Joe Biden is asking America to spend 3.5 trillion dollars (that we don’t have) on his “Build Back Better” program. Both he and our congressional leadership are trying to sell us on the notion that it’s no big deal because the program doesn’t cost anything. It’s entirely free!
What utter baloney. That a 3.5 trillion-dollar expenditure is free is a lie facilitated by the way politicians speak to us. You see, our federal leadership has its own language when it comes to fiscal matters that doesn’t apply anywhere but Washington, DC. When they’re asked to slow the rate of growth of federal budgets, they call it a “budget cut.” Never mind that spending is still going up. In the language of Washington, they are cutting the budget.
Similarly, when they tell us that a massively expensive program costs nothing, it doesn’t mean that it's free. It means they think they have a way to pay for it. However, Americans don’t think that way. Even if we have a way to pay for that new car, it isn’t free – and neither is “Build Back Better.”
Nothing of value is free. If something is worth having, somebody has to pay for it. Given that our wise politicians are not planning to pay for “Build Back Better” out of their own pockets or by cutting other federal programs, where will that money come from? It’s going to be paid by us, through massive tax increases. Every working American is already making payments on a ridiculous amount of government debt – and now they want us to pay more. But they’re telling us it costs nothing -- sure.
But even if you accept the language that “paid for” means “free,” it’s still a lie. Taxes don’t work that way. President Reagan proved that raising taxes does not raise revenue. It only slows the economy.
When Americans are forced to pay more money for taxes, they have less money to spend on goods and services. Less money spent on goods and services means fewer people making money building and selling things. Fewer people making money results in fewer taxes being paid. Revenue goes down rather than up. And then taxes have to be raised even more.
Regardless of what type of “new math” the politicians are using, “Build Back Better” is neither free nor paid for. It will result in additional US debt. Americans are currently making interest payments on 29 trillion dollars of debt. With “Build Back Better” and the proposed infrastructure bill, Washington wants to increase our debt to nearly 34 trillion dollars. If we line up 100-dollar bills end to end, that debt would reach from the Earth to the Moon and back – 68 times! Only in the language of Washington DC could this be considered a sane plan.
It’s time for some serious fiscal restraints, and only a Convention of States can put them in place.
