There’s a reason it’s against the law to give credit cards to children.
They don’t understand where money comes from, how credit works, or what happens when you spend money you do not have.
But even children would probably be more fiscally responsible than some Democratic lawmakers.
New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman — of the fire alarm fame — proposed a $14 trillion reparations plan on Tuesday to address the “moral and legal obligation to provide reparations for the enslavement of Africans and its lasting harm on the lives of millions of Black people in the United States,” according to Breitbart.
The progressive congressman argued that the federal government has a moral and legal obligation to provide restitution for slavery reparations and “banking, consumer, housing, health, education, and employment discrimination,” Breitbart reported.
Bowman is not the only congressman who has lost the ability to understand how money works. Eight other Democrats, including (surprise, surprise) far-left Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, have co-sponsored the resolution.
Here we go again. Congressman Jamaal Bowman is bringing his bill back and says we should pay $14 trillion and free college in reparations.
Here is a man who broke the law, lied about it, then somewhat admitted it and was able to escape the consequences of his actions, so why not… pic.twitter.com/9xix13SdyS
— 🇺🇸 Larry 🇺🇸 (@LarryDJonesJr) January 20, 2024
Bowman had an interesting idea of where the money was going to come from.
“When COVID was destroying us, we invested in the American people in a way that kept the economy afloat. The government can invest the same way in reparations without raising taxes on anyone,” Bowman said, according to Westchester Journal News.
Should reparations be paid to black Americans?
To bolster his argument, Bowman highlighted U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures analyzed by the nonpartisan group USAFacts, which showed that the federal government dramatically increased spending in 2020 to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. While federal revenue amounted to $3.6 trillion that year, expenditures soared to $6.6 trillion — resulting in a $3 trillion budget deficit.
Bowman argued that if trillions could flow to pandemic relief programs, comparable resources could be directed to reparations.
“Where did the money come from? We spent it into existence,” the congressman said.
He may as well have said that a fat man on a sleigh threw a bag of it out of the sky.
With 42 million African Americans comprising 12 percent of the U.S. population, the staggering $14 trillion tab would equal about $333,000 per individual if implemented.
Bowman suggested staggered payments to make it easier on those of us who would be footing the bill.
“Who says the $14 trillion needs to be paid out in one shot?” he said, the Journal News reported. “It might be possible for it to be paid out over 5 or 10 or 20 years. You could take that $333,000 and break it up into monthly checks over X amount of time.”
“There are creative ways to do the right thing and do what needs to be done,” he said, like a teenager negotiating for a Lamborgini as his first car.
Some states have also started with their own early initiatives into reparations.
In December, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Holchul signed a bill to form a committee to look into reparations.
And, last January, San Francisco’s reparation committee came up with a reparations proposal of $5 million a piece to its residents — right before the committee was defunded for lack of funds.
Surely they’ll issue IOU’s. 🤔
— skiguy (@skiguy14) December 16, 2023
With inflation hitting Americans’ wallets hard, you would expect members of Congress to take that into account before signing exorbitant spending bills for trillions of dollars that would likely bankrupt the country.
But do not worry; Bowman did take inflation into account. He adjusted his initial sum of $14 trillion to $16 trillion to take into account the inflation that will occur between now and the time it’s passed.
According to Bowman, like investing in childcare, Americans should consider reparations an “investment” that “will yield $100 trillion on the back end.”
X user Travis in Flint put it aptly when he wrote, “Who knew the federal government could just spend into existence? Why are we paying taxes if they can do that?”
Happening Now: Rep Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y and 8 other members of Congress are pushing for a reparations bill which will cost $14 trillion. When asked how they’ll pay for this Bowman said “we’ll spend it into existence.”
Bowman is also calling on the incarcerated to have the… pic.twitter.com/WSjSzaxTFp
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_in_Flint) January 18, 2024
Thankfully, there is no sponsor for the bill in the Senate, so, for now, it has no chance of advancing even if passes the House, according to The Journal News.
Bowman is probably aware of that, but that hasn’t stopped him from pushing it.
But what can you expect from a congressman who thinks pulling the fire alarm like a schoolboy will stop a vote from happening?
