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美国财政部长斯科特·贝森特(Scott Bessent)周日表示，白宫没有正式提议解除对患者保护与平价医疗法案的资助，而是直接向美国人提供资金，尽管唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统周六在社交媒体上发文推动这一计划。
“总统也在一夜之间提出了一个新的提议，说是时候废除奥巴马医改了，并说要把钱直接交给人民。你有这样做的正式提议吗?”ABC新闻的“本周”主持人乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯问道。
“我们还没有一个正式的提议，”贝森特说，但他补充说，患者保护与平价医疗法案“已经变得负担不起了。”
被斯特凡诺普洛斯问及是否会向参议院提出这样的计划时，贝森特说政府没有提出一个"现在"
在他的一篇社交媒体帖子中，川普说他正在“向参议院共和党人建议”,将流向保险公司的钱转而用于美国人民购买医疗保健。
“乔治，总统关于这件事的发帖。但同样，我们必须让政府重新开放之前，你知道，我们这样做。在民主党重开政府之前，我们不会与他们谈判。很简单，重开政府，然后我们可以进行讨论，”贝森特说。
贝森特还表示，他没有与特朗普谈论特朗普周日早些时候在社交媒体平台上吹捧的向美国人支付2000美元关税红利的提议。
特朗普称反对关税的人是“傻瓜”，声称“每人至少2000美元的红利(不包括高收入人群!)会付给大家。”
“乔治，2000美元的红利可以有多种形式，多种方式，”贝森特说。“你知道，我们看到的可能只是减税总统的议程-你知道，小费不征税，加班不征税，社会保障不征税，汽车贷款可抵扣。"
当被问及特朗普推动结束参议院阻挠议事的行为时，贝森特也闪烁其词，总统周末多次在网上发布这一消息。
"现在结束政府关门的最好方法是结束阻挠议事吗?"斯特凡诺普洛斯问道。
贝森特说，“最好的办法是让五名民主党参议员穿过过道”，投票支持一项继续为政府提供资金的决议。
以下是贝森特采访中的更多亮点:
政府关门对经济的影响
贝森特:我们从第一天开始就看到了对经济的影响，但这种影响越来越严重。我们有一个了不起的经济总统王牌过去的两个季度，现在有估计说，如果关闭继续下去，这个季度的经济增长可能会减少一半……货物运输也在放缓。所以你知道，我们可能会以短缺结束，无论是在我们的供应链中，还是在假期。所以你知道，货物和人在这里都慢下来了，这是为了安全起见，乔治。
关于特朗普声称价格下降
斯特凡诺普洛斯:总统王牌尽管上个月的报告显示通货膨胀率停留在3%左右，但仍坚持认为价格正在下降。美国人担心通货膨胀是错误的吗?
贝森特:好吧，乔治，我可以告诉你，我们不会做的是在拜登政府下发生的事情，政府和媒体对每个人发火，说，'哦，你知道，有一个共鸣会议，你不知道你有多好-有过。'接下来发生的事情是，我们经历了40或50年来最严重的通货膨胀——22，23%——但是美国工人的一篮子商品和服务上涨了30%以上。我们看到的是，我们必须首先停止上涨，现在我们开始看到价格稳定下来。汽油价格下跌。利率下降了。一些抵押贷款下降了。我认为我们正在这方面取得实质性进展。我认为在未来几个月和明年，价格会下降。
贝森特坚持认为，关税主要是为了重新平衡贸易
斯特凡诺普洛斯:这不过，总统的主要论点似乎是，我们，这是关于收入，他还承诺-
贝森特:不不不-乔治-
斯特凡诺普洛斯:-股息，每人至少2000美元的股息，不包括高收入人群。他将如何支付2000美元的股息?
贝森特:这不是收入的问题。这是关于再平衡。收入在早期产生，然后随着我们的再平衡和工作机会的回归，它就变成了国内税收。
斯特凡诺普洛斯:你是否担心然而，总统对收入的关注，也是他在公开声明中一直关注的，将会损害你在最高法院的论点?
