House Democrats proposed an infrastructure bill Tuesday night that would likely cost more than the suggested $3.5 trillion price tag.
House Democrats proposed a new reconciliation bill Tuesday night that Senate Democrats and the Joe Biden White House believe would cost more than the proposed $3.5 trillion for the Democrats’ infrastructure bill. This would likely exceed the spending authorized through the Democrats’ budget resolution, which both Democrat-controlled chambers approved recently.
Democrats in Congress’ lower chamber dispute this notion, contending that their new proposal falls in line with the reconciliation instructions.
The proposal follows after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a pivotal swing vote, said that he might only support a $1 to $1.5 trillion infrastructure package, which could jeopardize Democrats’ gargantuan package. It could also impact Manchin’s bipartisan infrastructure package.
In this Aug. 5, 2021 photo, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., prepares to chair a hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, as lawmakers work to advance the $1 trillion bipartisan bill, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Democrats could likely use budgetary gimmicks to mask the enormous cost of the bill.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found in July that the Democrat “infrastructure” bill would likely cost $5.4 trillion.
The Committee found that the bill would likely cost more through the use of “arbitrary policy sunsets” or “budget gimmicks” to hide the bill’s true cost. The analysis found that the bill would cost much more if the newly created benefits and programs would extend beyond the bill’s ten-year budget estimate.
The Committee wrote in the analysis, “It would be unwise and irresponsible to use arbitrary expirations and sunsets to obscure the true cost of this legislation.”
Marc Goldwein, the senior vice president of policy for the Committee, said in July, “the new $3.5 trillion budget agreement appears to have enough policies to cost $5 – $5.5 trillion over a decade. Lawmakers plan to hide the package’s true cost by having some programs and tax breaks expire early.”
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 20: Newly redesigned $100 notes lay in stacks at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on May 20, 2013 in Washington, DC. The one hundred dollar bills will be released this fall and has new security features, such as a duplicating portrait of Benjamin Franklin and microprinting added to make the bill more difficult to counterfeit. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said in July that Democrats continue to use budget gimmicks to hide the cost of their mammoth bill.
“They have fudged on other numbers within it, so it’s probably more like [a] $5.5 trillion [bill],” Lummis said regarding the Democrat reconciliation bill.
“It is the Green New Deal. It is new entitlement programs. And it really is a terrifying, inflation-causing, big government-motivated spending bill,” she added.
Lummis, one of Congress’s leading cryptocurrency advocates, warned that the Democrats’ rampant spending could lose to putting the “dollar at risk as the world reserve currency.”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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