There are people of good will working together to finish a budget. And we applaud Congress for waiting until the Congressional Budget Office score comes out on the budget before voting. However, there are contradictory estimates on the final cost of the budget according to some experts. We believe it's important to look into these figures so we can make sure we are getting the budget right.
We are told that the cost of the bill is $1.85 trillion. However the budget experts at Penn Wharton University of Pennsylvania state that if the temporary programs in the bill were made permanent, the total cost over 10 years would actually be $4.26 trillion. Other budget experts have made similar arguments. We will provide links below.
Let's do this right. Let's see the final Congressional Budget Office estimate on the budget before taking any further action. Let's have the White House respond to Penn Wharton's findings and come up with a realistic budget figure for the next 10 years that will work for the American people.
LINKS
In Spending Bill, Democrats Rely on Budget Gimmicks They Once Derided (Yahoo, 11-4-21)
Macroeconomic Effects of Build Back Better (Penn Wharton University of Pennsylvania, 11-4-21)
A Few Takeaways From JCT’s Score of Build Back Better’s Revenue Provisions (National Taxpayers Union, 11-4-21)
What's in the Latest Build Back Better Framework? (Committee for a Responsible Budget, 10-28-21)