The Greatest Government Failure in American History
- By Stephen Moore
The tally for how much the federal government spent to combat COVID-19 is now estimated to be $5 trillion. It is more than the combined costs of World Wars I and II. The left is celebrating that politicians in Washington saved us. Really? From what exactly?
Two years later, it is time for an honest assessment. Could things have worsened for the country if the government had spent nothing and done nothing? What would have happened if we had not shut down our businesses? Our churches, schools and restaurants. Our parks, basketball courts and playgrounds.
Would the public have made worse decisions regarding protecting its health and the health of its families and its employees than the politicians have made?
The Most Dangerous Virus Today Is Runaway Government Spending
- By Stephen Moore
When I came to Washington, D.C., in 1985, Ronald Reagan was president. I was working for the Reagan budget office. We did something we weren't very proud of at the time. We introduced the first $1 trillion budget in American history, which was unthinkable. One trillion dollars. There are 12 zeroes in a trillion. A trillion is a million dollars times a million. The budget deficit hit $200 billion and 6% of our entire GDP. Again, unthinkable.
Now, fast forward 37 years later. The budget today is nowhere close to $1 trillion. In 2021, President Joe Biden's first year in office, the federal spending came in at just under $7 trillion ($6.81 trillion, to be exact). So, in less than four decades, the budget has grown sevenfold. Much faster than inflation. Much faster than the economy. The government is now gobbling up the economy, spending up to 30% of our national output. Add state and local spending, and we are close to 40%.
Remember US Energy Independence Day?
- By Stephen Moore
Once, during a meeting with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump inside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York, we discussed energy policy. I told Trump that if we went all out to produce America's abundant supply of oil, gas and coal, the United States could be energy independent in four years.
Trump looked at me from behind his desk and shook his head. "I don't want America to be energy independent. I want America to be energy dominant."
There are few issues where Trump and President Joe Biden have differed more broadly on policy than on energy production. Trump went full speed on fossil fuel production. He lifted drilling restrictions, especially in states such as Alaska and on federal lands in the continental states. He gave the green light to vitally needed pipelines. He blocked new extreme environmental regulations that were intended to choke off our oil and gas supplies. He recognized the shale oil and gas revolution as an unparalleled opportunity to reduce reliance on foreign oil.
Save the Children, Fire the Teachers Unions
- By Stephen Moore
It started in Chicago, where an incredible 91% of union teachers voted to go on strike and refused to do what they get paid to do, which is teach. Then the union walkouts spread to Maryland, New Jersey and California.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a liberal Democrat, has attacked the Chicago teachers unions for "holding kids hostage." She is right.
Why doesn't she call a state of emergency and disband the union to save the children from the union terrorists? Or tear up the contract because the unions have violated it? If she did, she would be a hero.
President Joe Biden keeps talking about how much he and his fellow Democrats in Washington care about "the children." Uh-huh. He has correctly stated that there is no health reason for closing schools. But in this latest episode of union child abuse waged against our school-age children, he does nothing. Maybe that is because more than 90% of the tens of millions of campaign dollars donated by the teacher unions go to Democrats.
Union Bosses Against Union Jobs
- By Stephen Moore
Why don't the union bosses in America represent their union members anymore? Could it be because the union leadership has become more beholden to the Democratic politicians in Washington than the rank-and-file workers who pay the dues?
We saw an example of this betrayal of the workers not long ago when the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters brass endorsed Joe Biden for president -- even though Biden openly opposed all fossil fuels and wanted to end the building of pipelines.
Talk about selling the rope to the hangman. The union bosses acted surprised that Biden's first act as president was to kill several thousand union jobs by killing the Keystone XL pipeline. And in recent months, the Biden officials have been on a crusade to shutdown Midwest pipelines that carry natural gas to the midwestern states.
The Trump Economic Record Looks Better Every Day
- By Stephen Moore
When running against Donald Trump for president, Joe Biden often made the now-ironic charge that any president who has allowed so many deaths from COVID-19 should never be in the White House. Today, there are more deaths from COVID under Biden than under Trump -- and that is even (SET ITAL)with(END ITAL) the vaccine.
But it isn't just on health issues that Trump's presidency is looking so much better and competent in hindsight.
Everywhere I go these days, people come up to me and say something like this: "I didn't like some of the things Trump said or the way he acted, but I have to admit I like what he did for the economy."
The Biggest Corporate Welfare Recipients Ever
- By Stephen Moore
How much do solar, wind and electric vehicle companies get in federal handouts and tax loopholes in President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill? Well over $100 billion in taxpayer largesse. If all the tax credits are included, that number could reach half a trillion dollars. No other industry in American history has ever received this lucrative a paycheck.
The folks at the Institute for Energy Research calculated that this is on top of the more than $150 billion in subsidies these industries received from Uncle Sam in the last 30 years.
The Greatest Financial Swindle of All Time
- By Stephen Moore
One of the most popular provisions of the 1994 Contract with America was a rule requiring Congress to live by the same laws that families and businesses are subject to.
So, why doesn't Congress live by the financial and accounting standards required of the rest of us?
I'm speaking of the multitrillion-dollar Build Back Better law, a giant financial masquerade. No one knows what it costs. None of the Democrats in Congress who are hellbent on passing it seems to care. That may be because, as the House Budget Committee chairman has pronounced, "We can pay for whatever we want to pay for."
Uh-huh. Don't hire this man as your accountant.
Will Congress Take Away Your Credit Card?
- By Stephen Moore
How would you feel about Congress snatching away your credit card or preventing you from participating in credit card reward programs?
Don't laugh. Left-wing groups in Washington are declaring that the plastic card in your wallet is the financial villain that needs to get reined in.
A new study from researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston finds that credit card reward programs are unfair because they create "an implicit money transfer" to wealthy cardholders from lower-income people who buy things with cash or debit cards.
Joe Biden's Dirty Little Secret: He Wants Higher Gasoline Prices
- By Stephen Moore
When he announced last week that he would release more oil from the American Strategic Petroleum Reserve, President Joe Biden told the American people he is doing everything possible to bring down gas prices at the pump.
That's a lie. This administration and the climate change crazies have declared war on American energy.
They (SET ITAL)want(END ITAL) high oil and gas prices. The Biden master plan is for American oil and gas production and consumption to go to zero over the next 15 to 20 years. How do you achieve that goal? By making oil and gas so expensive and so unavailable that Americans are forced to use alternatives.
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Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at Freedom Works. He is also author of the new book: "Govzilla: How The Relentless Growth of Government Is Devouring Our Economy." To find out more about Stephen Moore and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
