Biden’s Math For His Trillion Dollar Plan Just Doesn’t Add Up

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi echoed President Joe Biden’s claim that the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act will cost “zero” dollars.

“It’s not about a dollar amount,” Pelosi told reporters Wednesday morning about the social spending package. “The dollar amount, as the president has said, is zero. This bill will be paid for.”

Her comments mirrored Biden’s Sept. 25 claim that the Build Back Better Act “adds zero dollars to the national debt.”

“Instead of wasting money on tax breaks, loopholes, and tax evasion for big corporations and the wealthy, we can make a once-in-a-generation investment in working America,” he tweeted.

“My Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars,” he wrote. “Instead of wasting money on tax breaks, loopholes, and tax evasion for big corporations and the wealthy, we can make a once-in-a-generation investment in working America. And it adds zero dollars to the national debt.”

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has not scored the Build Back Better Act, therefore Congress is yet to be provided with an official estimate of its long-term costs. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated the package would require Congress to borrow up to $2.4 trillion to pay for it, with tax revenue covering only $1.1 trillion. Furthermore the cost of provisions such as universal pre-kindergarten and free community college would skyrocket after the 10-year estimate included in the bills end, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Republicans are cynical about the zero dollar claim, with Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack saying it “defies logic and basic math.”

“Alongside massive tax increases, it will add trillions to the debt,” he said.