Though the ink isn’t yet dry on the $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill that was passed last week, Democrats in Congress are preparing a new “Phase Four” spending bill that, if passed, will likely cost an additional $2 trillion for economic stimulus.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has been talking about a phase four bill for several weeks now, and the new spending proposal may find a keen ear in President Trump. He tweeted on March 31, “With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill. It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., however, is cool towards the idea of a fourth spending bill. “We do need to be mindful of how to pay for it,” McConnell told The Washington Post. “Pelosi needs to stand down on the notion that we’re going to go along with taking advantage of the crisis to do things that are unrelated to the crisis.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY., told MSNBC on Wednesday that he wanted the next spending bill to progressive and environmentally friendly. “We need it big, we need it bold, and we need it futuristic, which means green.” Schumer said. “There’s traditional infrastructure, roads, bridges, highways, we need that. But we also need new green infrastructure for the future so we should do that.”
Some conservatives, most notably talk show host Mark Levin, are coming out against additional deficit spending. On April 2, appearing on Fox News, Levin held up a sign that read, “13,400,000,000,000,” the total amount of money the federal government is set to spend or loan this year if the next phrase four bill passes. “That’s $13.4 trillion dollars. I have to put it in writing, it’s so big. That’s eleven zeros. Okay, $13.4 trillion,” Levin said. “Washington: stop!”
It’s fair to wonder why politicians in Washington, D.C. want to spend trillions of dollars stimulating an economy that they, the government, have shut down.
The U.S. Debt Clock, which tracks government spending, revenue and debt in real time shows that with the current $23.6 trillion dollars in federal debt, each taxpayer is on the hook for $191,172. These two numbers do not account for the recent $2.2 trillion stimulus bill, or any additional spending in the future.
Let’s pray that our government leaders in Washington have wisdom on how to deal with this crisis, and how best to steward our taxpayer dollars. Proverbs 22:7 reminds us that, “the borrower is the slave of the lender.”
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