$0 ≠ $3,000,000,000,000

For months, Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have claimed their multi-trillion dollar reconciliation bill (“Build Back Better”) would cost zero dollars — a claim that earned the White House two pinocchios from the Washington Post. Now, a new report from the Congressional Budget Office has revealed that “Build Back Better” would add trillions of dollars to the deficit.

Wall Street Journal: Second, the Congressional Budget Office released an alternative estimate of the bill requested by Republicans that analyzed the cost of the bill’s provisions if they were extended indefinitely—rather than on the temporary basis Democrats have proposed.

The CBO score requested by Republicans, which used slightly different methods than previous estimates of the bill, found that the legislation’s provisions, if extended, would add roughly $3 trillion to the deficit over a decade.

Republicans Senator Lindsey Graham and Congressman Jason Smith requested the analysis to get an accurate estimate of the bill’s cost, without Democrats’ budget gimmicks. They hope this will persuade moderate Democrats — especially West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin — to oppose the massive tax-and-spending spree.

The Hill: “What I think will happen is that Joe will take these numbers and he will start making decisions about what comes next, and my hope is that Sen. Manchin will say, ‘Stop, shelve Build Back Better until we find better answers to where inflation is headed,'” Graham added. . .

“I talked to him this morning. He was stunned. I think he felt vindicated and that his concerns were legitimate,” Graham said. 

Bottom Line: Democrats’ reckless spending plans would add trillions of dollars to the deficit and send inflation soaring even higher, devastating the fiscal well-being of working families and the country.