贝森特:不，一点也不。一开始就有收入是完全一致的。然后，当我们重新平衡时，这是我们的目标，将高薪制造业工作带回美国，然后它将转化为国内税收。
Bessent says no formal White House health care proposal as shutdown drags on
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that there is no formal proposal from the White House to defund the Affordable Care Act and instead send money directly to Americans, despite a social media post from President Donald Trump on Saturday promoting such a plan.
"The president has also come forward with a new proposal overnight, saying it's time, instead, to do away with Obamacare and said to have the money go directly to the people. Do you have a formal proposal to do that?" ABC News' "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos asked.
"We don't have a formal proposal," Bessent said, but he added that the Affordable Care Act "has become unaffordable."
Pressed by Stephanopoulos about whether such a plan would be proposed to the Senate, Bessent said that the administration was not proposingone “right now."
In one of his social media posts, Trump said he was "recommending to Senate Republicans" that money going to insurance companies instead be sent to the American people to buy health care.
"George, the president's posting about it. But again, we have got to get the government reopened before, you know, we do this. We are not going to negotiate with the Democrats until they reopen the government. It's very simple, reopen the government, then we can have a discussion," Bessent said.
Bessent also said that he had not spoken with Trump about a proposed $2,000 tariff dividend to be paid out to Americans that Trump touted earlier Sunday morning on his social media platform.
Calling opponents to tariffs "fools," Trump claimed "A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone."
"The $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways, George," Bessent said. "You know, it could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on thepresident's agenda -- you know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, deductibility of auto loans."
Bessent also hedged when asked about Trump's push to end the Senate's filibuster, which the president repeatedly posted online about over the weekend.
"Is the best way to end the shutdown right now to end the filibuster?"Stephanopoulosasked.
"The best way is for five Democratic senators to come across the aisle" and vote for a continuing resolution to fund the government, Bessent said.
On the shutdown's impact to the economy
Bessent:We've seen an impact on the economy from day one, but it's getting worse and worse. We had a fantastic economy underPresidentTrumpthe past two quarters, and now there are estimates that the economy -- economic growth for this quarter could be cut by as much as half if the shutdown continues … There's also cargo is being slowed down. So you know, we could end up with shortages, whether it's in our supply chain, whether it's for the holidays. So you know, cargo and people are both being slowed down here, and that's for safety's sake, George.
On Trump's claims that prices are down
Stephanopoulos:PresidentTrumpis still insisting that prices are way down, even though last month's report showed inflation stuck at about 3%. Are Americans worried about inflation just wrong?
Bessent:Well, George, I can tell you what we're not going to do is what happened under the Biden administration, where the administration and the media gaslit everyone and said, 'Oh, you know, there's a vibe session, you don't understand how good you have -- had it.' And what happened then was we had the worst inflation in 40 or 50 years -- 22, 23% -- but the basket of goods and services for working Americans was up more than 30%. And what we're seeing is we had to stop the increase first, now we are starting to see prices level off, come down. Gasoline is down. Interest rates are down. Some mortgages are down. And I think we are making substantial progress on that. And I think over the coming months and the next year, prices are going to come down.
Bessent insists tariffs are primarily about rebalancing trade
Stephanopoulos:Thepresident's main argument, though, seems to be that we're, it's about taking in the revenue, and he also promises --
Bessent:No, no, no -- George --
Stephanopoulos:-- a dividend, a dividend of at least $2,000 a person, not including high income people. How is he going to pay that dividend of $2,000?
Bessent:It's not about taking in the revenue. It's about rebalancing. And the revenue occurs early on, and then as we rebalance and the jobs come home, then it becomes domestic tax revenue.
Stephanopoulos:Are you worried that thePresident's focus on revenue, though, which is what he's been focusing on in his public statements is going to hurt your argument at the Supreme Court?
Bessent:Not, not at all. It's completely consistent that the revenues come in at the beginning. Then as we rebalance, which is the goal of this, bring back high paid manufacturing jobs to the U.S., then it will then morph into domestic tax revenues.
