{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=DF9148A7-9B5E-4B92-A627-C497155ECF32", "Thune: South Dakotans Aren\u2019t Fooled By Democrats\u2019 Illogical Math", "2021-10-06", "2021", "2021-10", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today called out the Biden administration for falsely claiming that Democrats\u2019 reckless $3.5 trillion tax-and-spending spree would actually cost zero dollars. Thune noted that the revenue Democrats are projecting to raise through doubling the size of the IRS and tracking how law-abiding Americans spend their money is overly optimistic and will not come close to covering the massive $3.5 trillion price tag.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, on September 25, President Biden tweeted, and I quote, \u2018My Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars.\u2019\n\n\u201cYes.\n\n\u201cAccording to the president, a series of new, permanent entitlements and a massive expansion of government is going to cost \u2026 zero dollars.\n\n\u201cAnd the president has been doubling down on that claim.\n\n\u201cOn Monday he once again tweeted, \u2018The fact of the matter is my Build Back Better Agenda costs $0.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell, no, Mr. President, the fact of the matter is that your Build Back Better Agenda costs $3.5 trillion \u2013 at least.\n\n\u201cThe Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget \u2013 where the president\u2019s treasury secretary served on the board before joining the administration \u2013 estimates the cost at $5 trillion or more.\n\n\u201cBut leaving that aside, even if the president has been merely trying to claim that his plan is fully paid for by tax hikes and other measures, to say that it would cost zero dollars is beyond ridiculous.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s say your college education was completely paid for by your parents.\n\n\u201cDid it then cost zero dollars?\n\n\u201cOf course not.\n\n\u201cIt cost a lot of money \u2013 money that your parents likely were able to pay only because of a lot of hard work and sacrifices.\n\n\u201cOr what if you\u2019ve saved up for a couple of years for your dream vacation, and now you have all the money you need, down to the cost of your Ubers and your hotel breakfasts?\n\n\u201cDoes that mean your vacation is going to cost zero dollars?\n\n\u201cOf course it doesn\u2019t.\n\n\u201cThe same thing applies when it comes to the Democrats\u2019 legislation.\n\n\u201cEven if Democrats had all the money they need to pay for every dollar of their massive spending spree, the price tag still wouldn\u2019t be zero dollars.\n\n\u201cThe price tag for this proposal is at least $3.5 trillion \u2013 and likely much more.\n\n\u201cPresumably what the president has been referring to when he makes the absurd claim that his spending bill will cost zero dollars is his assertion that his bill won\u2019t add to the debt.\n\n\u201cThe problem is, that isn\u2019t true either.\n\n\u201cBecause the pay-fors in Democrats\u2019 bill won\u2019t actually pay for the bill in its entirety.\n\n\u201cThe tax hikes in Democrats\u2019 legislation will actually only pay for about two-thirds of the bill\u2019s ostensible $3.5 trillion price tag.\n\n\u201cAnd the other revenue-raising components in the bill won\u2019t make up the difference.\n\n\u201cAnd what are those other revenue-raising components?\n\n\u201cWell, a substantial part is increased IRS enforcement.\n\n\u201cDemocrats claim that they can get $700 billion by closing the tax gap \u2013 the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid.\n\n\u201cNow, there\u2019s no question that individuals should not get away with cheating on their taxes.\n\n\u201cAnd there are undoubtedly reasonable measures we can take to strengthen enforcement and narrow the gap.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, Democrats haven\u2019t proposed reasonable measures.\n\n\u201cInstead, Democrats are proposing to (a) double the size of the IRS, and (b) have the IRS snoop on Americans\u2019 bank accounts.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s right.\n\n\u201cDemocrats want to double the size of the IRS and force banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions to provide details of individuals\u2019 spending to the federal government.\n\n\u201cUnder the administration\u2019s proposal, once your withdrawals or deposits for the year exceed a certain amount \u2013 $600 if the president has his way \u2013 your bank or credit union would be forced to report the details of your activity to the federal government.\n\n\u201cSo the federal government could end up with a record of every time you eat dinner out, or pay your rent, or buy a new jacket or toaster oven.\n\n\u201cThe invasion of privacy is staggering.