GOP Hearing Quickly Backfires as Dems Take Over

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2:50Ben Meiselas:Republicans in the House of Representatives did not see this coming. Democrats going on the offense during the congressional hearings where MAGA Republicans were trying to run out the clock on the remaining days of the congressional calendar to not address the issues that actually matter to the American people. So the MAGA Republicans yesterday, for example, were holding hearings on shower heads and shower pressure. And this was their big hearing where they were basically, they were trying to like make jokes about it and go, oh, the trickle, trickle, trickle water pressure. And Democrats were like, one, why are you holding a hearing about this when Americans are suffering?

3:33Ben Meiselas:But two, if you want to go there, we're going to take over these hearings and we're going to bring it back to a core message of affordability right now. So let me show you what went down as Democrats essentially took over these congressional hearings. Before getting into it, I just want to remind you, please subscribe to this YouTube channel. We're on our way to 6 million subscribers. And as you know, the Midas Touch Network is under attack by the Trump regime. They've been posting about us on his social media platform. State regime media, which calls itself Fox, is attacking us. We're leading independent media, but we need to try to hit 6 million subscribers this month.

4:09Ben Meiselas:So please subscribe now. So let me show you what went down at these congressional hearings. MAGA Republican Congress member Fry talking about shower heads. And he's saying, let it flow. Let the water flow. I kid you not. This is what the MAGA Republicans were doing. But then let me show you what the Democrats do next. Here, play this clip. Last, at the subcommittee level, I think some of my colleagues on the other side were a bit bothered by some of the punny jokes that we had in the in my remarks so I made sure to add more there's nothing quite like a shower act in December let it flow let it flow let it flow some of our colleagues may want to freeze debate on this bill but today we're actually going to talk about common sense one more clip right here of congress member Frye where he goes your hair and your shampoo shouldn't require a four-year evacuation plan.

5:02Ben Meiselas:This is what we need to be focused on. Here, play this clip. Your hair and your shampoo shouldn't require a four-year evacuation plan. I urge my colleagues to support this straightforward bill. And with that, Mr. Chairman, we'll be back. Thank you. We appreciate it.

5:20Ben Meiselas:We applaud you showering us with your wisdom. We appreciate it very much. You know, when I'm watching that, I'm thinking like, are you doing a Billy Madison routine? Oh, shampoo is better. No, I like conditioner. What are these MAGA Republicans even talking about right now? There are so many pressing issues. Americans' healthcare getting ripped away from them. The Affordable Care Act subsidies expiring. People living paycheck to paycheck, being psychologically tortured in an economy where nothing is affordable. Housing is impossible to access. I can go on and on and on, but this is what MAGA Republicans are doing.

5:55Ben Meiselas:So let me show you what the Democrats do. So then AOC has her turn next to speak. And here's what she says. She goes, you want to talk about water pressure? Let's talk about it here. Play this clip. As a person who has installed their own shower heads, who has encountered this, if you are having a dribbly shower, is this not a water pressure issue? in your home. I mean, generally, like mechanically, I'm trying to engage this in good faith, like genuinely. And secondly, it seems as though we're blaming the showerhead on a water pressure issue. And in doing so, we are deregulating a piece of hardware that actually drives people's water bills up.

6:48And if we want to talk about affordability, and if we want to be in touch with working people's lives, my hope is that we've had that experience, that we know the things that we're legislating. And why would we make this affordability problem worse? I mean, I'm really trying to approach this earnestly. And if we can solve this problem by addressing a water pressure issue, there's no need to be changing regulations that increase people's water bills in the name of quote-unquote personal choice. This is how our health care system got deregulated, too. People talking about, oh, Americans should have the personal choice of getting totally fleeced by their health insurance companies.

7:39Americans should have the personal choice of having industries deregulated to the point that they are unloading costs onto everyday working people. And so, you know, I appreciate the efforts put into the limericks and such here, but really, as someone who's trying to approach this matter in good faith, I genuinely try not to approach legislation of just being reflexively anti-Republican, But as a person who does care about costs, I worry that these weakened standards are going to drive up people's water bills. I worry about the environmental impact of it. Drought is genuinely a problem. And I kind of don't I mean, it really may be a water pressure issue, genuinely.

8:30And so I say this because I just kind of want to give credence to the concerns that are put around this. And I'm not sure that those underlying concerns have been addressed. And with that, I yield back.

8:46Ben Meiselas:The gentlelady yields back. Further discussion. OK, and then in response to that, Congressman Fry says, but the issue is weak showers have been a systemic problem that we should care about. Here play this clip. And no one likes weak shower heads. Literally nobody likes weak shower heads. Weak showers are for sad motels and gyms built in the 1970s. If we wanted a gentle mist as our shower, we would just stand in front of a humidifier. So that's why I introduced the Shower Act, because no one wants to be waterboarded by a trickle at 6 a.m. in the morning. But then Democratic Congress member from New Jersey, Menendez, he's like, you want to talk about energy?

9:27Ben Meiselas:You want to talk about the structural issues here? He goes, let me give my colleagues on the other side an important reminder. Here, play this clip. When the administration's not here, you guys speak to the power and all the above strategy on energy production. When you have the opportunity to press them on why they're canceling offshore wind, why they're rolling back investments of renewable energy that create greater energy production, you have nothing to say. Even our colleague from Texas was critical of, quote, cutting off energy options. That's exactly what the Trump administration is doing.

10:00So where is the criticism of the Trump administration when they are taking us in the wrong direction, limiting options in states like Rhode Island, New Jersey, North Carolina, want to have? You guys are all silent then. We know that we need more energy production, but we need to press the administration to stop picking winners and losers like you suggest that they do. And an important reminder from my colleague from Texas was talking about New York and California and all these woke states. Texas must be the most woke state because 30 percent of their energy production comes from renewable energy.

10:31So why wouldn't we want that across the country? It's just ridiculous. But I'm glad they're finally saying the right things. I hope they say it when the administration's here. And I hope they push back on all the harm that this administration is doing, not just when it's convenient. And then with that, I yield back.

10:45Ben Meiselas:And then Democratic Congress member Menendez says, and let me ask you, how many town halls have you been to? Have you been actually speaking to your constituents? Do any of your constituents want to be talking about showerheads right now? Or were they worried about right now that their healthcare is going to be ripped away from them? Are they terrified that they're not going to be able to pay their rent, that they can't afford to buy a home despite working two jobs or working a hard paying job in general. You're playing this clip. Thank you, Chairman. You know, when I'm back home, the issues that people want to talk about are the health care crisis, the trillion dollars in cuts that Republicans supported to Medicaid, the largest cut to SNAP in the program's history.

11:27People are devastated by Trump's immigration enforcement, tearing families apart, apprehending U.S. citizens and all of the harm that this president is causing. So I would just ask, and I'm curious if the sponsor of the bill from South Carolina would be willing to answer how many in-person town halls he's hosted this year. I ask the question. I would yield my time if he wants to answer the question. How many in-person town halls you've hosted this year? Because my point is, is that how responsive we are to the issues of our constituents. And so what we seem to agree on is there's an affordability crisis.

12:06And I've not had one person in my district come to me in the town halls I've had both in person virtually and say showerheads are the pressing issue that they have. So that's that's what I'm hearing. And so I was just curious if the sponsor wanted to volunteer and I'll yield my time. how many in-person town halls he's had because there seems to be a disconnect from what we're hearing from our constituents who we engage with directly versus what you may be hearing. But if you choose not to, that's fine. He was on fire, right? Ever have one of those moments where your body reminds you it's not 25 anymore?

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14:07Ben Meiselas:More from Democratic Congress member Menendez here and says, it's interesting, you know, this report that you're showing us where you're now focusing on the shower heads and water pressure. You know, one of the things it says is that South Carolina was experiencing a manufacturing boom. You know how they were experiencing a manufacturing boom? Yeah, it's because of former President Biden's policies that Donald Trump and you MAGA Republicans have rolled back to literally kill a program that was helping a red state like South Carolina. Here play this clip. Because there's also criticism of the last administration, but an Economic Policy Institute report for March of this year, said that, quote, South Carolina is experiencing an economic boom.

14:49That's great. Fueled by massive federal investments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Biden. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Biden. And the Chips and Science Act, signed into law by President Biden. Meanwhile, Republicans, including the sponsor of the bill, voted for Trump's reconciliation bill that repealed the investments and tax credits from the very bills that are driving the economic boom in South Carolina. So maybe we could show some appreciation for a president who actually delivered for the American people instead of trying to appease a president who is consistently more worried about showerhead pressure than he is the quality of life for all Americans.

15:32And with that, I yield back.

15:33Ben Meiselas:Now, while that was taking place, you had Democratic Congress member Jamie Raskin the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, meaning he's the top Democrat in the House Judiciary Committee. He gave a powerful opening remark because one of the things that MAGA Republicans were trying to do was saying, look, we need to basically do an amendment to the United States Constitution to say all budgets must be balanced. Then we'll call it a balanced budget amendment. And won't that be great? It would be great, by the way. But do we need that as an amendment? You all control all three branches of government right now.

16:11Ben Meiselas:You control every aspect of government. So knowing that y 'all are running up the deficit. You have added trillions of debt. You've increased the deficit more year over year than former President Biden. You control it. Remember under Clinton when there was a surplus? You all are claiming your fiscal hawks, this and that. But what the Republicans are trying to do now is say, oh, well, we supported an amendment to the Constitution, which they know they'll never be able to get the states to agree. And so they just want to say this is what they're doing while running up the debt and increasing our deficits.

