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Shoppers spent billions on Black Friday and could break Cyber Monday records. Today, Luisy and a Senator Bill Cassidy joins us now for more. Senator Cassidy, thank you so much for being here. Could you square this idea of incredible spending and the ongoing American consumer continuing to uphold the underlying economy and this real feeling that cost of living is becoming unsustainable.
Well, there's obviously segments within our society, and there's a group of people who are still managing to do well. There's another group of people who are really hurting. Now they may have the money to go out and buy their children the gift for Christmas. On the other hand, there is an increasing cost of insurance, whether it's health, property and casualty or flood insurance, as well as the
increasing costs of groceries. They have extra money but up here, But there's a lot of folks down here who are hurting.
This is the reason why a lot of people are expecting, even though we are seeing profits and companies continue to increase, they're expecting the FED to cut rates to respond to that case. Shaped economy or the massive people who really aren't feeling the gains, and I'm just wondering how much you're prepared to step in that you think that it's government's job on the fiscal side to really support that lower tier of consumers that are really feeling the pain.
I would argue that in the tax cut for workings, families are the one big beautiful bill we attempted to do that. We did it both by no tax on overtime, no tax on tips for seniors, eliminating the tax that most would pay on their Social Security, but also putting in some some pro business efforts that would encourage business to reshore to build out their manufacturing. Lastly, I will say there's a lot of money taking place on infrastructure
right now, and that infrastructure creates jobs. AI cannot swing a hammer, and so AI is not swinging in a hammer. Those folks are being employed. I would say that there is a business strategy to help those folks who are in the kind of struggling area of the economy centator.
There's one area, it comes to affordability that actually might become a lot more expensive next year if Congress does not act, and that's the enhanced premiums when it comes to the Affordable Care Act. You have a hearing this week regarding this. Do you think we can get to a decision before the deadline?
Yeah, I think we can. I have a plan, but it's one that other Republicans have reposed some form of, and we take that enhanced premium tax credit and instead of giving it to insurance companies where they take twenty percent for a profit and overhead, we give one hundred percent to the patient in the form of a deposit within a health savings account. This allows her not to buy the more expensive silver plan, but also get a cheaper plan called the Bronze plan. Now did I say
it's cheaper. It's cheaper, and so we're helping her own our affordability. By the way, the money in our health savings account also gives her first dollar coverage for a child's trip to the er. You know, I practiced for twenty years as a doctor, caring for the uninsured and the poorly insured. I learned that if you give power to the patient, you can lower health care cost. So we're giving power to the patient, profit to the insurance company.
Well, Democrats come on board with this plan. It doesn't seem like they are interested in this. They want at minimum and extension for a year or two of the extended premiums.
So think about it. We are we would actually be if you will, in one sense extending the enhanced premium tax credit. But instead of giving one hundred percent to insurance companies, they take twenty percent for profit and overhead. We're given one hundred percent to the patient.
So you're getting the extension, but the pool shrinks that money. So to shrink it does not shrink well for the insurance. Are they're going to have to pay more? Are you going to have to say you're on say the premium plan, or is your plan going to be even more expensive? It's not being subsidized by those in the lower end.
No, Again, going back to this, if you got this amount of money and currently under the current plan, you give one hundred percent to insurance companies and they take twenty percent for overhead and profit. Instead, you give one hundred percent to patients in terms of deposits within a whole savings account. First, you're lowering their deductible and because you have low they're deductible, they can take a cheaper bronze plan. Now, normally you don't because your deductible is higher.
We just lowered their deductible. They're getting a cheaper bronze plan. By the way, when you get power to the patient, she gets the health care she chooses to have that she knows she needs, as opposed to the healthcare the insurance company permits her to have a lot of wins in here for the patient who would not be for that. Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, do.
You think that this is enough to prevent the government from shutting shutting down again in January when this comes back up.
Absolutely, Why, Because we've actually addressed affordability in the exchanges, I would argue, we also begin to address the overall increase in health care cost. When you give that woman, and women make all the decisions in healthcare. When you give her the power of the purse and you say listen, if you go here, you save money. If you go there, you don't, everybody begins to lower their cost to where they can attract her business.
