The federal budget is rapidly spiraling out of control.
The House Budget Committee is deeply worried about the Biden Administration’s massive overspending on items not directly related to the key needs of the nation.
They note that: Last year, President Biden’s FY 2024 budget request had the highest sustained levels of taxes, spending, and deficits in American history. $82 trillion in spending over ten years; annual spending is equivalent to $100,000 per family of four, or $1 million over the ten-year budget. $18.9 trillion increase in projected spending compared to the baseline President Biden inherited. $17 trillion in deficits over ten years – the highest sustained level in American history. $1.3 trillion in interest payments on the debt by the end of the budgetary window, which is almost triple 2022 spending. $65 trillion in taxes over ten years – the highest sustained level in American history. $4.7 trillion proposed tax increase over ten years – the largest nominal tax increase in American history. $19 trillion in higher debt, which would increase the gross federal debt to $51 trillion by 2033.
Senator Grassley (R-Iowa) specifies that “President Biden has pushed reckless spending that’s fueled the fires of inflation and driven our nation further into debt. This is not the mark of a serious leader.”
Senator John Thune concurs. “Federal spending has grown increasingly out of control under the Biden administration. The federal government will spend 40 percent more this year than it did just four years ago, yet the president and Democrats continue to propose more reckless spending and balk at Republicans’ responsible attempts to rein it in. Democrats have added trillions to the debt in the last two years and fueled an inflation crisis with their overspending. And their reluctance to engage in serious negotiations to reduce excess government spending risks precipitating a debt crisis. At $31.4 trillion, our national debt already exceeds the size of the entire U.S. economy, and it’s projected to rise to over $50 trillion in the next decade. This level of debt is not only unsustainable, it’s unacceptable. Government debt drives up interest rates, crowds out private investment, and weakens America’s economic and national security. Just paying the interest alone on this much debt is an increasingly serious challenge. Unless common-sense fiscal policy is prioritized, 50 cents out of every dollar the government borrows over the next decade will go toward making interest payments. In a few years, interest payments will exceed what we spend on national defense, with Medicare and Social Security not far behind. “
The Budget Committee isn’t only worried about the total spending. It is also concerned about non-essential spending. Examples include:
$11.9 billion at the Department of Energy for “climate and clean energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment.” $3.9 billion to fund the Department of Homeland Security’s “climate resilience programs.” $8.2 billion at the State Department “to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” and funding “to recruit, retain, and develop a diverse…..workforce.” $2.6 billion for the Department of Transportation to address “environmental justice concerns and climate change by providing a funding source for transportation projects and programs.” $1.8 billion across the Environmental Protection Agency to “clean up pollution, advance racial equity, and secure environmental justice for communities… [facing] impacts of climate change.” $705 million for the Department of Health and Human Services to support “administration priorities such as racial equity, environmental justice, and climate change.” $100 million at the Department of Education in grant funding for communities to “promote racial and socioeconomic diversity in their schools.”
Adam Andrzeiejwwski writing for the Open the Books Substack emphasizes that about $20 billion was spent on refugee care in 2023.
A Wall Street Journal analysis notes that “CBO forecasts that under current law the national debt will grow to $48.3 trillion in 2034 from $26.2 trillion this last fiscal year—a whopping 84% increase. Debt as a share of GDP will rise to 116% in 2034 from 97.3%. As helpful historical context, the U.S. added $22.3 trillion in debt in its entire history through 2021, about as much as its projected to pile on over the next 10 years. Don’t blame Americans for not paying enough taxes. Revenues are expected to average 17.8% of GDP through 2034, which is more than the 17.3% average over the last 50 years. The problem is that spending over the next decade will average 23.5% of GDP—significantly more than the 50-year average (21%). Even these debt projections may be optimistic. They assume no recession and that the 2017 individual tax cuts and Inflation Reduction Act’s sweetened ObamaCare subsidies expire in 2025. Oh, and that Congress doesn’t lather on more spending, and more student debt isn’t canceled by executive decree.
Politics plays a vast role in the Biden Administration’s spending choices. His continual attempt to forgive student loans, despite the Supreme Court’s rebuke and the obvious violation of Constitutional provisions on how spending is authorized, is a major attempt to secure youthful votes.
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