Democrats’ Socialist Spending Package

By Blaine Luetkemeyer, U.S. Congressman, 3rd District
Posted 12/1/21

I hope you enjoyed a Thanksgiving surrounded by the ones you love and a little too much food. We had a great day filled with our Thanksgiving favorites and lots of family time.  

With today …

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Democrats’ Socialist Spending Package

Posted

I hope you enjoyed a Thanksgiving surrounded by the ones you love and a little too much food. We had a great day filled with our Thanksgiving favorites and lots of family time. 

With today being Black Friday, there is no doubt that many of us are shifting our focus toward Christmas as we search for the best deals and rush to get our shopping done. Please remember tomorrow is Small Business Saturday. It is a great reminder that many of our local small businesses offer many of the same and even better options than the retail giants.  On top of that, with hundreds of cargo ships sitting in the Pacific Ocean, local businesses may be our only option if we want to finish shopping before Santa lands on the roof. 

The supply chain delays are a serious problem not just for Christmas, but for our economy. The shortages are making an already bad level of inflation even worse, and making it extremely difficult to find necessities for our families. While I rarely believe government is the only responsible party for our problems, it can certainly make them worse. COVID certainly played a role in supply chain disruptions and by extension, inflation. Shutdowns that stopped shipping overseas undoubtably caused delays here. However, it was President Biden’s decision to shut down pipelines and kill U.S. energy production that has caused energy costs to soar. In fact, shutting down the Keystone XL Pipeline was one of his first acts in office – much to the enjoyment of the far-left. Now that oil prices are sky high, the cost of shipping the things we buy has also gone up, and that is directly tied to this Administration’s decisions. 

The same thing can be said for worker shortages. Some workers were and still are genuinely afraid to return to in-person work. That fact alone would have probably caused at least some worker shortages when states first reopened. But when you pay people more to stay home than they make at their jobs, they’re going to stay home. When you allow unions to pick who can and cannot enter ports, spots will go unfilled. And when you force American citizens to get a vaccine in order to keep their jobs, some will decide that job is no longer for them. 

As I briefly discussed in my last column, House Democrats passed their reconciliation bill, which they’ve labeled, “Build Back Better” last Friday. This bill is the epitome of government decisions that will only make current problems worse. Right now, we are experiencing runaway inflation that is making the money in your pocket less valuable. Everyone can agree that when things get more expensive, it disproportionately hurts low and moderate-income families. They can least afford to pay more for food, clothing, and heat. If this bill makes it through the Senate and gets signed into law by the President, it will make that problem exponentially worse. Not only does it pump an additional $2 trillion into the economy which will increase inflation, it also raises taxes and cost of energy on the people who can’t afford it. According to the bipartisan Tax Policy Center, 20-30% of the middle class will pay more taxes in 2022 under this law. And as the Missouri winter quickly approaches, a tax on natural gas that is included in the bill will raise the cost of heating your home by as much as 30% a month. To top it all off, the bill includes a $285 billion tax cut for the wealthiest citizens of high tax states like New York and California. Economically speaking, it couldn’t be worse for the majority of Missourians. Prices of goods going up while the government takes more out of your paycheck. 

That brings me back to Small Business Saturday. The small businesses in towns across Missouri have to juggle inflation and the rising cost of goods with keeping prices affordable for the community and ensuring their employees get paid. At times it is an impossible feat, but they keep trying. By shopping local, you are supporting not only the business but the employees and surrounding community. You are doing your part to ensure one more store doesn’t get swallowed by Amazon or other foreign competitors. And after the last two years, our support for them is more important than ever. Small businesses make up the fabric of towns across Missouri. Let’s show them how much we appreciate them this holiday season.  

CONTACT US: As always, for those of you with Internet access, I encourage you to visit my official website. For those without access to the Internet, I encourage you to call my offices in Jefferson City (573-635-7232) Washington, Mo. (636-239-2276), or Wentzville (636-327-7055) with your questions and concerns. If you want even greater access to what I am working on, please visit my YouTube site, Facebook page, and keep up-to-date with Twitter and Instagram.