There seems to be something for everyone in the massive spending packages now working their way through Congress. And with a price tag of $4.6 trillion, or $37,400 per household, offering something for everyone – be it government-paid family leave, monthly child payments, free community college, union dues write-offs, a $12,500 electric vehicle tax credit or new bike paths – is easy.
Politicians who want to grow government like to talk about how great this grab-bag will be for workers, for families and for the economy. And they promise that only big corporations and really wealthy people will pay higher taxes.
But that’s like selling a souped-up Lincoln Navigator to a family that wants a minivan, reasoning that both require the same down payment.
Families deserve to know how much big-government policies will cost them – not only in taxes, but in how those policies will affect their paychecks and the prices they pay for everything from gas and groceries to utilities and child care.
Let’s start with taxes, which already consume more of Americans’ budgets than food, housing and clothing combined.