[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 93 (Thursday, July 8, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H5384-H5385]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INFLATION HURTS MIDDLE CLASS AND LOW-INCOME AMERICANS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, all government spending represents a tax.
The inflation tax, while largely ignored, hurts middle-class and low-
income Americans the most. The never-ending political squabbling in
Congress over taxing the rich, helping the poor, PAYGO, deficits, and
special interests ignores the most insidious of all taxes, the
inflation tax.
{time} 1800
Simply put, printing money to pay for Federal spending dilutes the
value of the dollar, which causes higher prices for goods and services.
Inflation may be an indirect tax, but it is a very real tax, and the
individuals who suffer most from the cost-of-living increases certainly
pay a tax.
Unfortunately, no one in Washington, especially those who defend the
poor and the middle class, cares about this subject. Instead, all we
hear is that tax cuts for the rich are the source of every economic ill
in the country. Anyone truly concerned about the middle class suffering
from falling real wages, underemployment, a rising cost of living and a
decreasing standard of living should pay a lot more attention to
monetary policy. Federal spending, deficits and Federal Reserve
mischief hurts the poor while transferring wealth to the already rich.
This is a real problem, and raising taxes on those who produce wealth
only make conditions worse.
This neglect of monetary policy may be out of ignorance, but it may
well be deliberate. Fully recognizing the harm caused by printing money
to cover budget deficits might create public pressure to restrain
spending, something the two parties do not want. Expanding entitlements
is now an accepted prerogative of both parties. Foreign wars and nation
building are accepted as the foreign policy of both parties.
The left hardly deserves credit when complaining about Republican
deficits. Likewise, we have been told by our Vice President that Ronald
Reagan proved that deficits do not matter, a tenet of supply-side
economics. With this the prevailing wisdom in Washington, no one should
be surprised that spending and deficits are skyrocketing. The vocal
concerns expressed about high deficits coming from the big spenders on
both sides are nothing more than political grandstanding. If Members
feel so strongly about spending and deficits, Congress simply can do
what it ought to do: cut spending. That, however, is never seriously
considered by either side.
If those who say they want to increase taxes to reduce the deficit
got their way, who would benefit? No one. There is no historic evidence
to show that taxing productive Americans to support both the rich and
poor welfare beneficiaries help the middle class, produces jobs, or
stimulates the economy.
Borrowing money to cut the deficit is only marginally better than
raising taxes. It may delay the pain for a while, but the cost of
government eventually must be paid. Federal borrowing means the cost of
interest is added, shifting the burden to a different group
[[Page H5385]]
than those who benefited, and possibly even to another generation.
Eventually borrowing is always paid for through taxation. All spending
ultimately must be a tax, even when direct taxes and direct borrowing
are avoided.
The third option is for the Federal Reserve to create credit to pay
the bills Congress runs up. Nobody objects, and most Members hope that
deficits do not really matter if the Fed accommodates Congress by
creating more money. Besides, interest payments to the Fed are lower
than they would be if funds were borrowed from the public, and payments
can be delayed indefinitely merely by creating more credit out of thin
air to buy U.S. treasuries. No need to soak the rich; a good deal it
seems for everyone. But is it?
Paying for government spending with Federal Reserve credit instead of
taxing or borrowing from the public is anything but a good deal for
everyone. In fact, it is the most sinister, seductive ``tax'' of them
all. Initially it is unfair to some, but dangerous to everyone in the
end. It is especially harmful to the middle class, including lower-
income working people who are thought not to be paying taxes.
The ``tax'' is paid when prices rise as a result of a depreciating
dollar. Savers and those living on fixed income are hardest hit as the
cost of living rises. Low-and middle-income families suffer the most as
they struggle to make ends meet while wealth is literally transferred
from the middle class to the wealthy. Government officials stick to
their claim that no significant inflation exists, even as certain
necessary costs are skyrocketing and incomes are stagnating. The
transfer of wealth comes as savers and fixed income families lose
purchasing power, large banks benefit, and corporations receive plush
contracts from the government, as in the case of military contractors.
These companies use the newly printed money before it circulates while
the middle class and the poor are forced to accept it at face value
later on. This becomes a huge hidden tax on the middle class, many of
whom never object to government spending in hopes that the political
promises will be fulfilled and they will receive some of the goodies.
But surprise, it does not happen. The result instead is higher prices
for prescription drugs, energy and other necessities. The freebies
never come.
The Fed is responsible for inflation by creating money out of thin
air. It does so either to monetize Federal debt or in the process of
economic planning through interest rate manipulation. This Fed
intervention in our country, although rarely even acknowledged by
Congress, is more destructive than Members can imagine.
Not only is the Fed directly responsible for inflation and economic
downturns, it causes artificially low interest rates that serve the
interests of big borrowers, speculators and banks. This unfairly steals
income from frugal retirees who chose to save and place their funds in
interest bearing instruments like CDs.
The Fed's great power over the money supply, interest rates, the
business cycle, unemployment, and inflation is wielded with essentially
no Congressional oversight or understanding. The process of inflating
our currency to pay for government debt indeed imposes a tax without
legislative authority.
This is no small matter. In just the first 24 weeks of this year the
M3 money supply increased $428 billion, and $700 billion in the past
year. M3 currently is rising at a rate of 10.5 percent. In the last 7
years the money supply has increased 80 percent as M3 has soared $4.1
trillion. This bizarre system of paper money worldwide has allowed
serious international imbalances to develop. We own just four Asian
countries $1.5 trillion as a consequence of a chronic and staggering
current account deficit now exceeding 5 percent of our GDP. This
current account deficit means Americans must borrow $1.6 billion per
day from overseas just to finance this deficit. This imbalance, which
until now has permitted us to live beyond our means, eventually will
give us higher consumer prices, a lower standard of living, higher
interest rates, and renewed inflation.
Rest assured the middle class will suffer disproportionately from
this process.
The moral of the story is that spending is always a tax. The
inflation tax, though hidden, only makes things worse. Taxing,
borrowing and inflating to satisfy wealth transfers from the middle
class to the rich in an effort to pay for profligate government
spending, can never make a nation wealthier. But it certainly can make
it poorer.
____________________