If you struggled with basic math as a child, don’t worry, the sky’s still the limit. You could even become vice president of the United States one day—at least, if Kamala Harris is any example to go by. At a recent press conference in Paris, the vice president made some claims about the Biden administration’s multi-trillion-dollar spending agenda that are so blatantly untrue that, coming from someone with her education and resources, they can only be called outright lies.
“There is also a point that is important to make on the Build Back Better framework… it is designed to make it less expensive for working people to live,” Harris said. “And Build Back Better is not going to cost anything, we’re paying for it.”
“When we can get Build Back Better passed, and we are optimistic that we will, the American people will see costs actually reduced around some of the most essential services,” she continued. “So, that is a big part of our agenda, and I think it’s important to also stress that it’s not going to cost anything for the American taxpayer.”
That’s right: The vice president is claiming, with a straight face, that the Biden administration’s plan to spend trillions on climate change and welfare policies costs nothing and that taxpayers will be unaffected. She literally said, “it’s not going to cost anything, we’re paying for it.”
That. Doesn’t. Make. Any. Sense.
Harris’s first claim is really based on the argument that their spending bills won’t add to the national debt. This isn’t true, at least not according to one analysis by the Wharton School of Business. But even if the “Build Back Better” spending plans wouldn’t add to the debt, they would still have a cost: the taxes raised to pay for them. Harris’s claim is like saying that if I go grocery shopping and pay cash instead of using my credit card, then my groceries “cost nothing.”
And trust me, everyone’s taxes are going to be raised under this place. The Biden administration has unveiled trillions in proposed tax increases, on everything from cigarettes and nicotine products to increased corporate taxation and much more.
And no, the tax hikes are not just for the rich. The Tax Policy Center found that 20% to 30% of middle-class families would pay more in taxes in 2022 under the Biden administration’s plans.
How does that equate to “not costing taxpayers anything,” exactly? And that’s not even mentioning the fact that the economic costs of the other tax increases on corporations etc. will still be felt throughout the economy through slower growth and lower wages.
Of course, Vice President Harris is surrounded by experts and has access to more information than you can imagine. So, her repetition of these false claims can’t be rooted in ignorance, they must be deliberate lies at this point. And if you have to blatantly lie to taxpayers to get your agenda passed, well, that’s a good sign that your agenda is actually trash.
