The
holiday season is around the corner and Democrats are scrambling to deliver on
their liberal wish list agenda before the New Year. This grab-bag of long-sought
new government programs is the top priority of Washington Democrats. Meanwhile,
the bigger concern I hear around Iowa is rising prices on everything from gas
to food to home goods.
Americans
doing their holiday shopping this year are finding items out of stock and, when
in stock, paying more for less. Even the Christmas tree is no exception.
Christmas tree prices are up as much as 30 percent.
Overall,
consumer prices were up 6.2 percent on an annual basis in the month of October
– a 31 year high. Economists polled by the Wall Street
Journal
expect November inflation to rise to 6.7 percent. Some analysts are predicting
it will be closer to 7 percent.
Americans
are experiencing the highest inflation in a generation. The last thing they
need for Christmas is another Democrat spending boondoggle further fanning the
flames of inflation.
Unfortunately,
unless voices of reason within the Democratic party prevail, that’s exactly
what they’ll get.
Democrats
say there is nothing to worry about because, to quote Treasury Secretary
Yellen, their bill is “fully paid for.” But even the Washington Post isn’t buying
that, awarding the Secretary two Pinocchio’s for her comment.
The
reality is Democrats pull every budget trick in the book in an attempt to cloak
their reckless tax and spending spree with the illusion of fiscal
responsibility. However, even their budget sleights of hand fail to mask the
upfront inflationary pressures imbedded in their bill.
According
to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), their bill contains
hundreds of billions of dollars in deficit spending in each of its first five
years. That means that regardless of what Democrats say, their bill will add to
inflation pressures now, when it matters most.
Under
honest assumptions, the deficit spending never stops. According to a Penn-Wharton
Budget Model analysis,
if their spending proposals are permanent, as they intend, their plan would
increase debt and deficits by more than $2 trillion over ten years.
As
a result, by 2050, government debt would be 24 percent higher, economic growth
would be 3 percent lower and wages would be 1.7 percent less than they
otherwise would be. That’s Building Back Worse.
I
urge my Democrat colleagues to pause and rethink your approach. Securing a
near-term ideological win is not worth the risk of spurring unchecked
inflation, sapping the value Americans’ hard-earned dollars.
