Rep. Jason Smith: Build Back Better Act Will ‘Bankrupt the Economy’

Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, said in a statement on Friday that the $4.9 trillion Build Back Better Act will “bankrupt the economy” while Americans continue to suffer from soaring inflation.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the Build Back Better Act would add $3 trillion to the deficit over ten years and the true cost of the bill would be $4.9 trillion, which is more than double the bill’s $1.75 trillion official price tag.

Smith contended that the bill would devastate the American economy while consumer prices rise at levels not seen since 1982. He said:

This analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirms that Washington Democrats are misleading the public about the true cost and impact of their tax and spending agenda. For weeks, Democrats have ignored independent analyses that showed what CBO today has now confirmed – their reckless reconciliation bill will ultimately cost $4.9 trillion and add $3 trillion to the debt. In the past, Democrats heralded the CBO as the ‘gold standard.’ It is irresponsible and disrespectful to American taxpayers that Democrats remain in denial about the true impact of their agenda while at the same time they are doing nothing to tackle the highest spike in consumer prices since 1982, as confirmed by the Department of Labor this morning. In fact, their proposal will only make the recent spike in prices worse. Democrats are wasting precious time attempting to ram through an agenda that will bankrupt the economy, benefit the wealthy, and build the Washington bureaucracy.

The CBO found that the bill would cost far more than the bill’s projected cost if the nonpartisan were to assume that if many of the bill’s programs were made permanent. Democrats set arbitrary policy sunsets for many of the bill’s most expensive programs to make the bill appear less expensive.

Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said in a statement Friday:

CBO has provided a true cost of the bill over ten years – assuming the programs never go away – which they will not.  Their analysis is stunning. The true cost of the bill has more than doubled and the effect on the deficit is eightfold. This score should stop the effort to pass Build Back Better in its tracks because it will dramatically expand government and do great harm to energy production. We’re calling on the Democratic Party to shelve Build Back Better to give the American consumer and economy breathing room to recover.

He added, “I very much appreciate CBO scoring Build Back Better without budget gimmicks. We all know that the new provisions will not sunset – they never do.”

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.