16:46Here, play this clip. And thank you, Chairman Roy. And thanks to our witnesses for joining us today. our Republican colleagues have convened this hearing to discuss a constitutional change to solve a problem that they have created legislatively, which is gigantic runaway federal budget deficits. We don't need a constitutional amendment to legislatively balance the budget. We just need some old-fashioned fiscal discipline. In the 1990s, President Clinton worked with a Republican-controlled Congress to eliminate the deficit, and they ran huge surpluses without the aid of a contrived balanced budget constitutional amendment, or even rhetoric about a balanced budget amendment.

17:33They just did it. Why can't Republicans who control the House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and the White House do the exact same thing today with control of every part of the government. If they want to balance the budget, just do it. They could just take action on their own to make the hard decisions. But instead they say, no, the real problem is we need to go out and get two thirds of the House and two thirds of the Senate and three quarters of the states to do it instead of just passing it by a majority in the House, in the Senate, in the White House. Obviously, they lack the political will or the fiscal discipline to do it.

18:12Ben Meiselas:Powerful words. I just want you to see the scheme, right? And he's so right. He's like, Republicans, you control all the branches. What are you doing? Then we have Congresswoman Sidney Komlager Dove. And here's what she has to say. Play this clip. Republicans call themselves fiscal hawks, but the numbers tell a different story. Under President Trump's first term, the deficit jumped from$665 billion to$3 trillion, from a B to a T. And he's already added another$2 trillion this term. Republicans added$155 billion to the national debt in a single week. The national debt is now$38.336 trillion, driven by GOP tax cuts that will cost$3.4 trillion through 2034, and nearly$5 trillion if extended.

19:11And now we spend more than$1 trillion a year just on interest. So that is the real fiscal landscape that we are dealing with.

19:24Ben Meiselas:And then you have Democratic Congresswoman Ballant. Here's what she has to say. Play this clip. What worries me so seriously about this conversation is that this whole concept of a balanced budget amendment requires us to actually support the Constitution that we have. You can't have this amendment if you don't have respect for the separation of powers, if you don't have respect for the powers of the purse, if you don't have respect for the Constitution as a whole. And under this Republican government, none of these things currently exist. My Republican colleagues have completely given up Congress's Article I powers, letting the president do whatever he wants.

20:10They have stepped back and let the executive branch run wild. We have invoked the founders a lot today, and I can tell you they would be disgusted by the majority's willingness to cede their power to this president. President Trump and congressional Republicans have completely abandoned constitutional governance by three co-equal branches. They have allowed the president to illegally refuse to spend money as directed by Congress. They have conducted absolutely zero oversight of misconduct and open corruption across the agencies and the White House. We just spent a month out of session because the speaker would not stand up to our president and protect our Article One powers.

20:56Why do I care so much about the Article One powers? It's not because of our power. It's because we represent the people. We represent the people who want us to pass those policies that actually benefit them. And we don't have that right now. So this whole conversation about going through this rigmarole of an idea that has a snowball's chance in hell of ever coming to fruition when we could actually spend our time here protecting our Article One powers.

21:28Ben Meiselas:And then the Democratic ranking member of the House Rules Committee, Democratic Congress member Jim McGovern, he says he shows this video of MAGA Mike Johnson whining about how hard it is to be the Speaker of the House and watch how Democratic Congress member Jim McGovern calls him out play this clip. I haven't had a vacation day in two years. I haven't been off in two years, literally. Even when you think like the work of the day is done and you put the phone down, I mean, this would be 1130 at night. Ring, ring. What? Another crisis. We have this joke that I'm not really Speaker of the House.

22:03I'm really like a mental health counselor. I mean, I can't believe he said that. I mean, he's whining about the workload. I mean, give me a break. regular people are working harder than ever and they can't afford anything groceries are going up the price of health care is going up and he's complaining about getting a call at 11 30 a night I mean come on he's accomplished nothing I mean the fact of the matter is he's a weak speaker he's Donald Trump's lapdog all he cares about is making Donald Trump happy I mean if he were a real speaker he'd be fighting right now to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits so that people don't lose their health insurance and if the job's too tough for you, Mike.

22:40Just leave.

22:41Ben Meiselas:Now, one of the things that we're learning about right now as well is that MAGA Mike Johnson is very vulnerable as the Speaker of the House. You have Nancy Mace saying that she may resign from Congress the way Marjorie Taylor Greene did. You have Elise Stefanik, MAGA Republican Congresswoman Stefanik, saying that if there was a vote tomorrow, there would be no confidence on MAGA Mike Johnson and he would no longer be the speaker. And so MAGA Mike was asked about that while he was walking through the halls. Watch what MAGA Mike says. Here, play this clip. I'm not worried about my standing at all.

23:18We are brutal over this agenda. You can talk to individual members. Look, we have a large body. There's 220 or so people in this conference and lots of different opinions. Everybody's not delighted with every scene and every day, but that's Congress. That's the way this system works. Absolutely. Yes, we're going to continue this agenda. We've had one of the most successful, productive Congresses in the history of this institution. We'll put it up against any in history. And we did that because we were able to keep everybody together, even with the smallest margins in history. And we'll continue to do that.