Joni Ernst: President Biden’s Policies are Hurting Iowa’s Economy, Working Families

Even if you’re paying attention, it’s hard to keep track of all the numbers flying around Washington, D.C. right now. Despite our national debt approaching $30 trillion, President Biden and congressional Democrats are proposing trillions more in taxpayer spending. In fact, on the Friday before Memorial Day, the White House quietly released the president’s $6 trillion budget proposal that would, as the New York Times put it, “push federal spending to its highest sustained levels since World War II.” It’s important to remember that this comes just months after they fast-tracked a nearly $2 trillion “COVID relief” bill without any Republican support.

 

With the Biden Administration continuing full speed ahead with its egregious spending, it’s clear the president’s economic policies are failing the American people. We’ve seen the prices of gasoline, milk, lumber, and other goods that families in Iowa and across the country rely on daily continue to rise—with the annual inflation rate reaching its highest in nearly 13 years. The May jobs report failed to meet expectations for the second month in a row—with the number of unemployed Americans remaining well above pre-pandemic levels and enhanced federal perks continuing to discourage folks from going back to work. And let’s not forget the thousands of jobs President Biden destroyed in the first few days of his administration when he unilaterally cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline with the stroke of a pen.

 

Sadly, President Biden’s massive, multi-trillion dollar budget reflects a continuation of these failed policies. His budget would impose higher taxes on working Americans while making dangerous cuts to our national defense, all to pay for a massive expansion of the federal government and the enactment of radical progressive demands, like parts of the Green New Deal. In fact, the entire plan can be summed up as: higher taxes, higher spending, and higher debt.

 

Under the Biden budget, by 2028, Washington will collect more tax revenue as a portion of our economy than at nearly any point over the last 100 years. This tax collecting scheme even includes a retroactive tax increase—meaning Iowans may owe higher taxes on past earnings. Plus, the president would allow the tax cuts I helped pass for lower-income and middle-class Americans to expire in 2025, resulting in higher taxes for most Americans.

 

The administration’s “Build Back Better” plan includes proposed tax policy changes that could have devastating impacts on America’s family farms and ranches. The American Farm Bureau stated that the tax plan would mean “a significant tax increase on farmers and ranchers.” Punishing Iowa family farmers, who help feed and fuel the world, with tax hikes is exactly the opposite of what the Biden Administration should be doing right now and shows just how out of touch Democrats are with Rural America.

 

The bottom line is President Biden’s economic policies are hurting hardworking Iowans and Americans. We need to be working together in a bipartisan way to get our economy back on track like it was pre-pandemic. That doesn’t mean tax hikes on our families; that means getting folks back to work and reining in unnecessary spending. I’ll continue holding the Biden Administration’s feet to the fire to protect the pocketbooks of working families in Iowa and across the nation.

 

Joni Ernst, a native of Red Oak and a combat veteran, represents Iowa in the United States Senate.