WASHINGTON—Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Budget Committee Democrats reached a deal Tuesday evening on a budget resolution with a whopping $3.5 trillion price tag that funds every major, radical, socialist policy item that President Biden requested of Democrats. Heritage Policy Analyst David Ditch released the following statement on the reckless spending plan:
“Congress has already damaged the economic recovery through excessive unemployment benefits that make it hard for businesses to find workers. In fact, a new Morning Consult poll found that approximately 1.8 million out-of-work Americans have turned down jobs because they make more from these unemployment insurance benefits. We are literally paying Americans billions of dollars not to work, while expecting our economy to fully recover. The budget resolution that the Senate is preparing will enable the largest tax-and-spend bill in history: $3.5 trillion, or $27,000 per household.
“Meanwhile, the bipartisan infrastructure deal would help enable the catastrophic tax-and-spend package, destroying countless jobs and discouraging investment when we need it most. It includes hiring an army of IRS agents that would enforce the forthcoming tax hikes. The spending will be used to create an unprecedented cradle-to-grave welfare state, making Americans more reliant than ever on the federal government. It is urgent that Congress avoid such a radical step toward socialism and centralized federal power.”
Norbert Michel, director of the Center for Data Analysis, stated the following on the economic implications from the massive new federal spending:
“Americans go to the store every day and see prices rising on regular household goods. Their experience is matched in the CPI data released this week showing a 5.4% increase from one year ago. The new data has spurred even more anxiety, as it represents the third major increase in the past three months.
“This budget resolution represents more of the same fiscal irresponsibility from the left. The fact is, the massive expansion in unemployment insurance benefits, coupled with liberals’ relentless spending increases, has caused much of the inflation pain that Americans are feeling. Together with excessive unemployment insurance benefits with super-sized bonuses and minimal eligibility requirements, these radical policies have clearly contributed to significant labor problems and the pocketbook pain businesses and working-class Americans are experiencing across the U.S.
“Adding even more deficit spending does nothing to address the underlying supply problems. In fact, doing so is likely to worsen inflation and further fuel consumers’ anxiety. Americans are right to worry that further government intervention like this spending proposal will only add more upward pressure to the price increases they’ve already seen.”
A deal in the interest of American taxpayers, one that charts a path toward fiscal sanity and responsibility, should take precedence over partisan agenda items.
