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Congressman John Yarmuth discussed his concerns about the proposed Green New Deal, President Trump’s 2020 budget, expanded health care and other issues during Friday’s In Conversation with Rick Howlett on WFPL.
Yarmuth was recently named the House Budget Committee Chairman, granting him powers pivotal to deciding how federal dollars are spent. On President Trump’s 2020 budget proposal, Yarmuth said it includes “malicious” cuts that would hurt middle and low-income families.
“It is done intentionally, which is the definition of malice, because this is the way they’ve always done it in recent years,” Yarmuth said. “I was not a fan.”
He did not denounce all of President Trump’s budget proposal.
Yarmuth said he supports some parts of it, such as its commitment to infrastructure, cybersecurity, combating the opioid epidemic and funding a new veterans hospital in Louisville.
Yarmuth also talked about the Green New Deal, which is a resolution calling for the U.S to address emissions, climate issues, income disparities and more. Yarmuth said he supports the major goals of the deal, but he is skeptical of whether supporters can justify its costs.
“Most people who look at the Green New Deal says there’s no way we could do virtually any of it in the time frame that they want to do it,” Yarmuth said, adding he didn’t know if the deal would be fiscally sound. “I suspect [the deal is] very hard to justify on budgetary grounds.”
Join us next Friday on WFPL’s In Conversation as we talk about the Kentucky Derby Festival with retiring festival President Mike Berry and other officials.
