Crapo: Raging Inflation, Debt and Spending Should Mean Game Over for Tax-and-Spend Bill

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, today led a press conference with Republican members on the true cost of the Democrats’ tax-and-spend legislation, just as the Senate prepares to vote on a multi-trillion dollar debt limit increase.  On Friday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Congress’s nonpartisan scorekeeper, released an analysis showing that if certain provisions in the Build Back Better Act were made permanent, the bill would cost $4.9 trillion and increase deficits by $3 trillion. 

“We have raging inflation, raging debt, raging spending, and if this bill passes, raging tax increases that are going to harm the economy and further drive inflation problems we face today. . . . The CBO has finally weighed in on what the true cost of this bill is: $4.9 trillion.  This should be game over.”

On the actual cost of “Build Back Better”:

“CBO has said [the true cost] is $4.9 trillion.  We finally have the scorekeeper for Congress weighing in on what the true cost of this bill is. That should be game over. 

“The next vote that we’ll have is on raising the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion.  If this bill is passed, we’ll need yet another debt ceiling increase of $3 trillion.  That should be the focus of debate today.”

On rampant inflation and consumer price increases:

“Inflation is now at 6.8 percent, reaching a near 40-year high.  Average change in prices paid by consumers for goods has gone up. Gasoline prices are up 60 percent over last year. Meat prices are up, with bacon at 21 percent over last year. 

“The producer price index is up 9.6 percent today, the fastest pace on record. These are measures of average prices that producers receive for their output.

“We have raging inflation, raging debt, raging spending, and if this bill passes, raging tax increases that are going to harm the economy and further drive inflation problems we face today.”

Watch Crapo’s remarks here.

Watch the full press conference, including Q&A, here.