June 28, 2021
While on one hand President Biden says America is ready to take off, on the other he seems to want to take from earners and redistribute that wealth to non-earners. The president wants the IRS to target high-earning Americans he thinks may be shielding income via tax loopholes.
The effort is ambitious, preposterous, and dangerous (if successful). The government would pick winners and losers in industries and personal lives. It would be a far cry from the small government intended by our nation’s founders.
What would happen with the newfound revenue? President Biden’s plan includes $2.3 trillion of infrastructure spending on bridges, roads, and broadband internet. In fact, $1 trillion is for social spending, including:
- $225 billion for paid family leave and medical leave
- $225 billion for childcare
- $200 billion for free universal preschool
- $109 billion for two years of free community college
- $80 billion in Pell Grants for college
- $46 billion for minority-serving institutions
- $25 billion for food assistance
Don’t we have these solutions in place already? If they’re not working, why would we dump more money into them? We have tried this (and more) before. There do not seem to be too many reviews on program effectiveness, and if there are, they aren’t publicized enough. My hunch is that if these programs were wildly successful, politicians would be sure we knew.
For me, previous efforts failed because the government is too big and bloated. Plus, handouts haven’t proven to result in meaningful changes.
We have real issues, in some cases related to crime and the family structure. Checks from Uncle Sam won’t fix them.
And let’s be honest, we don’t have the money to pay for these programs anyway.