\n\n\u201cWe already have a mechanism in place to allow the IRS to view large transactions that might indicate potential criminal activity.\n\n\u201cWe do not need the government monitoring every purchase law-abiding Americans make from the App Store, or how many times Americans buy a cup of coffee.\n\n\u201cNot to mention the incredible demands this reporting requirement would place on community banks and credit unions.\n\n\u201cBanks and credit unions around the country are worried about how they would manage to comply with the bill\u2019s reporting requirements.\n\n\u201cAnd, Mr. President, let\u2019s not forget that the agency that would be receiving all this information has a reputation for mishandling private data.\n\n\u201cIn fact, the IRS was subject to a massive leak or hack of private taxpayer information mere months ago \u2013 information that somehow ended up in the hands of advocates at ProPublica.\n\n\u201cAnd neither Treasury nor the IRS has provided meaningful follow-up about the data breach, much less any accountability.\n\n\u201cGiving an already troubled agency access to reams of additional private taxpayer information is a very bad idea.\n\n\u201cAnd, Mr. President, even if we granted that this massive invasion of privacy was worth it, the truth is that all this additional enforcement still wouldn\u2019t provide the money Democrats are claiming it would provide.\n\n\u201cDemocrats claim that they can get $700 billion from the bill\u2019s increased tax enforcement measures.\n\n\u201cThe reality is likely to be more than $200 billion lower, according to an analysis from the Wharton School.\n\n\u201cSo Democrats would be doubling the size of an agency with clear management issues and implementing a staggering invasion of taxpayer privacy to pay for a tiny fraction of their spending spree.\n\n\u201cAs I said, Mr. President, no taxpayer, at any income level, should be able to avoid paying the taxes he or she owes.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019ve actually signed on to co-sponsor legislation that would look at responsible ways to strengthen IRS enforcement efforts.\n\n\u201cBut Democrats\u2019 proposal to double the size of the IRS and track taxpayers\u2019 spending should never have seen the light of day.\n\n\u201cEven former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, who served under Presidents Obama and Trump, said he thought that $80 billion for the agency was too much.\n\n\u201cMr. President, taken together, IRS enforcement on steroids and Democrats\u2019 massive tax hikes will still not be enough to pay for their multi-trillion-dollar legislation.\n\n\u201cPartly because the tax hikes may not bring in as much money as Democrats claim.\n\n\u201cBut also because Democrats have used a lot of budget gimmickry to disguise the true costs of their bill.\n\n\u201cThe standard method for analyzing the cost of a bill is a 10-year window.\n\n\u201cSo you look at what your bill would cost over 10 years, and that\u2019s how you get the cost of your bill.\n\n\u201cWell, that\u2019s not exactly what Democrats are doing.\n\n\u201cThat child allowance in Democrats\u2019 bill?\n\n\u201cDemocrats have only counted the cost of that allowance through 2025.\n\n\u201cThat allows Democrats to claim that the cost of that provision is around $500 billion \u2013 instead of the $1.1 trillion the measure would actually cost over a decade.\n\n\u201cAnd all those tax hikes are of course just for covering the costs of the bill over a 10-year \u2013 or shorter \u2013 window.\n\n\u201cBut in reality the new government benefits Democrats are putting in place are not going to expire in 10 years.\n\n\u201cThis bill is effectively instituting multiple permanent entitlement programs.\n\n\u201cAnd the long-term cost of those programs is not going to be covered by the tax hikes Democrats are currently proposing \u2013 as massive as those tax hikes are.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I\u2019ve talked a lot about the dollar costs of this bill \u2013 which are massive and not fully paid for.\n\n\u201cI could spend just as long talking about the bill\u2019s other costs.\n\n\u201cLike the fact that this bill is likely to cost workers jobs and opportunities by increasing the tax burden on American businesses and depressing economic growth.\n\n\u201cOr the cost to American families, who are going to be facing higher energy bills and higher prices as a result of this legislation.\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019m going to stop here for today.\n\n\u201cOne thing is for sure, Mr. President, Democrats\u2019 massive spending spree is going to cost a lot more than zero dollars.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:24:51Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", 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