Kasich: GOP megabill 'another effort to kick the can down the road' on 'tremendous fiscal problems'
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Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Tuesday railed against Republicans who are backing President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” accusing them of avoiding real action to tackle the nation’s financial woes.

The legislation passed the Senate around noon Tuesday with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Vance after a marathon “vote-a-rama” session, but Kasich predicted earlier in the day that it would soon win Senate-approval despite concerns that were raised.

“This bill is going to pass, but it’s another effort to kick the can down the road when it comes to the tremendous fiscal problems that we’re facing in this country,” Kasich said in an appearance on MSNBC. “I knew they were going to cobble stuff together, but the problem we have here long term is that we are racing towards the edge of a cliff when it comes to this national debt, which continues to go up.”

“So, I have grave concerns,” he added.

Kasich was a member of Congress for nearly two decades and chaired the House Budget Committee before he was elected governor of the Buckeye State. He unsuccessfully sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016 and has frequently clashed with Trump.

“I just think the whole thing was put together in a very odd way,” he said. “Republicans have failed to be able to define the why of this bill.”

“If you’re going to do something that’s significant, you have to tell people why you’re going to do it, and then once they understand why you’re going to do it — or at least they they get a sense of why you’re going to do it — then I think you have more support for getting done what you want to get done,” he continued.

Kasich accused Republican leaders of working toward passage, rather than reform.

“We are racing toward the edge of a cliff,” Kasich said. “The national debt keeps rising, and there’s no serious appetite in Washington for fundamentally reforming the federal government.”

Kasich also blasted GOP lawmakers of trying to appease Trump, rather than trying to make meaningful legislation.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) faced backlash from Trump over the weekend for his opposition to the bill. Trump publicly floated supporting a challenger to Tillis’s possible reelection bid next fall over their rift, but Tillis ultimately announced that he will not seek a third Senate term.

“The Republican Party was my vehicle … It was never my master,” Tillis said. “My job was to serve the public, not to serve a political party.”

“Too much of it now is self-interest on both sides of the aisle, and that’s why we are not solving America’s problems today,” he added.

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