New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) on Sunday dismissed Democrats’ claims that their massive social spending and climate package is fully paid for, arguing “nobody buys that.”
“This idea that this, ‘We’re going to spend 1.75 trillion, but trust us, it’s not going to cost you anything.’ Nobody buys that. The American people are smart,” Sununu told co-host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
House Democrats on Friday passed their massive social spending and climate plan, dubbed the Build Back Better Act, after months of negotiations marked by internal party battles.
President Biden has consistently said that the package would be fully paid for, but an assessment from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released on Thursday paints a different picture.
The congressional scorekeeper found that when tax credits are included in the package’s top-line number, the total price of the legislation soars above the initial $1.75 trillion framework.
Pressed by Bash on Democrats’ claims that they have ways to offset the cost of the package, Sununu said that raising taxes would hurt lower- and middle-income families.
“Yeah, it’s called taxes, right? So one thing, one of the reasons I want to stay as governor is because they keep raising taxes on everybody, in Washington, D.C.,” said Sununu, who recently announced that he will run for reelection as governor of the Granite State instead of waging a bid for the U.S. Senate.
“I keep lowering them and Republican governors keep lowering them for their citizens to offset that inflation, and itself is the worst tax you can put on low and middle income families across America because they got to buy a gallon of gas as much as anybody else,” he added.