VIDEO: Young Outlines Opposition to Democrats’ Tax-and-Spend Proposal

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee to express opposition to Democrats’ $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend proposal.

Congressional Democrats are attempting to fast-track their legislative priorities through a partisan and divisive reconciliation process – without Republican input or support.

Read the Senator’s Remarks:

In 2017, my colleague, Senator Sanders said:

“The function of reconciliation is to adjust federal spending and revenue, not to enact major changes in social policy.”

Now fast forward to 2021, Senator Sanders and many of my Democratic colleagues have changed their tune.

Democrats in Congress are doubling down on their efforts to steer America toward the democratic socialist policies laid out in Senator Sanders’ budget, with a $3.5 trillion spending plan that would be the most significant expansion of our social safety net programs since the 1960s.

Democrats are seeking to enact these sweeping changes through reconciliation, a partisan process which Senator Sanders himself said is not meant to be a vehicle for major policy changes.

From job-killing corporate tax hikes, to small business money grabs, and hidden tax increases on the middle class, the Democrats’ plan will punish job creators and workers and make us less competitive on the global stage.

Now, perhaps that is part of their plan, to remake the United States in the image of Western Europe.

It’s as if they want to punish businesses while rewarding unemployment and dependence on the government.

Republicans want to empower Americans to be self-sufficient, to unleash their God-given potential. That after all, is the promise of at the heart of the Declaration of Independence.

It’s that promise that has lead generation after generation of people to our shores so that they too could realize the individual liberty, the promise of the heart of America’s Declaration of Independence.

Republicans want to provide employment opportunities and a strong economy. We don’t want to make people beholden to the government for their livelihood. That’s not healthy. That’s not freedom. That isn’t American.

I visited the Soviet Union in its dying days as part of a junior high soccer exchange trip. I still remember what I saw there. Food was scarce. Water was too.

There were public water stations, where Russians drank from a communal cup. They were desperate for everyday items Americans take for granted. Blue jeans, for example. And chewing gum, too. For decades, Russians were denied this because it was a symbol of American culture.

Now think about that. A government that gives you everything, can also take anything away. Even chewing gum.

Profligate collectivism, some people call it socialism, creates an environment where citizens progressively give up the right to decide how they spend their earnings, how they educate their children, how they get better when they are sick, a system where they are all frozen on the lower rungs of the ladder of life’s opportunity, where upward mobility is unknown.

That’s why the Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend proposal goes against everything we believe in this nation.

Among its many defects, their proposal picks winners and losers, increases our dependence on foreign oil, and allows blatant double dipping.

All of this is of course, incredibly misguided.

And simply makes no sense when gas prices have jumped 40 percent since January, directly harming middle income Americans who can’t afford a cent more.

Punishing oil and natural gas producers while propping up renewables, many of which have materials directly sourced from Communist China, will have disastrous, wide-reaching effects.

A 100 percent renewable energy-supported grid will result in blackouts and will make power delivery less reliable for millions of families. Not to mention the job losses for the 10 million Americans employed by these industries.

Democrats are also proposing sweeping changes to Medicare, this is a program which is incredibly popular among our senior citizens, is already on shaky financial ground. It is projected to reach insolvency within the next four years, prior to any changes by the Democrats that will undermine it.

Democrats are determined to add benefits that private plans already cover more efficiently.

Adding hearing, vision, and dental under traditional Medicare is duplicative of the coverage provided through Medicare Advantage.

Seniors enjoy their high-performing Medicare Advantage plans, which come at little to no additional cost.

Expanding Medicare is unnecessary, duplicative, and will come with higher costs, less access, and harm the quality of care providers are able to provide.

These are just two examples – but the Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend proposal would have harmful consequences across the board for our country and the freedoms we enjoy.

Americans should be outraged, I know Hoosiers are.

Not only by this radical expansion of government, but by the process Democrats are using to ram through their liberal agenda. Possibly ramming it through a 50-50 Republican and Democrat equally divided United States Senate

Republicans have stood up to socialism again and again. And we must continue to do so by opposing this reckless tax-and-spending boondoggle. We must protect the American promise and ensure that this remains the land of the free.

To view Senator Young’s full remarks, click here.

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