“Wild Spending” Hurts Lehigh Valley Families
Last month, Representative Susan Wild joined President Joe Biden at a campaign-style rally in Macungie to promote domestic manufacturing. The ‘Made in America’ theme resonates with the hard-working men and women of the Lehigh Valley, and everybody here wants more high paying jobs.
But there is a right way and a wrong way to help American families, and Rep. Wild’s economic policies are making matters worse. Let’s call her approach ‘Wild Spending,’ because that’s exactly what it is.
Wild Spending is excessive deficit financing for progressive social priorities that are outside the mainstream of Lehigh Valley voters. It saddles local citizens with unsustainable levels of government debt and creates destabilizing inflation that erodes our standard of living. Wild Spending also harms domestic workers by increasing the price of exports and outsourcing American energy jobs overseas.
I’m sure Rep. Wild does not want to hurt local families with these unintended outcomes, but it’s happening, nonetheless. Let’s examine the facts.
In March, Rep. Wild and Washington Democrats passed a $1.9 trillion spending package without a single Republican vote. This week, they added $550 billion to the tally. Now, they’ve proposed another $3.5 trillion in spending, which they also plan to pass without any Republican support. Wild Spending is pushing the public debt to dangerous levels not seen since World War II.
But it’s not just the magnitude of debt that’s a problem, it’s the type of debt that is hurting local constituents. Much of the Wild Spending is earmarked for ‘social infrastructure,’ which is the Democrats’ new buzzword for left-wing spending programs. Their wish list includes everything from free preschool to free college tuition, plus all kinds of subsidies, social engineering, and consumer mandates.
Lehigh Valley voters know that ‘free’ really means that they are paying other people’s bills. And since short-term spending is financed with long-term debt, local taxpayers will be paying other people’s bills for years to come. It’s like taking out a mortgage to pay for your neighbor’s Tesla charging station. Yes, that’s in the legislation. It’s Wild Spending.
Another consequence of Wild Spending is rampant inflation. When the government finances new programs by printing more money, it devalues the currency and sends prices higher. It’s no surprise that Americans are experiencing the worst inflation in a decade.
Today, families are paying more for just about everything: food, housing, transportation, and clothing. Inflation also hurts domestic manufacturers, whose higher-priced products are less competitive in foreign markets. Wild Spending is eroding local wages and destroying local jobs at the same time.
Rep. Wild insists that her policies are not responsible for the higher cost of living, and that middle class voters won’t have to pay for any of this. But the voters know better. She prioritizes the fanciful desires of Washington progressives over the practical needs of Lehigh Valley voters.
Finally, Wild Spending is outsourcing American jobs overseas due to its radical transformation of the domestic energy industry. That may seem strange, but it’s true.
Today in America, consumer preferences are rapidly shifting towards cleaner forms of energy. American entrepreneurs are responding like they always do, by producing innovative new products and services to meet the demand.
But for Washington Democrats, the free market is never good enough. They always seek to assert control. That’s why Wild Spending is filled with mandates that circumvent the free market and force people to prematurely switch from consumable fuels to renewal materials.
But there is a problem with that approach. The materials that comprise renewable products, like batteries, rare earth metals and solar components, remain expensive and scarce. And at least for now, they are mostly produced in China, which pollutes the whole world with their dirty mines and factories.
If Rep. Wild and the Democrats would simply let the free market work, the U.S. would experience an orderly transition to renewable energy that would be good for American workers and consumers alike.
But by forcing the issue, they are creating more unintended negative consequences. Their policies are outsourcing domestic jobs to China, increasing energy prices at home, and damaging the environment.
Instead of Wild Spending, we should reduce federal intervention in our lives and let Americans work freely to make the best products in the world. That’s what creates ‘Made in America’ jobs. And that’s what supports strong families across the Lehigh Valley.
The facts are clear: Wild Spending hurts Lehigh Valley families. We must change course now before Washington Democrats cause more inflation, higher taxes, and economic chaos for hard-working Americans.
By Kevin Dellicker, Candidate for Congress
Paid for by Kevin Dellicker for Congress
