The 117th Congress adjourned after passing a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package. The logic of doing this is pretty simple: Members get to bring home millions of dollars in grants and projects as a reward for their constituents’ votes.
Such politics is downright Machiavellian. It took the rising Republican majority in the House of Representatives out of the equation. The 18 Senate Republicans who voted for the package believe they have reinforced their “independent” and “reasonable” bona fides with the public. In October 2023, when this resolution expires and House Republicans likely will oppose more spending, they will be branded by some in the news media as anti-government radicals.
Predictably, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), in his “Festivus Report,” showcased $482 billion in wasted expenditures. Others are critical of sending money to protect borders abroad while we ignore the crisis at our southern U.S. border. Fiscal conservatives lament that the package will increase inflation. So, the very simple question that no one is asking: What problems will $1.7 trillion in new spending solve?
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten recently compared President Biden favorably to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In fact, she said that Biden has done “more than any other president since FDR — and maybe more than FDR.” Hmm. And she was a history teacher, go figure.
Let’s review some of what Roosevelt did. First, he asked for permission from the American people, during his campaign in 1932, to fundamentally change the relationship between them and their federal government. To offset the Great Depression and put people to work, Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration built “more than 4,000 new school buildings, erected 130 new hospitals, laid roughly 9,000 miles of storm drains and sewer lines, built 29,000 new bridges, constructed 150 new airfields, paved or repaired 280,000 miles of roads and planted 24 million trees to alleviate loss of topsoil during the Dust Bowl.”
That means FDR is responsible for building the Hoover Dam, Triborough Bridge, San Antonio RiverWalk, LaGuardia Airport, Lincoln Tunnel, San Francisco Bay Bridge, and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. These projects just scratch the surface, though. He also shepherded our country while the Allies fought and won World War II. After the New Deal and a world war, in 1946 the national debt stood at $269 billion. By comparison, in 2022 under Biden, the national debt reached a staggering $30.8 trillion — and it will only grow with this latest omnibus spending package.
In 2023, the federal government will tax and borrow to spend at least $1.7 trillion. Will this money help secure our southern border, where millions of migrants are crossing illegally and border agents are seizing deadly fentanyl being smuggled into the U.S.? Will spending this money help lower inflation? Will it assure people who live in America’s big cities that hundreds more will not lose their lives to gun violence? Will it make America’s public schools the envy of the world, in terms of measurable student performance? Can it increase the will to work among Gen Z? Solve the homeless crisis? Break the cycle of poverty among the disadvantaged? Will it end racism?
Please, add your own questions to the list, if you like. The answer will be the same, no matter the question. None of these problems will be solved even after spending $1.7 trillion in taxpayer dollars.
The American people need to demand that the relationship they have with their elected leaders changes — from one where politicians bring home the pork to one where they actually solve problems. Looking forward to the 2024 presidential election cycle, let’s resolve to make that year another like 1932, one in which a candidate speaks plainly to the people, agreeing that we cannot sustain massive spending without producing tangible results. We need candidates and leaders who propose marshaling the power of the federal government to expedite solutions.
On March 4, 1933, FDR comforted Americans and challenged their spirit, saying, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” In 2024, we will need a leader with compassion, vision and the grit to swim against the tide in Washington that lifts all politicians but does little to solve major problems the American people face. We could draw upon another FDR quote: “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a New Deal for the American People.”
The system is broken. Where are the political leaders who understand that taxpayers are overpaying for a dearth of solutions?
Dennis M. Powell is an issues and crisis management consultant at Massey Powell, which he founded in 1985, and the author of the upcoming book, “Leading from the Top: Presidential Lessons in Issues Management.”