Rep. Tom Malinowski on stimulus package: Something similar to Biden’s proposal will be supported by U.S. Senate

New Jersey Congressman Tom Malinowski joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss how Biden’s stimulus plan could boost economic output in the U.S. and weigh in on the importance of social media regulation amid pandemic.

Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Well, new estimates out from the IMF suggest President Joe Biden's economic stimulus package could boost economic output in the US by as much as 5% over the next three years. That is only if it passes, of course, in its current form, the $1.9 trillion package. Let's bring in Congressman Tom Malinowski, Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski from New Jersey.

And congressman, let's talk about where the discussions stand right now. It feels like the plan's already run into a pretty big wall, with Republicans saying that this price tag is just too big. How optimistic are you that this can be passed in a bipartisan manner?

TOM MALINOWSKI: I'm optimistic. Obviously, there's going to be negotiating, and the final deal is not going to be identical to what the president proposed. It never is. But here is the big difference between today and a month ago, two months ago. Mitch McConnell is not in control of the United States Senate. He can't block anything that we propose. So what's going to happen is, we're going to reach a deal, and it will get a vote in the United States Senate. And senators are going to have to say yes or no.

And I think something similar to what President Biden proposed will be put on the floor of the United States Senate. And I have a hard time imagining, given the state of our economy and what you just mentioned, the prospect of a significant boost in growth if we do the right thing, I have a hard time imagining a lot of senators saying no to help to their constituents.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, congressman, that seems to be-- you know, obviously, getting a vote is one thing. Getting it approved by enough Republicans in the Senate would be another. And we have seen Republicans come out against, or at least, maybe not take up the votes as Democrats had expected on some of these proposals before. It seems like there are still a few sticking points. When you have your discussions right now with your caucus, what seems to be those that are gaining the most support among your side here and something that you would point to as saying, look, we're not going to budge on this issue?

TOM MALINOWSKI: So, first of all, this isn't coming down strictly on partisan lines, right? There are some Republicans who've said that the $2,000 stimulus payment, $1,400 above the $600 that was already approved, is too much too expensive. It needs to be targeted a little bit more. But then there are Republicans who very strongly support $2,000 stimulus payments. So there's disagreement, but it's not strictly Republican versus Democrat.

Another issue that I have been emphasizing and a lot of Democrats feel strongly about is that we need to provide some direct support to our state and municipal governments across the country that are facing revenue losses because of the economic crisis. McConnell refused to consider that proposal, even though it had Republican support. And so, I'm more confident that we'll get a bill and get a vote on a bill, bipartisan vote, that includes that.

AKIKO FUJITA: Let's turn our attention to a push that you have really made, this effort to combat misinformation and extremism on social media. You recently sent a letter to the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, calling for a fundamental re-examination of what you've described as this digital echo chamber caused by the algorithms. What specifically-- what are the specific changes you are seeking when it comes to the algorithms?

TOM MALINOWSKI: So most of the attention and most of the controversy is about who gets blocked from Twitter, right? Do we let President Trump stay on Twitter or not? And that's an important debate, but I don't think it gets at the heart of the problem. The real problem is that these social networks-- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, et cetera-- they are designed to feed each and every one of us increasingly hateful versions of what we already hate, increasingly fearful versions of what we already fear.

They know everything about us. And they give us more and more and more of what we already believe. Because that's the way to keep us glued to their platforms so that we see more ads and we buy more stuff. The result is, well, we saw it on January 6th when the Capitol in Washington, DC, was attacked by a mob of thousands of people who sincerely believed that the election had been stolen and that the government had been taken over by a secret cabal of devil worshippers, and who also sincerely believed that everybody in America agreed with them. Because that's all they see on their Facebook feeds, all they see on their Instagram, on their YouTube. And it's because of this digital echo chamber created by the social media algorithm.

