White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says Americans âshouldâ believe that President Joe Bidenâs $3.5 trillion spending package will not add to the national debt because âit wonât.â
On Wednesday, a reporter asked, âDoes the President still believe that Build Back Better will not add a dime to the national debt?â
âCorrect, it wonât,â Psaki responded.
The reporter asked, âWhy should Americans believe that?â
âBecause it wonât,â the press secretary said.
Watch the video below:
Speaking to reporters in September, Biden said, âIt is zero price tag on the debt weâre paying. Weâre going to pay for everything we spend.â
In a tweet, he made a similar claim as he said, âMy Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars. Instead of wasting money on tax breaks, loopholes, and tax evasion for big corporations and the wealthy, we can make a once-in-a-generation investment in working America. And it adds zero dollars to the national debt.
However, The Washington Postâs fact-checker Glenn Kessler said the presidentâs statement is âmisleadingâ as âweâre pretty certain a deficit score of zero would only be accomplished with some dubious gimmicks that help disguise the true cost of Bidenâs agenda.â
He noted that the Congressional Budget Office estimated that plan would add â256 billion to the federal budget deficit over 10 years, but for complicated reasons that is a lowball figure.â
Additionally, Mark Zandi and Bernard Yaros Jr. of Moodyâs Analytics noted that while the plan is âlargely paid forâ and does not add âmeaningfullyâ to the deficit âon paper,â there is âa risk that spending and tax credits in the plan that are slated to ultimately expire will notâ which would lead to a larger deficit.
Psaki has previously insisted that âno matter what the cost or size of the topline investments are, we have ways to pay for it.â
