[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 145 (Tuesday, August 10, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S6262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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                         BUDGET RECONCILIATION

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, yesterday, the Democrats unveiled their 
reckless tax and spend budget plan.
  With our country experiencing the highest inflation it has seen in 
decades and our national debt approaching an alltime high, common sense 
would dictate that we ought to use the budget process to get our fiscal 
house in order.
  Instead, my Democrat colleagues are intent on using the budget to 
embark on a liberal wish list spending spree.
  My Democrat colleagues' budget calls for over $4 trillion in new 
spending over the next decade and annual deficits would average $1.6 
trillion over that period. As a result, the national debt would reach 
119 percent of our economy, shattering the World War II record of 106 
percent.
  Much of this new spending, ballooning the debt and deficits, is the 
product of a single bill Democrats hope to pass before the end of the 
year under the guise of so-called ``human infrastructure.''
  Infrastructure is popular and needed. It helps keep our economy 
competitive over the long run. That is why Democrat leaders initially 
wanted their multitrillion dollar wish list to ride along on an 
infrastructure package. That plan fell apart when a bipartisan group 
was able to agree on a separate bill with just real infrastructure.
  This new spending spree, far from being an infrastructure bill like 
the bipartisan bill, has nothing to do with building roads or bridges. 
Instead, it would create massive new entitlements and impose massive 
new tax increases.
  This mishmash of massive new spending and job-killing tax hikes would 
act as a double whammy on middle-income Americans, small business 
owners, and farmers.
  Trillions of dollars in new spending is likely to set inflation 
ablaze. Inflation is a stealth tax that steals the value of the dollars 
Americans already earned. Hard-working Americans are already paying the 
price of excessive spending in the form of inflation with prices rising 
throughout the economy.
  As a result, while wages increased at a pace of 3.6 percent last 
month, Americans found themselves struggling to keep their heads above 
water with prices soaring 5.4 percent.
  Now, Democrats want to add tax hikes on top of this, which will slow 
economic growth, reduce business investment, and result in lower wages 
and fewer jobs over the long-run.
  What is more, the tax hikes that are being discussed take direct aim 
at family run business and farms.
  This includes raising their income taxes, their capital gains taxes, 
and imposing a confiscatory new death tax when operations are passed to 
the next generation.
  Higher taxes, excessive spending, and escalating debt are not a 
prescription for prosperity. They are instead are a recipe for fiscal 
disaster.
  I urge my Democrat colleagues to tap the brakes before it is too 
late.
  Please think about the future and abandon your reckless tax and spend 
agenda.

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