ICYMI Smith Op-Ed: One Year Later - Why Biden's "American Rescue" Failed
In a recent op-ed published in the Washington Examiner, to mark the one-year anniversary of President Biden’s so-called American Rescue Plan (ARP), House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) exposes the law’s destructive legacy. A year in, polling now shows that Americans are highly skeptical of the President’s bill, as they face the highest inflation in 40 years, massive worker shortages, and a huge trail of waste left behind by the Democrats’ $2 trillion spending spree.
Waste and Abuse of Taxpayer Dollars
The Biden Administration has wasted and mismanaged — or encouraged others to waste and mismanage — much of the money in ARP, which included a $500 billion bailout to state and local governments:
- Only 9% of the spending went to combat the virus.
- Much of the other 91% became a slush fund for state and local governments. Billions were spent on things such as:
- $2 billion sent to nonexistent county-level governments.
- $400 million to renovate state parks and trails in Michigan.
- $40 million for libraries in Delaware.
- Nearly $1 million to build luxury apartments in Connecticut.
- $16.8 million for a golf course and clubhouse in Florida.
- $783 million to over 500,000 convicted prisoners, including the Boston Marathon Bomber.
- $1,400 stimulus checks to Japanese citizens living in Japan.
Diverting COVID money to the Southern Border
The Biden Administration diverted $2 billion of public health money to house the surge of illegal immigrants at the southern border as a result of the President’s disastrous border policies:
- $850 million diverted from COVID-19 testing.
- $151 million diverted from building a supply chain for vaccines and therapeutics.
- $850 million diverted from replenishing the National Strategic Stockpile.
Job Creation Promises Fell Short
Despite Democrats’ promises that their bill would create 4 million jobs, a recent study found that the bill failed to create a single one. It’s no surprise, given the bill put $400 billion towards policies that encouraged people to stay out of the workforce:
- The bill eliminated work requirements for federal food assistance programs and the Child Tax Credit.
- Approximately 1.8 million Americans reportedly turned down a job because of the extended unemployment bonuses.
ARP Ignited Inflation
Before the bill passed, Democrats were warned this law would cause a spike in consumer prices.
- Former Obama economic advisor Larry Summers warned it would cause “inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation.”
- The San Francisco Bank of the Federal Reserve later found the law helped ignite the highest inflation in 40 years.
Excerpt: “One year in, it is already clear that the explosion of high prices, worker shortages, and a lagging economy limping its way to recovery along a trail of wasteful spending will be the legacy of President Biden’s so-called American Rescue Plan.” Read the full op-ed. Read House Budget Committee Republicans’ Fact Sheet on the American Rescue Plan.
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