A Wall Street Journal analysis of Bernie Sanders’ Santa Claus economics when he was running in the 2016 election found that they would require an astronomical $18 trillion in new spending (and other analysis found it in the $30+ trillion range, depending on how health care spending is counted).
Only in comparison to the cost of the Sanders pipe dream can the nearly $10 trillion in new spending proposed by Joe Biden seem small.
According to Fox News:
Joe Biden, through his presidential campaign, is proposing over $8 trillion in new spending on a variety of programs – an ever-increasing tally that rises to around $10 trillion based on some estimates.
That includes:
- $2 trillion for climate
- $1.3 trillion for infrastructure
- $750 billion for health care
- $750 billion for higher education
- $700 billion for Biden’s “Buy American” plan
- $640 billion for housing
- $125 billion for Biden’s opioid plan
- $30 billion for criminal justice reform
- $750 billion for preschool and K-12 education, according to the CRFB (excluding $100 billion for investments in public school buildings that are already included in the infrastructure plan)
- Between $270 billion and $380 billion for paid family leave, according to CRFB estimates on a similar proposal from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
- $775 billion for universal preschool, expanded child care and in-home elder care
Thanks to the pandemic, the national debt now stands at $26.5 trillion, with interest on the debt alone now comprising a larger share of GDP than its height during WWII.
America couldn’t afford Biden’s proposals before the pandemic, and it certainly can’t now.