So, it's not enough, I think, for these companies just to block people and to label information. Yeah, that's important, but that doesn't get at the heart of the problem. We've asked them to redesign the networks. It's hard, but it's absolutely necessary to save our democracy.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, I mean, when you're talking about that, though, it obviously raises questions about whose role was larger, since we are going to see, you know, the Senate trial for President Trump move forward in the impeachment trial. It sounds like you're stressing the tech companies there might have an even larger role, not just because of their amplification of what President Trump had been saying, but also the algorithms behind what they're showing users as well. It sounds like they are, indeed, part of the problem there as well.

TOM MALINOWSKI: Yeah, It's not either or. I absolutely hold President Trump and other leaders responsible for mobilizing that mob and feeding them with the lie that inspired them to attack the Capitol and to threaten our lives, which continues, unfortunately. But I'm not going to absolve the social media companies for creating this network over the last 10 years, which not just in the United States, but all around the world, has led to a rise in violent extremism, on both the left and the right.

This is something we have to deal with. And so, yeah, we've sent them a letter. And by the way, we know that they know how to fix this problem. Because a lot of the companies have experimented with changes to their algorithms. They've implemented changes temporarily, say, a few weeks before an election or a big national event. So we know that they can do this. They're reluctant to because let's face it, this is how they make their money, by keeping us obsessively glued to our screens. So there's, you know, tension here, but we're going to have to resolve it.

AKIKO FUJITA: Congressman, shifting gears here, because we are getting a headline out of the Senate here that the Senate has confirmed Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of State, Tony Blinken. Certainly, one of the key issues for the new Secretary of State is going to be the US relationship with China. We did hear from Xi Jinping yesterday at the World Economic Forum, who essentially said-- and I'm summarizing here-- that any of these efforts to try and isolate China simply will not work. How is Joe Biden's policy on this particular issue any different than what we saw under President Trump when you take out the rhetoric?

TOM MALINOWSKI: Yeah, well, look, I think that there's broad consensus that the Chinese Communist Party poses a threat to democracies around the world. They are promoting an erosion of international norms, whether it's sovereignty and the law of the sea or trade or human rights. China is aggressively trying to undermine these norms that the United States and our allies have promoted around the world. We're not trying to isolate China, but we are going to be defending those norms. And I think the Biden administration is fully committed to that.

The difference between Biden and Trump is that Biden understands that we can't win this contest with the Chinese Communist Party, unless we are true to ourselves, unless we model for the world the United States an attractive example of what democracy can do. We've got to conquer the coronavirus. We've got to protect freedom of the press. We've got to model our democratic values in a way that makes America an attractive alternative to what the Chinese are promoting. If we can do that, then we can be tough. And I want to be tougher than--

ZACK GUZMAN: And congressman--

TOM MALINOWSKI: --administrations have been.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, and let me just close on one issue that might be important here in New Jersey. We're seeing President Joe Biden right now order his Department of Justice to not renew contracts with private prisons. That's kind of part of his push here on racial equality and addressing the social justice issues. In New Jersey, constituents there voted to legalize marijuana, though at a state level in terms of the legislature getting things through. It seems like that's taking a lot of time.

And people aren't necessarily pleased with the idea of people still getting arrested for minor marijuana offenses after the state voted to legalize. So talk to me about maybe the efforts you want to see there in New Jersey and the speed at which that issue's getting addressed now.

TOM MALINOWSKI: I think what we voted for in New Jersey reflects a growing national consensus that we don't want law enforcement resources wasted chasing people who are using marijuana recreationally. We don't want to see the mass warehousing in our prisons of young people for marijuana offenses. And those-- and we want to resolve the injustices of the past, right? So it's not just going forward, but we want to make sure the people who have been sentenced in the past, that there is redress there as well.

So we voted for it in New Jersey. Our legislature is struggling a little bit to turn that consensus into a binding law. But it'll happen because there's overwhelming support in the state from our governor on down. And so, I'm confident we'll get there.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, and interesting to see kind of at a federal level President Biden leading that issue, too. We'll hear more on the social equality front as well. But Congressman Tom Malinowski from the state of New Jersey, appreciate you coming on here to chat with us today. Be well.