We’ll probably keep referring to it as a “$3.5 trillion” bill to avoid confusion, but it’s well worth noting that Democrats’ “human infrastructure” plan would actually cost far more — at least $5 trillion.
The standard way to “score” costs is to say what they’d be over the first decade. So to reduce sticker shock, the bill pretends that key new entitlements — in particular, a huge expansion of Medicaid — will expire after just three years.
In reality, at that point Dems will argue that it would be incredibly cruel to not fund “promised” benefits and suggest some new tax hikes to cover the added costs. They figure Republicans, who didn’t dare undo ObamaCare even when they controlled Congress and the White House, will be pressured to go along.
This, when even covering the official price has Democrats proposing huge, job-killing tax hikes, including a “carbon tax” that will hit poor and middle-class Americans hardest.
This nightmare needs to go down in flames.