Inflation will soar even higher after President Joe Biden signed lawmakers Omnibus spending bill into law this week.
Lawmakers closed the earmark loophole during President Barrack Obama’s administration. Earmarks gave lawmakers the ability to fund projects in districts across the U.S. that had little to do with overall American success or policy.
Gas prices and supermarkets have been hardest hit by inflation over the last 12 months, but other items could become more costly soon.
How much did Congress spend on earmarks?
Americans should be ready for Congress to spend upwards of $1.5 trillion on its omnibus spending bill, which will include a ton of cash for district projects. Some lawmakers opposed to earmarks have even called them ‘pet projects’.
A couple examples of the spending? An urban solar village in Pennsylvania will receive $584,000. A tree census project in Hawaii will cost taxpayers $300,000, and $13 billion for Ukraine. Republicans and Democrats are being hammered for including earmarks in the spending bill.
The outcome will mean greater inflation, but it’s unclear how severe the consequences will be.
Stimulus checks: $600 and $2,000 approved for some
How will omnibus spending make inflation worse?
U.S. Senator James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma warned his colleagues about more government spending, but would worsen inflation.
“Federal spending is what actually spurred this inflation that we’re experiencing now,” he said. “When Democrats passed their big bill last March, that dropped $2 billion into the economy of federal spending, onto an economy that was already growing. It supercharged our economy and led to the high inflation we have now.”
The $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill includes $20 billion for climate resiliency programs, $1.45 billion for border actions, and $17.2 billion for child care and early childhood education.
Inflation Calculator: How much has inflation risen?
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected]