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Americans can’t catch a break under Joe Biden’s leadership. Inflation has reached a historic 40-year high, the national debt climbed to $31.5 trillion, and the federal government has spent over $6 trillion in two years. Still, the Biden administration has made it evident that they’re pushing full steam ahead with their plan to spend and tax us into oblivion.
Just over a week ago, President Biden released his highly anticipated $6.9 trillion budget for Fiscal Year 2024, and it’s quite the headache.
One quick glance at the numbers is enough to make your head spin. $4.7 trillion in additional taxes over the next decade. $2.5 trillion in new mandatory spending. A $19 trillion national debt increase by 2027.
Dig a bit deeper, and you’ll find even more to dislike. Remember that $80 billion the Democrats handed to the Internal Revenue Service last year? Under the President’s new budget, the IRS will receive $14.1 billion annually – a $1.8 billion increase from 2023. That’s a grand total of $94.1 billion to hire more agents to target families and small businesses.
Speaking of small businesses, Biden’s proposition would devastate their prospects. Unjust auditing aside, Main Street could end up paying well over 50% in state and federal taxes. That’s a far cry from the President’s 2020 pledge that “taxes on small businesses [wouldn’t] go up” under his administration. But if the last two years of Biden’s economic policies have proved anything, it’s that the Biden White House is completely willing to betray hardworking Americans to advance their socialist agenda.
As we expected, there’s no shortage of big government in this latest boondoggle. Radical left-wing budget priorities include $3 billion for gender equity, $150 million for illegal immigrants’ legal fees and $57 million for a United Nations program that supports forced sterilization in Communist China. In true leftist fashion, Biden’s budget mentions “climate” 74 times more than “fentanyl” and mentions “transgender” more than “transparency.” If there was any question where the left’s priorities lie, President Biden just provided the answer.
We know that the Biden administration has no shame when it comes to spending money that isn’t theirs. But Tennesseans are tired and worried that they won’t be able to provide basic necessities for their families before their paychecks run out. We need real spending cuts and real accountability from the federal government. Tennesseans tell me often that the federal government should have to practice logical spending habits and balance a budget just like every family in America.
They are absolutely right. That’s why I have introduced 1%, 2% and 5% across-the-board spending cut proposals targeted at non-defense, non-homeland security, and non-veteran affairs discretionary spending for each Fiscal Year 2024 and Fiscal Year 2025.
We cannot keep up this wasteful spending that will leave our children and grandchildren with crippling debt and hand more power over to the very people who have driven our country down the path of economic ruin.
(Marsha Blackburn represents Tennessee in the U.S. Senate)