President Joe Biden's call to drop the top line of the budget reconciliation bill funding his Build Back Better by at least $1 trillion still means spending "massive amounts of money that we don't have," Sen. Ron Johnson said on Newsmax Monday
"If the Democrats get their spending wish list, they will also be increasing taxes, which means you're taxing success," the Wisconsin Republicans said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
Monday, Biden told a group of House progressives that the top line for the reconciliation bill needs to drop from $3.5 trillion down to a range from $1.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion, reports CNN. He told the group, according to two sources familiar with his virtual meeting, that the lower amount is the range that Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., would accept.
Johnson said that former President Donald Trump showed that reducing taxes means improving the economy, and the United States had a "record economy" before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Meanwhile, the gridlock that is taking place between the moderate and progressive Democrats on the spending bills is the "best outcome" in Washington, D.C., because it slows down the month that is "sloshing around," at this time, Johnson said.
"We have spent trillions during COVID and increased our debt by trillions," said Johnson. "We have too many dollars chasing too few goods, which is why we're seeing inflation becoming more and more endemic ... from my standpoint, I think gridlock was the best outcome here."
Johnson also commented about reports that Sinema was harassed in a university restroom by people protesting her stance against the bill, saying what happened to her "proves the nasty side" of the radical left.
"You (could) see that during the summer riots," said Johnson, where protests turned into violence and billions of dollars in damages.
"I hope this steels their resolve and makes sure they do not vote to end the filibuster and that they don't engage" in the support for trillions of dollars of additional deficit spending, said Johnson.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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