{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/barrasso-republicans-are-putting-more-money-in-your-pockets/", "Barrasso: Republicans are Putting More Money in Your Pockets", "2026-09-29", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "WY", "John Barrasso", "B001261", "www.barrasso.senate.gov", "barrasso", "https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom/news-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cWhether it is lowering energy costs, cutting taxes or fighting fraud and corruption, there is the core difference between commonsense Republicans and crazy Democrats. Republicans want every American to keep more of what they earn. Democrats want every American to have less money in their pocket.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) today shared how Democrats are blocking bipartisan legislation that would put more money in the pockets of the American people. Senator Barrasso slammed Democrats for their opposition to permitting reform, tax cuts, and fighting fraud.\n\nClick HERE to watch Senator Barrasso\u2019s remarks.\n\nSen. Barrasso\u2019s remarks as prepared:\n\nSen. Barrasso\u2019s remarks as prepared:\n\n\u201cI rise today to talk about action \u2013 action Republicans are taking to lower costs.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s start with the cost of energy. We need to be able to build better, faster, cheaper, and smarter. We need it for pipelines and energy projects all across the country. These critical energy projects spend years trapped in the regulatory penalty box. Lawsuits by environmental extremists keep projects further tied up in the courts.\n\n\u201cRepublicans are committed to permitting reform. Senator Capito and Senator Lee have spent months working on this critical topic. Democrats here in the Senate, led by Senator Schumer, continue to block it. Democrats are objecting to solutions that actually lower the price of energy. Democrats embrace higher energy costs. They have a long history of doing that. It is a feature of the radical Democrat Green New Deal agenda.\n\n\u201cLast week, Senate Democrats blocked a bill from Senator Jon Husted of Ohio. The bill is called the Ratepayer Protection Act. Senator Husted\u2019s bill protects working families. That is why it is called the Ratepayer Protection Act. Senator Husted\u2019s bill guarantees that large users of electricity, such as data centers, pay the full cost of the electricity they use. It also holds them responsible for the upgrades to the grid they need. This blocks higher costs from being forced onto families and small businesses.\n\n\u201cThe House of Representatives passed Senator Husted\u2019s bill 417 to 3. Two hundred and six Democrats voted for it. The American people support it. Yet once again, Senate Democrats \u2013 led by Senator Schumer \u2013 stand in the way of relief. We need to pass Senator Husted\u2019s Ratepayer Protection Act. Republicans will continue to fight to get it done.\n\n\u201cTomorrow, we will hold another vote on Senator Husted\u2019s bill. Democrats have a choice. They can join Republicans to help lower costs. Or they can explain to American families why their party continue to stand in the way of relief.\n\n\u201cRepublicans will never stop fighting to ensure Americans keep more of what they earn. When Americans keep more of what they earn, the economy grows, and families prosper. Across the country, more people are working. Take-home pay is rising. The Wall Street Journal pointed out, \u2018It is one of the best job markets in decades\u2019 for young adults without college degrees. That is where the country stands today.\n\n\u201cLast year, the American people faced the largest tax increase in American history. Had Democrats gotten their way, taxes would have gone up by $4 trillion. Democrats would have snatched hard-earned money right out of the pockets of firefighters, police officers, nurses, and waiters. Republicans stopped the largest tax increase in American history.\n\n\u201cWe got rid of taxes on tips, on overtime, and on Social Security. We expanded the Child Tax Credit. It is now $2,200 per year per child. We delivered permanent relief from the dreaded Death Tax. Two million farmers, ranchers, and small businesses benefited. We permanently raised the Standard Deduction.\n\n\u201cAs a result of our Working Families Tax Cuts law, 97 percent of Americans received a tax cut when they filed their taxes this year. Refunds this year were bigger than they were last year. The people who benefited the most were those earning less than $200,000 per year.\n\n\u201cOne of the unique parts of the Republican tax cuts are called Trump Accounts. These are brand new, tax-advantaged investment accounts. Every American child can have one. Children born between 2025 and 2028 start with $1,000 in their account. It comes directly from the United States Treasury.\n\n\u201cTrump Accounts follow a very American idea: when families are free to invest their own money, their children can build wealth for the future. Millions of children and families are already using Trump Accounts. Parents, family members, churches, community groups, and even employers are contributing as well. Recently, Delta Airlines committed to invest $1,000 into the Trump Accounts of each of their employees\u2019 children. Other businesses are doing the same.\n\n\u201cEvery single Democrat Senator voted against these valuable accounts. That includes the two Senators from Georgia, where Delta Airlines is headquartered. Democrats refuse to put children\u2019s financial future first.\n\n\u201cAs Republicans fight to put more money in the pockets of the American people, we continue to crack down on waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption.\n\n\u201cLast week, the Trump administration took another big step to root out fraud in our healthcare system. It identified 750,000 names that were fraudulent, improper, or ineligible for Obamacare. Many of these names lacked Social Security numbers. Many were signed up without knowing it. Insurance brokers gamed the system. They earned commission for each new account. There was no verification of identity, income, or immigration status. Red warning lights were signaling fraud and corruption. This crackdown on fraud saves taxpayers $2.2 billion. It ensures money and services go to Americans who truly need them.\n\n\u201cDemocrats want the money to keep flowing out of the Federal Treasury. Remember, Joe Biden and Democrats enabled this fraud. Enrollment doubled on their watch without justification. It was juiced by generous bonus subsidies. Big checks were sent directly from taxpayers into the pockets of health insurance companies.\n\n\u201cPerverse incentives encouraged liberal governors to spend money from Medicaid without any oversight. In Minnesota, it went to phony treatment centers. In California, it went to phantom hospice providers. Republicans are committed to stopping the abuse and punishing the criminals.\n\n\u201cWhether it is lowering energy costs, cutting taxes, or fighting fraud and corruption, there is the core difference between commonsense Republicans and crazy Democrats. Republicans want every American to keep more of what they earn. Democrats want every American to have less money in their pocket.\n\n\u201cThat is why Democrats are determined to repeal the Working Families Tax Cuts law. That means a direct tax increase on every American. It means raising taxes on waitresses, on nurses working overtime, on firefighters, on police officers, and on seniors. Why? So illegal immigrants can receive free healthcare, paid for by hardworking taxpayers. That is radical, extreme, dangerous, and scary. Americans are struggling to pay their bills. They should not be forced to pay the bills for millions of illegal immigrants.\n\n\u201cRepublicans will continue to fight to put money back in the pockets of American citizens who rightfully earned it.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-30T10:57:52Z", "2026-09-30T10:59:04Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/barrasso-republicans-are-putting-more-money-in-your-pockets/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7038251496851444, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}