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- [00:03]
A
Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts, Radio news. Nicole. Malia Takis, Republican from New York is with us in studio in Washington. And it's great to have you back on Bloomberg TV and radio.
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B
Good to be with you.
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A
Is this a Republican or a conservative concept, the idea of capping interest rates on credit cards or something that you're comfortable with?
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B
Well, I think in general, a lot of Republican members, including myself, have expressed concerns with any type of price controls. Right. That's not something that we generally believe in. We applaud, applaud the president for trying to address this issue of affordability. And quite frankly, 29% is a little bit ridiculous. Right. I mean, you know, I can go to loan shark down the block in my district and basically get a better deal.
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A
Yeah.
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B
The issue I think is no, no, of course we don't. I'm just joking.
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A
Button Island.
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B
But the reality is, is that, you know, how can we address this? I actually was speaking to somebody who represents a credit union the other day and they're capped at 18%. How about that? So maybe, maybe 18% should be more of what we're looking at for a one to kind of bring it in par. But I think this is going to be a real big discussion on Capitol Hill because I can tell you I was a member, member of the Main Street Caucus, which is more, you know, center right. Members of our conference, a lot of them have expressed concerns about this in our last meeting, which took place on Monday. And so I do believe that this is really, really going to be going to be something that he's going to get a lot of opposition to on the Hill.
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A
This falls into the whole affordability category. You can come at this from a lot of different ways, whether it's, whether it's pharmaceuticals. Obamacare subsidies is one that we have been talking about a lot. And as the Senate prepares to go home today, there are some saying that this Bernie Moreno bill is going nowhere, that it's time for a new plan. Open enrollment is closing. Where are we in this debate?
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B
Yeah, look, I think that the president just a little while ago came out with his great health care plan and we're currently reviewing that. It does hit on a lot of the points. I mean, I think one of the big issues where we see some opportunity is pharmaceuticals. Right. He's proposed his most favored nation. He wants to pay Americans to pay the same price that many other countries are paying. Why are we subsidizing the research and on top of it paying the highest prices? So he has a point with that But I think the bigger issue is PBM reform. If we want to rein in those PBMs that are those middlemen between the insurance companies and the pharmacies and in some cases is vertical integration where the insurance company is the PBM and the pharmacy. And that is, I think, a real problem because we're seeing them put small mom and pop pharmacies out of business, are dictating what their competitors are making, and they are have no transparency in terms of, you know, what's going on in the middle, in between phase and how much they're profiting. So in fact, our committee next week, Ways and Means is going to be having these health insurance executives that do also own these PBMs come before us. And the questions, it's going to be interesting, especially when we, when we asked them, you know, about the 230 increase in profits and, and the premiums increasing at the same time despite those taxpayer subsidies. That's going to be a big topic, I think, in the next couple of weeks. Interesting. And we'll see where that goes. But I'm hopeful that we're still going to get something done a bipartisan way, if not through reconciliation. What the president proposed today could be done through the reconciliation process, which means only Republicans are needed to pass it.
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A
Wow, interesting. So reconciliation 2.0 is real for you?
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B
I think it's a possibility. I think, look, our margin keeps getting slimmer and slimmer, but I think that's very well possible maybe as it relates to health care and housing. There's a lot of discussion surrounding housing and affordability there. I think, I think one of the biggest things we also need to do, and I think as it relates to credit card companies, financial literacy is so important. Right. Teaching young people about what it means to take on debt.
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A
Yes.
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B
And you know, what's behind the actual dollar. And I think that that's, that's something we need to get back to the basics in our education system.
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A
You need to get a Bloomberg terminal in every classroom. I didn't really say that I want to ask you about immigration because the conversation that we had so frequently throughout the campaign has evolved. Following the ICE raids we saw the deadly shooting in Minneapolis. You can't wake up in the morning without the doom scroll on your phone and seeing somebody pull out of a car, pulled out of their home. President, actually, if you go back and listen to his rhetoric on the campaign trail, actually said in an interview this, this could be difficult for some people to see. Is this what you expected?
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B
Look, I think, I think what we really wanted and needed, particularly in my district, was the president to one, secure the border, which he's done.
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A
Yeah.
- [04:58]
B
We now have zero crossings, and number two, deport the criminals. Right. And I think that in many ways they've been very successful. We are seeing thousands of criminals that have committed real serious crimes, deported. Those migrant shelters that were popping up all over New York City, being funded by the taxpayer, are now closed. But we also see that there are areas where they've gone too far. And we've had a real discussion about this with the speaker and with the White House because we want to see some type of balance here. Right. And I think that's what the American people want. So you secured the border, you're deporting the criminals. But when it comes to these raids, I think. I think they are problematic. But I think the other issue is that the municipalities are not cooperating to deport those criminals. So if they're not turning over these people, which. In New York City recently, there was an article saying 7,000 individuals, including murderers and rapists, were released back onto the street instead of turned over to ice. And so when you have a situation where the local government is not cooperating to enforce the laws of our nation, it. These raids happen because now they got to go in there and find those criminals. And the problem is you're putting public at risk, you're putting those officers at risk. And so we really do need to see a cooperation, some common ground, that we're going to focus on those criminals. But we need these local governments to cooperate with us. And then the second part of this is obviously immigration reform. There's a group of U.S. hispanic Republicans who met with a speaker recently. We've been also pushing for a meeting with the President himself to talk about the need for immigration reform. I represent a district where we have a very diverse population. And even, you know, this Ukrainian parole program, that's now when people have to renew for that. It's taking a very long time. And these people are here legally and working, and they end up losing their jobs because they can't get their parole renewed. And we're seeing the same thing with work authorizations and visas. And people who are here doing the right thing, follow the rules, they're working hard, they're paying taxes, and you know what? They lose their legal status, and then they lose their job. And unfortunately, we need to figure out a system that improves that and also gives more employers opportunities to hire foreign workers for jobs that they cannot fill with Americans.
- [07:18]
A
Well, that was a comprehensive answer, and I only have a minute left. I want to just see your thought on the discord over these ICE raids impacting the budget for dhs. Could this hold up funding at the end of the month?
- [07:33]
B
Quite frankly, I think the Democrats are playing politics here with this. I think that, first of all, we just gave billions of dollars to our ICE to be able to carry out these deportations in the reconciliation bill, where you're going to see some impact if they choose to take this route. Coast Guard, for example, is going to get hurt. These are serious. Other federal law enforce. They're the ones that are going to get impacted. Counterterrorism, cybersecurity, our coastline, those are the areas we're going to see some impact if they don't work with us to get the job done and fund the government.