White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki encouraged Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy not to dumb down his reporting on a spending bill that is being pushed by Democrats.
During Monday's White House briefing, Doocy suggested that Democrats have been dishonest by claiming that the overall cost of the bill would be "nothing" because it is paid for by tax hikes on corporations and wealthy individuals.
"You had been saying that it cost zero," Doocy told Psaki. "So are you now admitting that the plan does not cost zero or is it less than zero?"
"Let's not dumb this down for the American public here," Psaki replied. "What we're talking about is how much the top-line investments are, which are all paid for, so therefore costs zero. No matter what the costs or size of the top-line investments are, we have ways to pay for it. So the point is that's important to the American public -- all of your viewers too -- is that this is not going to cost the American public a dollar."
"Just to not dumb it down then," Doocy pressed, "does the plan cost nothing or is the plan free?"
"The plan costs nothing for the American people who make less than $400,000 [a year]," Psaki said. "If you think that companies that paid zero in taxes last year, 50 of the top companies should continue to pay zero in taxes, we're happy to have that debate."
