(Republicaninformer.com)- A budget watchdog began running ads urging Congress “not to add more new debt” this year.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released its first radio ad last week.
For FY2022, the budget deficit came in at $1.4 trillion while the national debt reached $31.3 trillion.
According to Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), Congress should reject “all non-emergency new borrowing for the rest of the year.” She said given the deficit and federal debt, as well as inflation, “there is no economic justification” for it.
MacGuineas argued that many in Congress refuse to curb spending “because they want to enact or extend favored policies without being troubled with paying for them.” She said passing the spending package is a vote to worsen the economy at a time when many lawmakers claim that inflation is the most important economic issue.
MacGuineas urged Congress to pivot toward “responsible budgeting” as a first step. She said agreeing not to “engage in new borrowing” for the rest of the year “is about the easiest step any lawmaker can take.”
But it looks like MacGuineas won’t get her way.
On Monday, Congress unveiled a $1.7 trillion year-end spending package to fund the federal government through September 30, 2023, and avert a shutdown.
Senate and House leaders hope to pass the $1.7 trillion spending package and have it on Joe Biden’s desk by the end of the week to avoid a possible government shutdown.
Included in this 4,155-page spending spree is another $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO, along with $40.6 billion for US communities recovering from natural disasters.
This $1.7 trillion spending bill is on top of the record $858 billion defense authorization spending bill for FY2023.
If Congress doesn’t pass the monstrosity by midnight on Friday, the government will face a partial shutdown.
