Reckless government spending and tax hikes

In March 2021, Democrats unilaterally passed a massive $1.9 trillion spending bill. That bill is credited with jumpstarting the inflation nightmare our country is now confronting.

This weekend, Democrats unilaterally passed yet another reckless spending bill.

The Schumer-Manchin legislation will waste taxpayer dollars, raise taxes and do nothing to address inflation.

Let’s start with the claim that billions of dollars in federal spending will help with inflation.

The Penn-Wharton Budget Model, frequently cited for producing the best economic analysis, found the proposal produces no meaningful reduction in the deficit or inflation. Any suggestion otherwise is insulting to the intelligence of the American people.

Now let’s look at the reckless spending.

Why – during a time of significant economic hardship -- should the American people be on the hook to fund $369 billion in incentives to Green New Deal businesses to promote green energy policies? This includes, for example, expanding electric vehicle tax credits for the wealthy.

Subsidizing Tesla purchases will not help to ease inflation. It certainly won’t help working families.

I introduced a provision to restrict the usage of these tax credits so taxpayer funds aren’t being wasted on the rich and their luxury vehicles. Unfortunately, every Senate Democrat voted against it. No wonder so many Americans see Washington as out of touch.

Another line item in the bill is $80 billion for the IRS, which is six times the agency’s current annual budget. This will be used to hire an armada of new IRS agents – 87,000 to be exact. That would almost be enough people to fill Memorial Stadium.

Dramatically expanding the IRS will unleash a wave of new audits – half of which would hit American’s making $75,000 or less.

This isn’t the only new burden taxpayers will have to navigate.

A non-partisan analysis of the Democrats bill found that it would cause a $16.7 billion tax increase for American taxpayers earning less than $200,000 in 2023. President Biden is going back on his promise and raising taxes for those earning less than $400,000 – during a recession.

The Biden administration’s policies have already saddled this country with: two consecutive months of negative economic growth, which is the definition of a recession, 9.1% inflation, a negative 3.6% inflation-adjusted decline in pay for workers and more Americans than ever before holding two full-time jobs.

It’s clear this economy isn’t working for the American people. Instead of changing course, Democrats continue to double down on their misguided agenda by passing this latest concoction of truly terrible economic policies.

The cute name that Democrats came up with for the Schumer-Manchin bill shouldn’t hide the facts. The facts are this is not an inflation-reduction bill.

Billions of dollars in reckless spending and major tax hikes will not solve the economic crisis our nation finds itself in. We need real solutions – not more of the same backwards spending policies that put the nation in this economic mess in the first place.