Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Talks Newark Airport Delays
04:03 Share

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Hiscox Small Business Insurance knows there is no business like your business. Across America, over 600,000 small businesses, from accountants and architects to photographers and yoga instructors, look to Hiscox Insurance for protection. Find flexible coverage that adapts to the needs of your small business with a fast, easy online quote at Hiscox.com. That's H-I-S-C-O-X dot com.

There's no business like small business. Hiscox Small Business Insurance. Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts, radio, news. Leader Schumer, we heard from the Transportation Secretary an argument that the airspace is safe, as he put it. I wonder if you would tell Americans right now that they are, in fact, safe to fly.

Look, I'm not going to dispute the FAA when they say that, but you can't be too careful. And things are safe until they're not safe, as we learned at DCA. And so the bottom line is there are lots of questions about how they have handled themselves.

First, the firing of so many employees under Doge has weakened the FAA. Second, a good number of top-level people who are concerned with air safety and flight safety have left out of exasperation because they think the people who have been put in charge don't know what they're doing.

The FAA increased bonuses to attract more people in the towers and keep them in the towers for 13 cities, but not Philadelphia, New York or Washington. That seems to me to be ridiculous. So there are so many questions that have not been answered yet. And, you know, one word that describes this administration is chaos.

There's no place worse to have chaos, very few places, than an airport. Yet that's what's happening at Newark, and it's spreading around the country. Senator Schumer, do you believe then that Doge is to blame and these cuts are to blame for what you are seeing in the air right now?

All the reports we get from people who work there is the cuts have hurt and there is no rhyme or reason to them. They're just cutting for cutting sake and it's very bad. We talked to people who are in the towers.

I want to pivot here to ask you about the budget process, which of course is ongoing and being driven here by Republicans. They talk about there being waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid to the tune of $600 billion. Do you think that that is findable in that way? And how do you sort of see Democrats responding to Republicans pushing this forward? No.

Yeah, we ask them, give us specific examples of waste when they're cutting Medicaid. And they fail to come up with them or have one anecdotal thing that can't even be proven. We know that they want to slash Medicaid, not because of waste, but for one reason. And that is to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people in this country. You know, God bless the people who made a lot of money, but they don't need a tax break. Certainly when you're cutting Medicaid, which is going to cause huge layoffs,

decline in health care, and closure of hospitals and nursing homes. I was on Staten Island, a Republican area, a few weeks ago with the health leaders. And they estimate that there would be 18,000 people who would lose their jobs under these cuts. That would send that whole economy of Staten Island into a recession. So they use excuses because they just want to slash the budget.

and they don't come up with anything specific, nor do they come up with specific solutions how to end waste. People show up Friday night at home after a hard week of work, and online is you're fired, don't show up at the office. These people have dedicated their lives to helping people, and they're not even given an explanation of why they're fired because Doge doesn't have one. They just want to slash.

Now, there are those in your own party, though, that have said there need to be changes when it comes to spending. Where would you suggest cuts?

Well, look, first, no one's against cutting waste, but you've got to document it. You just don't tell somebody they're part of waste without giving them any explanation, any evidence. But there are obviously places that can be cut throughout the budget. But you've got to be careful. You've got to use a scalpel, not a chainsaw. You know, when Elon Musk gets there smiling that he's using a chainsaw to government, doesn't he realize he's hurting millions of people?

Switch to Verizon Business and get more from your internet without paying more for your internet. Get LTE Business Internet starting at $39 a month when paired with select business mobile plans. That's unlimited data and with it, unlimited possibilities. Start saving today with Verizon Business, ranked number one in small business internet customer satisfaction by J.D. Power.

Starting price for 25 megabits per second LTE internet plan with smartphone plan savings, plus taxes, fees, and economic adjustment charge. Terms apply. For J.D. Power 2024 award information, visit jdpower.com slash awards. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. ♪