[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 215 (Tuesday, December 14, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9132-S9133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              The Economy

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, the latest inflation numbers came out 
Friday, and the news was not good. Inflation is currently at the 
highest level in nearly 40 years--40 years. The last time inflation was 
this bad, ``E.T.'' and ``Rocky III'' were in theaters, and the Green 
Bay Packers were being coached by Bart Starr.
  High inflation is taking a major toll on American families. Gas 
prices are at a 7-year high. The price of used cars and trucks is up 31 
percent--31 percent. Propane, kerosene, and firewood are up 34 percent.
  Food prices have increased significantly. Ground beef is up 14 
percent. Apples are up 7.4 percent. Pork is up 17 percent; eggs, 8 
percent. Baby food is up 6.7 percent. Bacon and related products are up 
21 percent. And the list continues.
  Rent prices are up. Utility prices are up. Furniture prices are up, 
and on and on.
  Inflation is so bad that, despite wage growth this year, Americans 
have seen a de facto pay cut, with real average hourly earnings down 
1.9 percent this year.

[[Page S9133]]

  Inflation is what happens when you have too many dollars chasing too 
few goods and services. And a big reason for our current inflation 
situation is the Democrats' decision to pour a lot of unnecessary 
government money into the economy earlier this year, despite--despite, 
I might add--being warned that their partisan $1.9 trillion American 
Rescue Plan spending spree could stoke inflation.
  And you don't have to take my word for it. Here is what former Obama 
economic adviser Jason Furman had to say recently when discussing our 
inflation problem:

       The original sin was an oversized American Rescue Plan. It 
     contributed to both higher output but also higher prices.

  That quote from Mr. Furman appeared in a New York Times article that 
also noted:

       But some economists, including veterans of previous 
     Democratic administrations, say much of Mr. Biden's inflation 
     struggle is self-inflicted. Lawrence H. Summers is one of 
     those who say the stimulus bill [that] the president signed 
     in March gave too much of a boost to consumer spending. . . . 
     Mr. Summers, who served in the Obama and Clinton 
     administrations, says inflation now risks spiraling out of 
     control and other Democratic economists agree there are 
     risks.

  Again, that is from the New York Times.
  Inflation is spiraling out of control, and Democrats are preparing to 
throw more fuel on the fire. That is right. Democrats are preparing to 
double down on the strategy that helped get us in this mess in the 
first place and pass yet another massive government spending bill.
  I am not sure whether Democrats simply don't care about the inflation 
situation facing American families or whether they are operating under 
the delusion that they can somehow pass another major government 
spending bill without serious consequences for the economy.
  Regardless, there is no question that pouring another $1.75 trillion 
in government money into the economy would likely make our inflation 
crisis even worse than it is today.
  I say $1.75 trillion because that is what Democrats have been selling 
as the pricetag for their so-called Build Back Better plan. But as we 
learned on Friday of last week from the Congressional Budget Office's 
latest analysis, the Democrats' spending spree would far exceed $1.75 
trillion. When you take away the shell games and budget gimmicks, the 
Democrats' spending spree would cost almost $5 trillion--5 trillion. 
And, of course, the tax hikes in the Democrats' plan, as large as they 
are, wouldn't even come close to funding that amount.
  The Democrats' Build Back Better proposal, if implemented over 10 
years, as they plan, would add an eye-popping $3 trillion to our 
national debt. It turns out that Build Back Better is more like ``Build 
Back Bankrupt.''
  Democrats have attempted to disguise the true cost of their ``Build 
Back Bankrupt'' plan by strategically sunsetting various provisions 
before the end of the bill's 10-year budget window. Of course, 
Democrats have never had any intention of actually sunsetting these 
provisions. But by claiming that they are going to sunset these 
measures, they have been able to sort of disguise the fact that their 
spending spree would actually cost nearly $5 trillion.
  That is the Congressional Budget Office, not me. The Congressional 
Budget Office, last Friday said, if extended--the 10-year window--this 
bill would cost $5 trillion.
  Democrats are implicitly admitting that they plan to extend these 
programs, but they are saying that people shouldn't worry, that the 
cost of these extensions will be offset. Well, I would like to know 
just how exactly they plan to do that.
  With massive new tax hikes, on top of the tax hikes they have already 
included in their bill--just how many tax hikes do Democrats think our 
economy can handle?
  And if Democrats had a plan for future offsets, why didn't they 
include those offsets in their bill, in the first place, along with an 
honest accounting of the length of their programs?
  Is it because they thought that the American people would balk if 
they knew the true cost of the bill, that they might not be crazy about 
the idea of a bill that would cost them $5 trillion?
  I am hard-pressed to think of anything more irresponsible than for 
Democrats to pass their Build Back Better--or their ``Build Back 
Bankrupt''--measure right now. Inflation is soaring, as I have just 
pointed out, and there is no clear end in sight. Even the Federal 
Reserve is now acknowledging that this isn't transitory. They removed 
that word from their description.
  We are emerging from a pandemic that required a lot of government 
expenditure and a corresponding increase in our debt, and we have no 
idea what government money might be needed down the road.
  Passing a $5 trillion spending spree that would add $3 trillion to 
our national debt is the very last thing that we should be doing.
  I hope that at least some of my Democrat colleagues will think better 
of their spending plans before the American people are forced to 
discover just what ``Building Back Bankrupt'' is really like.
  I yield the floor.