Why Is this "Fiscal Responsibility" Group Rubber Stamping the Manchin-Schumer Spending Bonanza?

Left: U.S. Senator for West Virginia, Joe Manchin before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on U.S. military strategy in the Middle East Oct. 27, 2015. (Photo by Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz)(Released) Right: Senate Majority Leader Charles “Chuck” Schumer, D-N.Y., delivers remarks on the American Rescue Plan Friday, March 12, 2021, in the Rose Garden of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

You have seen Joe Manchin break his pledges to the American people and West Virginians to support the so-called Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which has nothing to do with reducing inflation. Instead, it creates new spending and taxation to support the priorities of Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. You’d think that the activist groups focused on fiscal responsibility would oppose such brazen spending, and many of them did. But in The Wall Street Journal, economist Stephen Moore points out one group that gave the bill a rubber stamp, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Moore writes:

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The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget describes itself as “an authoritative voice for fiscal responsibility,” whose purpose is “to improve the country’s fiscal and economic condition.” It touts its “bipartisan leadership.” Yet the CRFB enthusiastically endorsed the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which will raise spending by half a trillion dollars and passed both chambers of Congress by party-line votes. Nearly every fiscal conservative and pro-taxpayer group strongly opposed the bill.

“This legislation focuses on lowering health care and energy costs, raising revenue and reducing deficits,” said CRFB president Maya MacGuineas. She said Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia “deserves tremendous credit for pushing this fiscally responsible reconciliation bill,” which she described as “just what the doctor ordered.” Yet while the bill is “paid for” with $740 billion in tax increases and drug-price controls, its $500 billion in new spending is fiscally irresponsible by any reckoning.

For years the CRFB has spotlighted runaway entitlement spending as the driving force behind the growth in the national debt, now $22 trillion and rising. Rather than curtail entitlement costs, the act adds $70 billion of ObamaCare subsidies to expand eligibility to families making up to $100,000 in some states. The Heritage Foundation estimates that when taking into account the negative economic effects of the taxes and spending, through 2031 the act will add $100 billion to the debt.

Worse, it doesn’t eliminate a single spending program and creates tens of billions of dollars of massive giveaways for electric vehicles, wind and solar power, already among the most heavily subsidized industries in American history. It also creates new programs, such as $2 billion for “environmental justice grants.”

Even in the wake of reports by government auditors that at least $150 billion has been wasted on fraudulent and erroneous payments in programs such as unemployment insurance, Medicaid and food stamps, the new law does nothing to clean up or punish this fraud and waste.

Action Line: Americans will be paying for this ill-advised spending for decades. But CRFB just rubber-stamped the bill. Americans know there’s something wrong with the system, and they’re tired of watching their government spend their money on the priorities of the radical progressive elites. If you’re unhappy with the direction this country is heading, click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, and I’ll help you prepare your family to weather this storm.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.