$3.5 trillion vastly understates the cost of Democrats spending spree

 Brad Polumbo:

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Here’s what’s being overlooked in this entire debate. While $3.5 trillion is already an astonishingly huge price tag—it equates to $24,000 per federal taxpayer and would require massive tax hikes—the proposal on offer does not actually cost $3.5 trillion. This figure is a vast underestimate of its true cost.

“Democrats are grasping for ways to finance their cradle-to-grave welfare state, with the left demanding what they claim is $3.5 trillion over 10 years,” the Wall Street Journal editorial board writes. “The truth is that even that gargantuan number hides the real cost of their plans.”

“The bills moving through committees are full of delayed starts, phony phase-outs, and cost shifting to states designed to fit $3.5 trillion into a 10-year budget window that can pass with a mere 51 Senate votes,” the Journal explains. “Even if the bill[’s official price tag] shrinks to $2 trillion or less, the real costs will be far greater. Behold one of the greatest fiscal cons in history.”

Simply put, the proposed legislation uses budget gimmicks and unusual timelines to make it seem like they’re spending less than they likely would spend in actuality if implemented. According to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the true cost of the plan is likely closer to $5 trillion.

“We estimate the policies under consideration could cost between $5 trillion and $5.5 trillion over a decade, assuming they are made permanent,” the organization reports. “In order to fit these proposals within a $3.5 trillion budget target, lawmakers apparently intend to have some policies expire before the end of the ten-year budget window, using this oft-criticized budget gimmick to hide their true cost.”
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This is another example of the Democrats' politics of fraud.  It is the kind of crap that would bring the SEC and other legal proceedings down on a corporation that tried to push this kind of scam on investors.  Democrats just cannot be trusted when it comes to this kind of spending.