You said something earlier that I think is really important. You said that businesses have a role in creating jobs and creating a better landscape. For the lower core tiles and de siles of the US economy and the US earners. I just wonder what policies you think need to be implemented to do that, because right now it doesn't seem to be working.
Are you talking about in terms of overall business the business? Yeah, yeah, So I think that the tax policy that we put in and frankly with President Trump's tariffs, there's an incentive for people to begin to reshore that's certainly nearshore, and so when you reshore, you're going to create jobs. Now that doesn't happen like that, think how long you need
to put together your financing stack. But that's going to happen, and so as it happens, we'll see that kind of upswing in jobs for construction, for service, all those jobs that are related to that reshoring of manufacturing activity, and that'll cause a general boom. So that is long that is a sustainable strategy to create prosperity for folks.
A lot of people are saying that the reason why companies haven't created more jobs is because they're using artificial intelligence for efficiencies, and you're seeing that in terms of Amazon coming out and saying they're laying people off because of some of the efficiencies they're getting from algorithmic learning.
I'm just wondering, from a legislation standpoint, what you think that the government's role is and trying to make sure that people aren't left behind in this transition, given that a lot of these new programs can take on roles previously done by humans.
I'm a techno optimist. If you've got something that's going to increase the productivity of our nation, we'll increase tax revenue, not by increasing rates, but by increasing the overall growth of the economy. When you increase that overall growth of the economy and you have more money, We've got like trillions of dollars of backlog in infrastructure. Let's just focus
once we're there. If you begin to invest that money in infrastructure, AI does not swing a hammer, You're going to create a lot of jobs for folks who right now are struggling to get better jobs. By the way, we're also building out our oil and gas industry, our energy industry. That creates a heck of a lot of jobs. And so everybody looks at the negative, Oh we're going to downside, we need to look at the positive that will just shift investment to a more productive area of
the economy. As we grow at the expense of other nations, or maybe we all grow together, we'll create that employment.
Lisa started out this conversation talking about affordability. Americans are still struggling. You're also looking at trying to address healthcare affordability by actually having this health savings account proposal. The President talked about two thousand dollars tariff checks. You're on the Finance Committee, you're on the help you lead the Health Committee. Do you think that that is a good way to address affordability right now? Putting money directly into consumer's pockets.
So I'd like to see what the President's going to propose. We do know that the debt and deficit eventually takes money out of our pockets, and so we absolutely know that. So the question is better to pay down our nation's debt. And as you've paid down our nation's debt, then it makes it easier to lower interest rates for the FED to lower interest rates, which then lowers a mortgage payment,
which then maybe lower other credit forms of credit. As you do that, you make life more affordable that way. The other thing you have to worry about is if you give everybody a two thousand dollars check, does that bump up inflation? And therefore the Fed is inhibited on lowering their rates. So it can't be taken in kind of isolation. It has to be taken in context of everything we can do to benefit that person sitting at home struggling a little bit.
It sounds like you would be a no. Then on the two thousand zero sounds like.
I'm going to investigate so.
That I know, okay, while you investigate, there's also potentially going to be another big Senate first to hearing and then a vote when it comes to the president's FED peck. Right now, the front runner is his counsel and Economic Advisor's chair, Kevin Hassett. Do you think you would say yes to him being the FED chair.
I've been impressed with Kevin. This is the second time around Servant and Trump's administration. I think he's done a good job. Of course, our reserve judgment until we actually begin to look at him as FED chair. We are having this problem of inflation which just is a little bit sticky, and yet we want to decrease rates. How you're going to navigate that, but I'm certainly predisposed to support him. Are you worried about FED? And FED independence
is critical, you just have to have it. But I also think that Kevin would step up and be as aware of the importance of FED independence as anybody.
Louis Yana Senator, thank you so much for being with us, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy here in the New York Studio. Very much cost of living on the docket, especially given how much healthcare has dominated the conversation, and potentially and Marie could be the reason why the government could shut down yet again.
Right, there's this going to the debate. It's happening all of December. The Senator is going to be leading a hearing on it. What do you do in the sense that you have these enhanced Obamacare credits that are going to be ending. And for Democrats this is really important for them to have this fight because this is what the entire shutdown, longest shutdown history was based around.