Sen. Roger Marshall insisted Tuesday on Newsmax that the $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation being voted on after his interview is a "gateway drug to socialism" and will allow Democrats to eventually spend more than $5 trillion on things the country doesn't need.
"You know this takes away Medicare dollars from seniors to pay for infrastructure," the Kansas Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report." "It takes transgenders and gives them a special protected class as well. This mortgages our children's futures."
He also pointed out that the infrastructure bill allows for an "$11 billion tunnel" for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and that spending is more than his state of Kansas will get overall.
However, Marshall said he does have to respect moves by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans to push through the bill in hopes that they can "jam" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the new law.
"It's going to create such chaos over there on the House side between her far-left socialist and her more moderate Democrats who are supporting this bill, and maybe it just jams them to the point that it keeps the price tag of that next piece of legislation down," said Marshall.
But even if there is "good infrastructure" in the bill, other Republicans are "able to to take the good with the bad, and I just can't take the bad," said Marshall.
Immediately after the passage of the infrastructure bill, Senate Democrats are pushing through a $3.5 trillion reconciliation budget bill, and Marshall pointed out Democrats won't need a Republican vote to push that through.
"That's socialism," he said of the larger bill. "When they talk about human infrastructure, that's code for socialism, and we haven't talked about the tax increase ... they're coming after your pocketbook. You better grab it and put your hands and cover your pocketbook."
In other matters, Marshall spoke out against mask and vaccine mandates.
"No one has convinced me that masks really work, especially for people that have already had the vaccine or natural immunity, or the masks might give a little bit of protection to my parents," said Marshall. "I just think that we're kidding ourselves if we think kids wearing masks helps. It probably makes matters worse."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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