Sen. Roy Blunt lied and tried to tell reporters that the infrastructure will cost $3.5 trillion in one year when the cost is spread out over a decade.
Video of Sen. Blunt:
The Democrats’ $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend spree is 67% higher than the $2.1 trillion spent by all 50 states combined in 2019. Let that sink in. pic.twitter.com/oyWKEKM9qa
— Senator Roy Blunt (@RoyBlunt) September 28, 2021
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Blunt claimed that nobody knows what a trillion dollars is, and said, “The policy staff have checked and in 2019 all 50 states, all put together, spent $2.1 trillion. All of the state government spending in America including the federal government money we gave them like the federal highway passthrough funds that they spent that was $2.1 trillion, all 50 states.”
Blunt went on to repeat his false claim a third time, that the reconciliation bill costs more than the spending of all 50 states.
Sen. Blunt’s claim is false because the cost of the reconciliation bill is spread out over ten years, so the yearly cost is $350 billion, or about one-eighth of what states spend in a year.
Sen. Blunt’s Lie Was Met With A Stern Rebuke
GovTrack noted that the real cost of the bill is 80% less than what states spend in a year.
https://twitter.com/govtrack/status/1442965825929945096?s=20
Sam Stein tweeted:
This is…. silly. It’s $3.5t over ten years. no in one year.
Alternatively…. the Pentagon budget was $703.7b in 2021. Lets say they flatlined that for ten years. That’s 7 trillion plus. Or, roughly, two times bigger than this bill. https://t.co/umDMt7APR5
— Sam Stein (@samstein) September 28, 2021
Republicans know that the policies in the bill are popular, so they are lying about the cost.
Sen. Blunt didn’t misspeak. He was trying to create a talking point, but his talking point is so blatantly false that it was quickly debunked. Republicans don’t want to argue against the provisions of the Build Back Better agenda, so they are trying to scare people with lies about the cost.
It won’t work.
All Sen. Blunt did was reveal how willing Republicans are to lie if it means not giving the American people what they want.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
