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Overnight, Senate Democrats advanced a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint without any Republican support that includes new spending on existing social programs and green energy, the creation of new entitlement programs, and amnesty for illegal aliens.
Quick Facts
The vote was preceded by a 14-hour session on non-binding amendment votes. The measure passed along a 50-49 party-line vote, with all Democrats voting in favor of the measure against unified GOP opposition, although GOP Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., was absent for the vote.
The spending plan calls for expanding Medicaid, setting up federalized programs for paid family medical leave and tuition-free community college, making permanent a monthly child allowance for parents, and initiatives intended to address climate concerns. The spending package would largely be funded by tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans and multi-national corporations.
A dozen Senate committees are now proceeding with the task of drafting formal reconciliation legislation by September 15, and the House will take up the budget resolution at the end of August. Through this process known as budget reconciliation, the Senate will need only a simple majority of 51 votes, thereby avoiding the possibility of a GOP filibuster.
“We have no illusions — maybe the hardest work is yet to come, but we are united in a desire to get it done,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during a press conference. “There are some in my caucus who may believe it’s too much and there are some in my caucus who believe it’s too little…. In reconciliation, one, we are going to all come together to get something done, and two, it will have every part of the Biden plan in a big, bold, robust way.”
Currently, the proposed budget plan does not have a provision for increasing the national debt ceiling, which could result in serious long-term economic consequences if the debt ceiling is not raised or suspended. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned of economic harm if the nation’s borrowing capacity is exhausted before October.
“Failure to meet these obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S economy and to the lives of all Americans,” Yellen added, arguing that the consequences of addressing the national debt ceiling could include another government shutdown, a national debt default, or touch off a potential global financial crisis.
To proceed with the proposed spending package, Democrats will probably have to include a debt-ceiling measure, and Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has vowed that no GOP senator will vote for a debt-ceiling measure, which would be subject to a Senate filibuster and would need to get at least 60 votes to proceed.
As a result of this, Democrats will likely be forced to include a debt limit measure in their proposed $ 3.5 trillion budget package, as the threat of a debt default that could derail the recovery of the national economy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic is too great for either political party to ignore.
When you appoint a self-avowed socialist like Bernie Sanders as chair of the budget committee, you will get socialism. The spending package passed by the Senate is one of the most transformative legislative actions in America’s history.
Through completely partisan means, this budget massively increases the nanny state by expanding welfare programs, wastes billions of dollars on “green” and so-called “clean” energy initiatives, provides a path to amnesty for illegal immigrants, will lead to price increases for energy and other basic household necessities, slashes the Trump tax cuts which led to a historic economy pre-COVID, and increases the power of the Internal Revenue Service.
As an example, the bill makes permanent a $300 monthly payment to parents, which was initially provided as a COVID relief measure. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chair of the Senate Finance Committee, explains, “Before President Roosevelt created Social Security in the 1930s, half of American seniors lived in poverty. This new monthly child benefit is Social Security for our children, and represents a fundamental reordering in the commitments this country makes to its children and their families.”
Like Social Security, once the government takes this step, it likely will never end. Social Security has become a Ponzi scheme in which younger generations pay into a system for their entire adult lives but could end up receiving a pittance, if any, of their money in return. And that’s not hyperbole. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Social Security Trust Fund will be completely exhausted sometime between 2029 and 2033, and there are no easy fixes short of sharp tax increases and extreme benefit cuts.
Moreover, the miniscule payments that parents will receive as part of the new program will be offset by the resulting inflation and price surges on food, gasoline, electricity, and other basic goods and the potential loss of jobs when companies relocate or go out of business.
And while Sanders and Schumer insist that this new bill will make the wealthy pay their fair share, data shows that the richest will skate by without actually paying more taxes because their money is tied up in assets rather than income.
What this irresponsible package does, in essence, is further the government’s role as caretaker and grow the welfare state exponentially.
If Congress passes this budget, it will be difficult for America as founded to re-emerge from the ever-growing state or for average Americans to maintain any power or hope of retaining or achieving the American dream.
