Senator Marshall: We Can Lower the Cost of Living for Americans

Senator Marshall Joins Bloomberg to Discuss Capping Credit Card Interest Rates.

Washington - On Monday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined Balance of Power on Bloomberg to discuss capping credit card interest rates, empowering families through Obamacare reforms, Jerome Powell, and more.

Click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall's full interview.

On the Trump Administration's investigation into Jerome Powell:

"Well, Joe, I think it's important to point out that the President knew nothing of this investigation, and we haven't heard him really speak on it yet either. So, let's wait and see what he's actually thinking. I think it's also important to point out that the theme from this White House, and from Capitol Hill right now, is a theme of transparency, of accountability, of addressing fraud, waste, and abuse. And I think that, in particular, Chairman Powell was at a congressional hearing, and he was questioned about this budget of his federal building. He was given $1.8 billion, but I've heard he may have spent $3-4 billion. And he did he mislead Congress? I don't know. Did he break the law? I don't know, but I think there's other important issues we need to be addressing as well."

On politicizing interest rates:

"Well, look, if anybody understands lawfare, it would be President Trump and his administration; how political lawfare has been used against him. And I think it's important to point out that Jerome Powell is the one that has made this whole relationship political. In Trump 45, he raised interest rates sooner than they needed to be. During COVID, he was too late, too slow, Jerome Powell, in responding to inflation; he said it would be temporary. Just a month before the presidential election, he dropped interest rates a half-percent, and now he refuses to, maybe, he's been slow to respond and bring those interest rates down, as well. So, I feel like after eight years, Jerome Powell has made this political, he's functioning at an emotional level right now on this, and I'm looking forward to a transition in that position."

On supporting a replacement for Jerome Powell:

"You know, I don't. But May 15^th is when his due date is, so to speak. You know, I'm an obstetrician, so I work with due dates-so his due date is May the 15th. I think, we'll have this issue resolved between now and then. And again, I go back to; let's wait and listen to the President weigh in on this particular discussion."

"Well, I think the President is going to choose one that is going to do the best for the American economy. And the President happens to believe-and I agree-that we need to lower interest rates. I think we need to take a look at this quantitative easing that's going on. By the way, I'm very happy with the president working with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and buying back those bonds to bring interest rates down and affect and impact the cost of housing right now. So, there's lots of great things out there the President is doing to impact the true problems-and that would be the cost of housing thanks to four years of Joe Biden's inflation that led to 50% increase in housing costs."

On legislation to cap credit cards:

"Well, I think that will be a challenge for us, but that's why I came here. Look, I think it's important to realize that American families are paying $300 a month, between paying interest on their credit card, as well as the swipe fees. That banks are charging 20-30% interest, that Americans are paying seven times more for swipe fees than the European Union is. So, I think that what we've seen here is this oligopoly between two credit cards and a handful of banks. So, I think that this will lower the cost of gas and groceries by 1% or 2%, and when the American people see that, they'll get behind it and push their members of Congress to pass this. This could be one of the simplest things we could do to lower the cost of living for hard-working American families."

"Sure, Leader Thune has been very receptive to these conversations, and we'll wait to see when the opportunity arises. But again, if the job of Congress is to address the cost of living, just passing our Credit Card Competition Bill alone, would lower the cost of gas and groceries by 1% or 2% percent. Of course, gas prices are coming down thanks to President Trump's policies of "Drill, baby, drill," but we still have other work to do. So, I think that this would be a great win for the American people."

On empowering families through Obamacare reforms:

"Well, I've not got to see it yet, and certainly, Republicans want every American to have affordable, meaningful health insurance of some type right now. And so, I need to see what's in that bill, first of all. But we need to address fraud, and so far in my conversations with Democrats, they are not willing to address fraud. We want to take all these Obamacare monies and put it in the hands of patients. Quit sending $150 billion, unchecked, to the insurance companies-somewhere in there is $25 billion worth of fraud. So, let's give the money to the patients, empower them. We need to pass our price tags bill, which would force every health care provider to show the consumer exactly what the price is. Our price tag bill will lower the cost of health insurance to $1,000, per month, per family. It helps everybody, not just those on Obamacare. So, we've got a lot of work to be done; we know how to do it, though."

On the possibility of a government shutdown:

"Well, certainly Republicans want to keep the government open-I think the Democrats have learned their lesson that nobody wins when the government is shut down. I see the appropriations committee working hard, bringing pieces together to help fund the government. We may have to do some type of a continuing resolution for a portion of it, but we're making progress. I'm going to bet that the government stays open this time."

"In all my private discussions with Democrats, they want to avoid a shutdown. Republicans want to avoid a shutdown as well. We need to continue to work on the appropriations process. I think Senator Susan Collins has done a remarkable job leading that particular effort. She tells us she's making progress, so I just, I'm not thinking there's going to be a shutdown. Time will tell though-Republicans do not want to shut the government down."

###

Contact: