BBB
We finally have a fully "scored" $2 trillion BBB bill that the House is going to vote on today. Not much time to digest its contents, and we must presume the Senate will make significant changes to it and then send it back.
Major categories of new spending/benefits -- but many of these would be temporary and/or wouldn't kick in until a few years from now (in order to keep the overall cost down):
Child Care Subsidies
4 Weeks Paid Leave For All
Child Tax Credit
Universal Pre-School (but states must choose to implement)
Renewable Energy Tax Credits
Clean Air, Water, Energy, Transportation, etc.
Affordable Housing
Home Health Care Subsidies
ObamaCare/Medicaid/Medicare/Public Health Expansions
Prescription Drug Price Controls
Amnesty for Pre-2011 Illegal Immigrants
Expand IRS Enforcement
Restores State & Local Tax Deductions (a tax cut for me!)
Other Miscellaneous Goodies (a billion here, a billion there)
Mostly "paid for" by a bunch of new taxes on businesses and wealthy individuals, but still increases the budget deficit by $155 billion next year because the spending is front-loaded while the revenues are back-loaded. [A rational person might expect that over time the additional spending is extended while the additional revenues are canceled or delayed, resulting in even higher budget deficits.]
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I expect the Senate to chop away at this before it becomes law, so who knows what the final bill will look like. Democrats spent months haggling over what would be in or out of this BBB bill, with many in the House saying they didn't want to vote for provisions that the Senate would toss aside anyway, but after the election losses in Virginia --> the House decided to vote for a goddamned BBB bill regardless of what the Senate thinks.
And, unfortunately, it is normal these days for the House to vote on a HUGE 2,135-page spending & tax bill less than 24 hours after we finally learn what's in it. If I were in the House I'd be saying, "Slow the Fuck Down, let me and my constituents read about what's in this thing before we vote on it."
But if the bottom line is the deficit goes up $155 billion next year, I'd probably vote "No" because inflation is bad enough right now, let's not throw additional fuel on the fire. If you want to spend more money next year, raise more taxes next year.
I guess I'll email that conclusion to my Representative right now. Well, damn, the email server is down. Maybe I'll call his office once we're up and at 'em here. I don't expect to change his vote, LOL.
Major categories of new spending/benefits -- but many of these would be temporary and/or wouldn't kick in until a few years from now (in order to keep the overall cost down):
Child Care Subsidies
4 Weeks Paid Leave For All
Child Tax Credit
Universal Pre-School (but states must choose to implement)
Renewable Energy Tax Credits
Clean Air, Water, Energy, Transportation, etc.
Affordable Housing
Home Health Care Subsidies
ObamaCare/Medicaid/Medicare/Public Health Expansions
Prescription Drug Price Controls
Amnesty for Pre-2011 Illegal Immigrants
Expand IRS Enforcement
Restores State & Local Tax Deductions (a tax cut for me!)
Other Miscellaneous Goodies (a billion here, a billion there)
Mostly "paid for" by a bunch of new taxes on businesses and wealthy individuals, but still increases the budget deficit by $155 billion next year because the spending is front-loaded while the revenues are back-loaded. [A rational person might expect that over time the additional spending is extended while the additional revenues are canceled or delayed, resulting in even higher budget deficits.]
-----
I expect the Senate to chop away at this before it becomes law, so who knows what the final bill will look like. Democrats spent months haggling over what would be in or out of this BBB bill, with many in the House saying they didn't want to vote for provisions that the Senate would toss aside anyway, but after the election losses in Virginia --> the House decided to vote for a goddamned BBB bill regardless of what the Senate thinks.
And, unfortunately, it is normal these days for the House to vote on a HUGE 2,135-page spending & tax bill less than 24 hours after we finally learn what's in it. If I were in the House I'd be saying, "Slow the Fuck Down, let me and my constituents read about what's in this thing before we vote on it."
But if the bottom line is the deficit goes up $155 billion next year, I'd probably vote "No" because inflation is bad enough right now, let's not throw additional fuel on the fire. If you want to spend more money next year, raise more taxes next year.
I guess I'll email that conclusion to my Representative right now. Well, damn, the email server is down. Maybe I'll call his office once we're up and at 'em here. I don't expect to change his vote, LOL.