Biden’s $1.5 trillion unilateral spending spree
Washington Examiner
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Banks are failing, real wages are falling, consumer debt is at record highs, and it is all thanks to the decades-high inflation caused by President Joe Biden’s reckless spending. The economy was already recovering from coronavirus lockdowns by the time Biden was sworn into office. All he had to do was make the COVID-19 vaccine available, and the economy would have bounced back on its own.
But Biden couldn’t resist the opportunity to depict himself falsely as the leader who rescued the economy, and he chose to do so by forcing almost $2 trillion in new spending through a Congress in which both chambers were controlled by Democrats. That gusher of cash sent prices soaring. The Federal Reserve is still trying to contain Biden’s mess without causing too many bank failures in the process.
As much damage as Biden (helped by Democrats) did, however, what is often overlooked is how much more money the president spent through unilateral executive orders. On top of the $2 trillion explicitly authorized by Congress, according to an analysis of Congressional Budget Office data compiled by the House Budget Committee, Biden has spent another $1.5 trillion through unilateral executive spending.
The biggest item on the list is Biden’s student loan amnesty, which weighs in at $709 billion. This includes $79 billion in costs from the four times Biden extended the loan payment moratorium during the crisis, another $400 billion in outright loan cancellation, and another $230 billion for Biden’s new income-driven repayment program. The loan moratorium extensions are arguably legal — especially the first few while the economy was still recovering. But the loan cancellation and income-driven repayment plans have no basis in law at all and would represent unauthorized spending by Biden if allowed by the Supreme Court.
Biden also illegally increased food stamp benefits by moving up the date that the Department of Agriculture makes its dietary guidelines and ignoring established procedures when setting the new benefit levels. This food stamp boost pumped another $300 billion of deficit spending into an already overheated economy.
On healthcare, Biden issued new regulations that made it easier for people to stay enrolled in Medicaid, even when they don’t qualify. Medicaid is a means-tested program designed to help low-income adults, and states are required by law to review beneficiaries’ financial status periodically to make sure people still qualify. By limiting how often states may check beneficiaries’ eligibility to just once a year, Biden made it easier for people to keep getting Medicaid when they no longer qualify for it. The president is helping people rip off taxpayers. The CBO estimated that this executive action pumped another $218 billion into the economy.
An expansion of Affordable Care Act subsidies, higher wages for government contractors, and the weakening of work requirements in the Medicaid and food stamp programs bring Biden’s executive spending spree to $1.5 trillion.
That’s just so far. There is more in the profligacy pipeline.
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With the GOP now in control of one chamber of Congress, House Republicans can at least force votes on Biden’s executive excess. But they can’t block them without control of the Senate. That means that even if Republicans can force some spending cuts during debt limit negotiations, Biden will probably be able to undo them through unilateral action.
All this new debt that Biden is inflicting on taxpayers without congressional authorization is just another reason why it is vital for Republicans to choose the right 2024 presidential nominee — one who can win rather than one whom Biden has already shown he can beat.