right. I was in Taiwan a few months ago. It was a very productive meeting. We talked openly about the military issue and what Taiwan needs to better defend itself, and that was important. But we also talked about the economic situation. As you know, 90 percent of the world’s high-end semiconductors are made in Taiwan. These are the chips we rely on for our military, our cars, many electronics, so it’s a very important country in many ways. But one is, as we saw recently in the semiconductor debate, Taiwan makes high-end versions of this, and it’s very important that we protect that in our supply chain. So it is very important that she is there. I think it would be a sign of weakness to do otherwise and back down at a time when China is becoming aggressive in the entire Indo-China region. Other countries in the region are looking to lead, not to lag behind. And the Speaker has every right to go to Taiwan, just as we have every right to go there in April.
“Well, they’ve been punishing Taiwan in as many ways as they can: commercially, certainly in terms of the disinformation that’s flooding the island. We’ve already seen some propaganda footage of them flexing their military muscles, so they were conducting military exercises in Taiwan Bay. While we were there, they continued to fly six fighter jets over the border and the Straits. And by the way, it’s not just about Taiwan. There are many other things in the region that concern people. Along the South China Sea and on coral reefs, they are setting up military bases. The Philippines will tell you that one of these islands belongs to them, and they are in that dispute. But also, people are concerned about what’s happening in Tibet, what’s certainly happening in Hong Kong, what’s happening to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province. So there are several issues at this time in what is a dangerous and volatile part of the world due to China’s aggression in the region. This is not the time to turn back. Rather, it is time for them to know that we are not talking to China, but to our neighbors and friends, China’s neighbors and friends, our regional partners. You know, they’re increasingly looking to us for leadership.
“Well, that’s true if you look at the early responses from the administration, including the president, as you’ve seen, that they didn’t recommend it. Instead, I think they shouldn’t have contradicted what Speaker Pelosi said; They had to work together to have a coherent foreign policy. And I think Speaker Pelosi made the right call on this. And I think the trip will be successful.
Senator Portman’s spending of 700 billion dollars by the Democrats
“No, no. It’s inflation, and obviously, by adding $326 billion in new tax increases, we have a huge tax increase on the American people, and there’s no way around that. The Joint Committee on Taxation said that half of the tax will come from the producers. He also said that whether and how much tax is passed on to employees and customers depends on the analysis you look at. But anywhere from 30 percent to 70 percent goes to employees. This is why many Americans did not expect to be taxed because of this new tax, and are actually saying, “Oh, your wages are going down, your benefits are going to go down.” By the way, 50 percent or more of them make less than $400,000 a year, so it’s a tax on workers. It obviously hurts consumers. And in a time of high inflation, why either a tax increase or a higher price of the goods we buy? So, it’s a tax increase, and that’s the opposite for me to do right now. It was the $1.9 trillion bill that allegedly increased demand when it wasn’t needed that helped create an inflationary imbalance between demand and supply, or the Democrats’ successive policies. Now, this again will hurt from a supply side and make us see investments in America, make it harder for us to build things, make it harder for us to get out of this inflation. twisted”
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