On the recordFebruary 28, 2023
The intent of the REIN IN Act is to ensure that the executive branch is taking into account inflation in our country before they issue new regulations. Our country has seen rising inflation over the last 2 years, and inflation is affecting all of us. It is affecting our families, especially those with lower incomes who don't have as much of a cushion to deal with what we are seeing as they face increasing costs, especially in gas and in groceries. But as we consider the cost of inflation, we should also include the cost of debt servicing in what we are doing. Too often, we, as a government, don't do the same thing that we expect our families to do. When someone goes to purchase a car, for example, or a house, they have to include the cost of interest that they are going to pay on those kinds of things. We regularly ignore that as if it wasn't an important part of what we spend when, in fact, it is about $600 billion of spending annually. This is why I offered my amendment to the REIN IN Act. My amendment would amend the bill to direct the Office of Management and Budget and the Council of Economic Advisers to incorporate the inflationary impact of debt servicing costs into the reports that they create. Rising interest rates have the same effect on costs of spending on the national result, as well. We see rising interest rates have the same meaning for our country as the families that we encounter.…
