After passing a $1.1 trillion infrastructure spending bill on a bipartisan basis—which is filled with liberal spending priorities—the Senate will now consider a budget resolution that, if enacted, will clear a path to implement a massive progressive agenda. This resolution would reshape the American economy and permanently expand government control over many aspects of peoples’ lives.
Here are nine things you need to know about this budget resolution:
1. Kickstarts the Process to Pass Controversial and Harmful Polices on a Partisan Basis
The primary motivation behind this budget resolution is to kick off the budget reconciliation process. Budget reconciliation allows legislation affecting spending, revenue, or debt limit to pass the Senate with limited debate and by 51 votes instead of being subject to the normal 60-vote threshold.
Just some of the policies the reconciliation bill will feature include:
Green New Deal-style climate policies, such as a clean electricity standard payment program, a new tax on imports that emit carbon dioxide, new taxes and fees on conventional energy resources like oil and gas, more subsidies and tax breaks for green energy and electric vehicles, a new Civilian Climate Corps, and climate research and development programs across the federal government.
Large-scale mass amnesty for illegal aliens, which will be included despite potentially violating the budgetary rules governing the reconciliation process.
Increasing cash welfare while eliminating work requirements, resurrecting the worst aspects of the pre-reform welfare system.
Expanding Medicare, which would increase government’s power over health care and worsen Medicare’s already unsustainable financial state.
Expanding Obamacare subsidies, which would benefit higher income individuals who already have private insurance, funnel more taxpayer dollars to insurance companies, and induce employers to drop coverage options for workers.
Paid family leave run by the federal government, which could have unintended consequences. A restrictive and one-size-fits-all federal program would cut off the growth in more flexible and generous paid family leave policies that are underway.
Universal pre-K as well as significant child care subsidies, which could push children into environments that don’t reflect parents’ preferences. Rigorous research shows that large government preschool programs consistently fail to produce any sustained benefits for children and actually have some negative effects.
None of these policy proposals, which would all have serious negative consequences for the lives of everyday Americans, could be enacted through the regular order legislative process and should be rejected.
2. Raises Revenue, Makes Misleading Claims, and Gives Congress Unchecked Authority to Increase Taxes
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders said in a press release, “Under this budget, however, no family making under $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in taxes and will, in fact, receive one of the largest tax cuts in American history.”
This statement is false.
Although President Joe Biden has misleadingly claimed that his child allowance proposal would provide a tax cut, Heritage Foundation analysts Robert Rector and Jamie Hall have shown that, “when fully implemented, the plan offers no tax relief at all. Instead, the essential impetus is to fully and permanently eliminate work requirements and work incentives from the existing child tax credit program.” (The Daily Signal is the news and commentary platform of The Heritage Foundation.)
Welfare spending is not a tax cut, even if it is administered by the Internal Revenue Service.
Instead of tax relief for working families, the reconciliation bill contemplated by this budget will include damaging tax increases borne by middle-income families.
The budget resolution attempts to disguise its tax increases. However, deeper in the budget, Sections 2001, 2002, 3001, 3002, 3003, 4007, 4009, 4010, and 4013 would all work together to provide an unlimited ability to increase taxes. This is a classic case of how much the fine print matters.
In fact, the reconciliation instructions give the congressional committees with jurisdiction over the tax code an unlimited ability to increase taxes while avoiding the filibuster. Further, this budget includes an entire reserve fund dedicated to, essentially, increasing tax burdens on every employer and innovator in the country.
No one, however, should be surprised. Since November, Democrats have proposed trillions of dollars in proposed new taxation. This budget would give them the tools necessary to make their radically punitive tax dreams a reality.
3. Reckless Spending Spree
Democrats’ own estimates are that this budget would increase federal spending by more than $4.16 trillion through fiscal year 2031. However, it’s also important to see how much they want to increase spending in just the first year: at least $1.75 trillion.
That is how much the reconciliation instructions would allow them to increase the deficit by. So, just with this single year’s budget, Biden and congressional Democrats would be able to avoid the filibuster to add $1.75 trillion to the deficit.
In truth, with the unlimited ability to raise taxes in this budget, there is no real cap on how much they could spend through reconciliation either.
Further, this budget contains several provisions implying spending on various projects, including infrastructure (read as whatever they define as “infrastructure” today). It should also be noted that the tax code can be utilized to effectively create new spending programs.
4. Path to a Debt Crisis
Not only would this plan increase the publicly held debt by more than $4.16 trillion, bringing it to more than 118% of gross domestic product, but it would leave us with well over $2.2 trillion annual deficits by fiscal year 2031. In fact, this plan would envision spending over $1 trillion in fiscal year 2031 just on the net interest for the federal debt.
At a minimum, similar to a tax increase, this new debt would...
Not only would this plan increase the publicly held debt by more than $4.16 trillion, bringing it to more than 118% of gross domestic product, but it would leave us with well over $2.2 trillion annual deficits by fiscal year 2031. In fact, this plan would envision spending over $1 trillion in fiscal year 2031 just on the net interest for the federal debt.
At a minimum, similar to a tax increase, this new debt would...
