There’s no doubt Washington has a spending problem.
President Biden and my colleagues across the aisle are constantly looking for new ways to raise taxes on hardworking Americans, but the truth is Washington has plenty of money, and it’s just not spent well.
There is so much waste up here because the federal government loves to throw hundreds of billions of dollars at an issue, then pat itself on the back and say it solved a problem.
A perfect example of this is the trillions and trillions of dollars in extra spending the Democrats rammed through last Congress in the name of COVID relief. This package, which we all know as the American Rescue Plan, resulted in the highest rise in consumer prices in nearly half a century and billions of wasted taxpayer dollars.
The federal government always thinks it can spend its way out of any problem it faces.
Some of the worst examples of waste in this package include $783 million in stimulus checks to federal prisoners, $15 million to build a sports complex for the 2026 World Cup, $2.1 million for a golf course, $2 million for a ski slope, $140 million for a luxury hotel, $5 million to build walking trails dedicated to the history of moonshine, $1.2 million on trash cans, and $2 million to build a 60-acre RV campground at a safari park.
What do any of these have to do with COVID, and how was this a good use of taxpayer
dollars?
This is one of the many reasons why House Republicans are introducing the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023. One of the key pillars of this bill is reclaiming unspent COVID funds, which will end up saving American taxpayers about $50-$60 billion. While this is nowhere near the full amount that has been wasted, it is a very good start to get us back on the right track.
To folks in Washington, $50-$60 billion isn’t a whole lot of money, but to us here in Alabama, it’s a very big deal.
Make no mistake, President Biden and House Democrats wasted ridiculous amounts of money in 2021 and 2022, but House Republicans are committed to stopping this runaway train in its tracks and being responsible with every single penny of your money.
We won’t be able to solve all our problems over night, but the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 is the first step to get us pointed in the right direction.
U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.
