Sen. Tim Scott, a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, told Newsmax on Friday he voted against the debt ceiling deal negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Joe Biden because it doesn't do enough to rein in federal spending.
"Without question, Kevin McCarthy did a good job trying to get someone who said they did not want to negotiate to negotiate," the South Carolina Republican told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren." "The problem is it fell short for me. The primary reason why is between now and the end of President Biden's term, he has zero limits on spending. The last fiscal year, he overspent by $1.2 trillion. This fiscal year, the projection is $2 trillion of overspending, or 40% more than we bring in.
"Next year, no limit on the credit card. He has until January 2025 to spend as much as he wants to spend."
The Senate passed the deal with a 63-36 vote Thursday night. Scott was among 30 Republicans to vote no. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, and Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts were Democrats who voted no, as did Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
The House passed the measure 314-117 on Wednesday night. It is on Biden's desk awaiting his signature.
Scott said the U.S. is in financial straits because of Biden's undisciplined spending habits since he became president.
"Let's start back at the beginning of this president's administration," Scott said. "The first bill he passed was $1.9 trillion; only Democrats voted for that legislation. One percent of that COVID relief package was for COVID vaccines. Less than 10% was for COVID-related health. In other words, $1.7 trillion of new spending targeted progressive priorities from a policy perspective. The next big bill, $1.2 trillion for infrastructure. The only problem: It didn't take care of ordinary infrastructure for the next five years.
"The third big bill, the Inflation Reduction Act — that was actually the inflation increasing act that increased inflation — could hire up to 87,000 new IRS agents; and in addition to that, they're going to target working-class people making less than $200,000. ... It's just fundamentally broken the way President Biden has used his position to increase power in Washington, which is bad news for the rest of America."
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