Biden faces Republican claims spending bill is packed with pork+
The White House’s planned victory lap celebrating the passage of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus pandemic spending package comes with plenty of political risks, Republicans warn.
Republicans argue that Biden’s popular spending package is chock-full of provisions that don’t even relate to the COVID-19 public health and economic crises. They say the measure substantially adds to the country’s ballooning federal deficit, making it almost impossible for future generations to pay back the total borrowed amount — and likely putting a new tax burden on them.
And despite team Biden’s publicity tour, Republicans are betting voters will share their gripes before the 2022 midterm elections, when the party could take control of both chambers. Though some in GOP circles say former President Donald Trump, with his sometimes-lackluster virus response, has made the Republican counterargument less compelling.
Federal ‘COVID’ Spending Just Hit $41,870 Per Taxpayer. Did You See That Much in Benefit?
President Biden just signed his sweeping $1.9 trillion spending package into law. Once this bill hits the books, total taxpayer expenditure on (ostensibly) COVID relief will hit $6 trillion—which, roughly estimated, comes out to $41,870 in spending per federal taxpayer.
Did you see anywhere near that much in benefit?
The sheer immensity of this spending is hard to grasp. For context, $6 trillion is more than one-fourth of what the US economy produces in an entire year, according to Fox Business. The COVID spending blowout is at least eight times bigger than the (inflation-adjusted) price tag of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal.”
Treasury yield trend suggests no relief from higher rates, backs up inflation jitters
Even though the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield touched a one-week low on Wednesday, economic forecaster Lakshman Achuthan believes the path forward is higher.
According to Achuthan’s proprietary data, the U.S. is already in the grip of inflation.
“It is not transitory. It’s cyclical,” the Economic Cycle Research Institute co-founder told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Wednesday. “The underlying trend regardless of the narratives is going to remain to the upside.”
Achuthan uses a chart of the 10-year yield to back up his bullish inflation call. It shows yields over the past five years and includes when he made inflation cycle upturn and downturn forecasts.