Mick Mulvaney on 'Kilmeade Show': Dems may 'game the system' to push through massive spending bill
Mulvaney says GOP should focus on Democrats' policies, not the dollar amounts
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney argued the Democrats have "outfoxed" the Republicans on the massive spending bill, calling on the GOP to focus on the policy as much as they are the topline numbers. Mulvaney joined "The Brian Kilmeade Show" on Monday, predicting Democrats will "game the system" to pass the legislation as Pelosi's deadline looms.
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MICK MULVANEY: And this is one of those things that I think the Democrats have outfoxed the Republicans on. In this case, I don't think they did it on purpose, but here's what they've done. Over the course of the last six, eight, 12 weeks, they focused on the number, the $3.5 trillion. Is that too much? Is it really 5.5? Will Manchin take 1.9? I think Biden floated two trillion on Friday as a compromise, and here's why that frightens me. If you gave me the bill, Brian, over at the Office of Management Budget, give me an hour with this bill and I could make this bill score at six trillion. I could make the bill score at one trillion without changing any of the underlining policies. I know how to game the system and I can assure you I am not the only one who knows how to do that.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And my guess is the way this is going to get done is that Democrats are going to game the system, leaving the bill substantively in the same condition it is now, but make it look like it costs $1.9 trillion dollars. Manchin will then be able to say, oh, I can vote for it because it's less and they can say they compromised because they brought the number down and we're going to get the same terrible policies.
Republicans, I think, are making a mistake focusing on the dollar figure and instead should be looking at, do we really want this dramatic expansion of government, regardless of what it costs. If it costs a dollar it's bad. If it costs $100 trillion, it's bad. We should be focusing on the policy as much as we are the numbers.
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