McRae: Mr. President: It’s time to live within our means
By Treasurer David McRae
In Mississippi, we live within our means, we create a healthy rainy day fund to protect us from inevitable economic ebbs, and we pay our bills on time. As a result, creditors have awarded us with advantageous financing and strong credit ratings. This is how a fiscally responsible government is supposed to operate. It is not, however, how the federal government is currently operating.
President Biden recently released his federal budget, one that lives well outside the means of the American taxpayer. Loaded with $6.9 trillion in federal spending, the budget fails to rein in Washington’s spending issues. In fact, it does the opposite, committing generations of Americans to funding new entitlement programs.
For the most part, this budget is simply a Biden Administration pipe dream, as many of the provisions have already failed a Democrat-led Congress. Nonetheless, it reveals the priorities of this administration. Take a look at just a few of the headlines about this budget; what do you think the priority is?
From The Hill: “Biden’s $5 trillion tax gambit catches Congress by surprise.”
From Washington Examiner: “Biden’s tax-heavy budget.”
From the New York Times: “Biden $6.8 trillion budget proposes new social programs and higher taxes.”
You probably caught what I caught. This budget is not about getting America’s fiscal house on a path to sustainability. This budget is about taxes – plain and simple. Moreover, even with the nearly $5 trillion of new taxes President Biden is proposing, he falls short of matching his $6.9 trillion of new spending. Perhaps it’s because of this very basic math problem that the Congressional Budget Office now predicts the federal deficit to be $6 trillion higher now than it was projected when President Biden first took office.
The truth is that Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. And without addressing that core issue, no amount of taxation will cure what plagues our economy.
Here in Mississippi, we are required by law to balance our budget every year. That requirement works, and I believe it’s a requirement that should be implemented on the federal level. It is time for Congress to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to our Constitution.
It’s time for Congress to follow Mississippi’s lead and live within our means.
Mississippi Treasurer David McRae is the 55th Treasurer for the State of Mississippi. In this role, he helps manage the state’s cash flow, oversees College Savings Mississippi, and has returned nearly $65 million in unclaimed money to Mississippians. For more information, visit Treasury.MS.gov.
