Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Politics

The incredible congressional spending spree of 2022

by December 21, 2022
December 21, 2022
The incredible congressional spending spree of 2022

The year 2022 might go down in history as the year America learned to stop worrying and love the national debt.

To deal with COVID, Congress approved record-high spending levels in fiscal years 2020 ($6.5 trillion) and 2021 ($6.8 trillion). By the time the pandemic eased and emergency spending started to taper off, anything less than those levels started to feel like fiscal austerity.

Rather than allow total spending to fall back to the pre-COVID levels of $4.4 trillion, Congress kept the pedal to the metal and President Joe Biden was happy to sign every spending bill that reached his desk.

Lawmakers passed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill in late 2021, allowing the Biden administration to push out a giant wave of grant funding for their favorite projects across the country in 2022. Congress passed the $750 billion Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which was more of an environment-health spending bill than an antidote to the high inflation levels not seen in 40 years.

Lawmakers also approved a $280 billion bill to subsidize investment in semiconductor manufacturing, and they also approved $65 billion in Ukraine-related funding.

As a result of these and other bills, total spending for fiscal year 2022 came in at $6.3 trillion – almost as much as the record highs reached when COVID fear still gripped the nation. The elevated price tag left fiscal hawks wondering if COVID created an expensive new normal for taxpayers.

‘Have we literally just increased the baseline spending from $4.4 to $6 trillion? A $1.6 trillion increase, about a 36% increase?’ Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., asked last week. ‘If that’s the case, we’ll never balance the budget.’

Johnson’s fear is justified so far as lawmakers seem to be treating $6 trillion as a new floor. This week, House and Senate Democrats are hoping to pass a $1.7 trillion full-year spending bill that would boost defense and social spending to new highs.

Johnson’s observation fits a pattern seen over the last 15 years. When the housing bubble burst in 2008, Congress accelerated spending and never looked back, even when the crisis was in the rearview mirror. When COVID came along, Congress found a higher gear and doesn’t seem to be in the mood to slow down.

One factor that is likely to at least dampen the spending party is the Republican takeover of the House. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who hopes to become the next House speaker when Republicans take control of the chamber in 2023, isn’t happy about all the excessive spending and believes it’s time to slow down in order to reduce the inflationary effects of the trillions of federal dollars blanketing the nation.

‘Why is the interest [rate] going up?’ McCarthy asked last week. ‘Inflation. How did we get inflation? The runaway spending from the Democrats.’

But McCarthy may find it difficult to ‘starve the beast,’ as Reagan-era Republicans used to put it. Democrats control the Senate, and it’s unlikely they’ll be open to passing any bills to cut spending.

Even if Republicans and Democrats battle to a draw and spending stays frozen, it won’t feel like a spending freeze. That’s because one important component of federal spending is rising all on its own – interest payments on the national debt.

When government debt matures, the government doesn’t pay back the loan – it borrows even more. But now, that new borrowing will come with much higher rates.

How much higher? In fiscal year 2022, the government spent more than $500 billion on interest payments on the debt – a number that already rivals the annual defense spending bill and will grow even higher next year as the government begins to test the sustainability of a $7 trillion annual budget.

Pete Kasperowicz is a politics editor at Fox News Digital.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
George Soros nonprofits gave tens of millions to anti-police groups and initiatives in 2021, tax forms show
next post
White House confirms Zelenskyy’s travel to US ahead of massive bill funding Ukrainian military

You may also like

North Korea expands list of crimes punishable by...

September 28, 2024

Elon Musk supports family punished for speaking out...

June 4, 2023

President Trump Delivers Special Message to January 6th...

December 2, 2022

SEN ELIZABETH WARREN: Social Security is under attack....

April 15, 2025

OH NO! Joe Biden Gets Lost On Stage...

September 21, 2022

Netanyahu says ‘leftist Deep State’ in Israel, US...

March 20, 2025

GOP ‘dysfunction’ around McCarthy’s speaker bid could boost...

January 7, 2023

SAFE and EFFECTIVE: European Medicines Agency Recommends Adding...

October 28, 2022

Special Master Raymond Dearie Asks For Outside Help...

September 23, 2022

Wisconsin Democrats call for controversial GOP elections official’s...

January 18, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Trump ally stands firm against ‘big, beautiful bill’ despite pressure: ‘It’ll completely backfire’

      June 8, 2025
    • Rubio condemns assassination attempt on Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe

      June 8, 2025
    • Obama WH physician says Biden doc should have performed cognitive test

      June 8, 2025
    • Trump warns of ‘serious consequences’ if Elon Musk funds Democrats

      June 7, 2025
    • Musk jokes about reconsidering stance on Big Beautiful Bill after Schiff’s praise

      June 7, 2025
    • Musk deletes explosive posts about Trump and Epstein files

      June 7, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,152)
    • Investing (2,019)
    • Politics (15,571)
    • Stocks (3,136)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved