Senator Blackburn: Biden’s Budget Promises It Can Get Worse - And Response

  • Monday, March 20, 2023

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 percent 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 percent, 2 percent and 5 percent 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.

Senator Marsha Blackburn

* * * 

I recall not that long ago when Democrats were complaining of Republican’s reckless spending. You and your colleagues rubber-stamped President Trump’s agenda of wasteful spending, which also created record debt at that time. 

Face it Senator Blackburn, there’s no such thing as fiscal conservatives anymore.

David Blancett

Opinion
Why Airplane Windows Are Round
  • 5/31/2023

In her response to the opinion letter 'Congratulations, Democrats,' Mrs. Brenda Washington includes this seemingly unrelated thought-provoker: "Here's a trivia for you two old goats. Up until ... more

The Evocation Of Artificial Intelligence And Social Media
  • 5/31/2023

During the COVID pandemic, we watched online learning fail to deliver the results hoped for by education policymakers. We have not even understood what worked and what failed. The digital ... more

Full Of Admiration For County Clerk Bill Knowles - And Response
  • 5/30/2023

I have so much admiration for County Clerk, Bill Knowles and his staff. I worked in Washington, D.C., and lived in Northern Virginia for 25 years. I came home in 1997 and was fully expecting ... more