Schweikert Unpacks the Republican Response to the Economic Report of the President
U.S. Representative David Schweikert (AZ-01) delivered a speech on the House Floor this week that expanded on the newly-released Republican Response to the 2024 Economic Report of the President. The report found alarming, but not surprising statistics that display the potentially devastating effects on the U.S. economy. Aspects of the President’s budget that our Joint Economic Committee analyzed found that deficit growth, rapidly changing demographics, the flawed “tax the rich” solution, and the increasing obesity prevalence in America have contributed severely to America’s fiscal crisis. The report concludes by exploring potential policy solutions that capitalize on the benefits of artificial intelligence and how innovation implementation is actively reducing government bureaucracy.
“Basically, the point is everything you think of as government is borrowed. When I would talk about that a few years ago, I would have members here saying, “David, you got to stop making up stuff. You’re scaring my voters!” Tada! it happened, it’s real. This chart is a little tougher, but I’m trying to point out majority of income tax. If you actually take every dime in income tax, and you add it up, this year, 36.9% of all income tax will go to just cover Medicare. Then, you add in another 36.5% which is net interest. If you’re honest, it’s gross interest, which is closer to 40%. Think about that: [in] this year, almost all the income tax is consumed by interest and Medicare. When we go out in time, it starts being beyond. You start having 43.1%. In nine budget years, all income tax will go to Medicare. Another 42.3% will just go to interest. If you plug in all net interest, [it will be] closer to 45%, meaning, in nine years, all income tax— which, remember, we are an income-tax based tax system— the majority of U.S. receipts come from income tax. We can’t cover our interest and Medicare. We actually cross this threshold in [around] five years. Every dime of tax you pay will be just covering Medicare and covering interest.”
His full address is available below:
