Since announcing his $3.5 trillion Build Back Better agenda, President Joe Biden and senior White House officials declared the spending will cost Americans nothing.
During a speech on September 27th, Biden said, “And like I said, every time I hear — and I drive my staff crazy — every time I hear, “This is going to cost A, B, C, or D,” the truth is, based on the commitment that I made, it’s going to cost nothing because we’re going to raise the revenue — raise the revenue to pay for the things we’re talking about. “
When confronted on the claim, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki argued with a reporter, “Let’s not dumb this down for the American people.”
“Let’s not dumb this down for the American people here,” Psaki shot back, noting the various pay-fors attached to the spending bill,” Psaki said. “The reconciliation instructions limit the net cost of the package to $1.75 trillion, meaning that about half the spending must be offset with tax increases, other forms of additional revenue, or cuts elsewhere.”
Fox News led the charge to fact-check Biden’s claim and now, the White House is redefining its message.
Today, the White House walked back its initial false claim after being scrutinized by elected officials, the public and the media over the President’s prior claim, adding clarification that the spending plan is not anticipated to add more to the national deficit, even though through corporate taxes, higher energy costs and inflation, Americans will indeed be paying into the Build Back Better agenda, regardless of their financial or social status.
“The cost of the Build Back Better Agenda — in terms of adding to the deficit — is zero. It’s paid for because big corporations and the very wealthy will start paying their fair share,” the White House said in a statement today.