Arrington: POTUS Values Government Over Freedom, Safety, Economic Security of His Fellow Americans
WASHINGTON – Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX) delivered the following remarks (as prepared) at a hearing of the House Budget Committee to consider the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request:Over the last 2 years, this Administration’s reckless spending and failed economic policies have resulted in continued record inflation, soaring interest rates, and an economy in a recessionary tailspin – with the prospect of a catastrophic debt crisis looming on the horizon.
Two years - $10 trillion in spending, $6 trillion of which has been added to the national debt, all of which has ignited a cost-of-living crisis for working families who are now struggling to survive.
Taxing our job creators back to their knees as they try to get back on their feet after a nationwide shutdown.
Paying people more to stay home than to return to their jobs and waiving work requirements for able-bodied adults – trapping a whole new generation of Americans in poverty and government dependence.
Weaponizing a whole-of-government assault on American energy – the lifeblood of our economy, a cornerstone of our national security, and the blessing of affordable electricity and gas for families across the country.
This Administration has sown the wind of disastrous economic policies and the American people are reaping the whirlwind of its cruel consequences. No one can look at our nation’s balance sheet or CBO’s economic outlook and not shudder at the rapid deterioration of our nation’s financial health and our unsustainable spending and debt trajectory.
On March 9th, President Biden had the opportunity to reverse course and show the American people that he understood the painful results of his failed economic policies.
Instead, President Biden doubled down on his reckless spending, radical policies, and the woke and bloated bureaucracy that is bankrupting our country.
The President’s budget proposes the highest sustained levels of taxes, spending, and deficits in the history of the United States.
In the middle of a spending-induced inflation crisis, the President’s budget proposes:
- $82 trillion in spending
- A spending per GDP that is 18% over the 50-year average and is equivalent to $100,000 per family of four.
- A $2.5 trillion increase in mandatory spending
- Nearly $100 billion increase in discretionary spending in the next year alone.
- Small businesses with the repeal of the 20% deduction
- Families will pay roughly $2,000 more each year with the marginal rates going up
- Doubling the death tax on farmers and ranchers
- Nearly $40 billion in new taxes on American energy producers, which will further drive up gas and energy prices and jeopardize our energy independence
- Highest rate of corporate taxes in the developed world – 3 points higher than Communist China
Are we getting more safety and security for our nation? More economic freedom and prosperity? Greater access and lower costs of healthcare? Stronger and more resilient real infrastructure? In sum – are we giving our children a safer, freer, stronger America?
Not even close. We’re getting more wasteful, woke, and bloated bureaucracy, an overreaching, freedom-infringing government, and more of the Left's radical socialist agenda.
I agree with the President: budgets are more than just numbers on a spreadsheet – they are a set of values and principles. Based on his most recent budget, it is clear President Biden values a bigger, more radical, and more powerful federal government over the freedom, safety, and economic security of his fellow Americans.
I yield back.
