NEWS AND OPINION:
The Republican National Committee is not allowing President Biden’s plans for a $6.9 trillion budget to skate by unnoticed or without close inspection. The committee has released a stark comprehensive study of the actual content of the budget.
Here’s just a few items from that GOP research — look for more handy but hair-raising excerpts in the Beltway as the week progresses. So, are you ready for round one?
“What’s in Biden’s $6.9 trillion budget? Trillions in new taxes, wasteful spending, and woke priorities – all at the expense of American taxpayers. Middle-class Americans would ultimately pay for Biden’s irresponsible budget,” notes an opening summary of the GOP study.
“Biden says his budget is a statement of his values, but his bloated budget fails to address the priorities of the American people. If Biden’s budget were adopted, the national debt would eclipse $50 trillion by 2033, and the debt-to-GDP ratio would surpass the record set just after World War II,” the study said.
“National debt would grow at a faster rate than it is currently under Biden’s budget,” it advised.
“Biden’s budget includes $4.7 trillion in new and expanded taxes. Over the next 10 years, Biden’s budget would result in over $82 trillion in cumulative federal government spending. With middle-class and lower-income Americans already struggling to afford gas and groceries, Biden’s budget will only compound these difficulties,” the study said.
Watch for Part 2 tomorrow.
A LITTLE ADVICE
One Republican lawmaker has a straightforward reply to President Biden’s proposal to alleviate student debt.
“The president’s plan to have the American people pay for student debt costs $400 billion over 10 years. We already had a plan to repay student debt. It’s called a job,” advises Sen. John Kennedy.
The Louisiana Republican shared that comment with Shannon Bream, anchor of “Fox News Sunday.”
And there’s one more observation of note from Mr. Kennedy regarding Mr. Biden’s $6.9 trillion budget in general — a figure which looks like this: $6,900,000,000,000
“The president’s budget took my breath away. His numbers are extraordinary. We’re going to run out of digits here,” the senator said.
SHOPPING DRUNK
Here’s another cultural moment to consider: There is a segment of the U.S. population that shops online while inebriated, according to a Finders.com in a comprehensive survey released Friday.
“America is home to 45 million drunk shoppers. About one in six (17%) Americans is shopping while under the influence, spending roughly $309 each — which equates to a big ol’ price tag of $14 billion over the last 12 months,” notes the official analysis from the Finders Drunk Shopping Survey.
The research group has conducted this annual poll since 2018.
“As far as what people are buying, tied for the top two shopping categories are shoes, clothes or accessories, and food, with 47% of drunk shoppers saying they bought items in these categories. Other popular drunk spending categories were alcohol, cigarettes and gambling, all tied with 34% of respondents. Motor vehicles come out on top as the most expensive category at an average spend of $2,038,” the analysis advised.
“More than a quarter of men (26%) say they’ve made a purchase under the influence in the last year, which is almost three times the rate of women (10%). One-third (33%) of millennials admit to buying something while under the influence in the last year, compared to just 2% of baby boomers,” the analysis noted.
There’s a wealth factor at work as well.
“People earning more than $100,000 (26%) are almost twice as likely to drunk shop as those who earn under $100,000 (15%),” the analysis said.
The online survey of 2,179 U.S. adults was conducted by Qualtrics/SAP from Jan. 9 to Feb. 17, and released March 7.
STILL OUT OF TOWN
Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel continues to monitor certain comings and goings in the White House. She offers a comment that President Biden went to Delaware over the weekend — as he has for quite some time.
Ms. McDaniel also continues to wonder why the president made the choice to take yet another vacation instead of visiting East Palestine, Ohio.
“President Biden cares more about vacation than the American people. It’s been 36 days since the toxic train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio,” she said in a brief statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
“Biden couldn’t care less about the suffering of American families,” Ms. McDaniel said.
Yes, well. There’s something to the aforementioned reference to the president’s vacation mindset.
Former CBS White House correspondent Mark Knoller has long traced the vacation habits of U.S. presidents. He is very meticulous in his work. Mr. Knoller noted in a terse tweet on Friday that President Biden has made 66 visits back to his home state of Delaware since becoming president.
POLL DU JOUR
• 71% of U.S. adults say the nation is “headed in the wrong direction.”
• 61% disapprove of the way President Biden is handling the U.S. economy.
• 59% disapprove of the way Mr. Biden is handling border security.
• 58% disapprove of the way Mr. Biden is handling immigration.
• 58% disapprove of the way Mr. Biden is handling the U.S. relationship with China.
• 54% disapprove of the way Mr. Biden is handling his overall job as president.
• 51% disapprove of the way the president handles foreign policy.
SOURCE: An Associated Press/NORC poll of 1,247 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 16-20 and released March 7.
• Helpful information to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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