Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press conference, where he emphasized that Donald Trump and House Republicans are spending billions in taxpayer dollars on a war of choice in the Middle East, while doing nothing to make the lives of the American people more affordable. 

LEADER JEFFRIES: This is a very challenging moment for the United States of America as we deal with a President, Donald Trump, and Republicans whose policies have done nothing but damage the quality of life of the American people. It was Republicans who, in their One Big Ugly Bill, enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals, nursing homes and community-based health centers are closing throughout America because of Republican policies, and, at the same period of time, these extremists refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, causing health insurance premiums to skyrocket for more than 20 million working class Americans. Republicans have done great damage to the American people, made life more expensive for everyday Americans on healthcare, on gas prices, on housing costs, on child care, on groceries. They’ve made life more expensive for the American people, and it’s affirmatively being done by toxic and extreme Republican policies.

And to make matters worse, at the same period of time, they’ve now gotten us into a reckless war of choice against Iran and are spending billions of dollars to drop bombs in the Middle East, but can’t find a dime to make life more affordable for the American people. There’s a better way. And Democrats are committed to fighting hard to relentlessly focus on driving down the high cost of living, fixing our broken healthcare system, making sure that immigration enforcement in this country is fair, just and humane and at the same time, ensuring that our taxpayer dollars aren’t spent on another endless war in the Middle East, but are spent to lower the high cost of living, to make sure that every single American in this country can live an affordable life, a comfortable life and live the good life.

Full press conference can be watched here.

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