Omnibus Spending Bill. Is Christmas a Weapon? – December 2022

The answer is YES, when it comes to Congress.

Of course, Christmas and the holiday season are joyous occasions, and most of us want nothing more than to spend quality time with our families or ourselves, away from work, and away from politics.

Unfortunately, the Government knows this and takes full advantage of our desire for peace and serenity, committing its most egregious acts on holidays, on Friday afternoons, and before long weekends.

The Omnibus spending bill likely to pass will be the largest in history, and maybe the worst. 1.7 trillion dollars, more than 4100 pages, more than 4000 earmarks. It is a democratic spending blowout but it has plenty of Republican support. Long having abandoned any promises to end earmarks, there’s enough Republican pork to supply every Cracker Barrel through eternity.

Head pseudo-conservative Mitch McConnell attempted to frame the vote as a binary choice: “But given the reality of where we stand today, Senators have 2 options this week, just two: we either give our armed forces the resources and the certainty that they need, or we’ll deny it to them.”

First, of all, as a 22-year veteran, I can attest that we haven’t seen certainty in military funding in well more than 10 years, for which Congress earns 100% of the blame. Second, it’s a boldfaced lie. A continuing resolution is an obvious option, which would buy more time for Congress to waste, but at least an opportunity to shine a little more light into the snake pit.

Instead, they’ll pass the bill right before Christmas, travel to their homes and vacation resorts, and count on the electorate to be appropriately distracted and humanistic in their holiday endeavors, and once again Congress will get away with it. What’s the takeaway? It is to remind you that

NONE OF THIS IS FREE

Every dollar that the Government spends today or borrows, will be paid back, either today via taxes, or in the future, with interest. The future is your retirement and the lives of your children and grandchildren.

Our current debt at 31 trillion dollar isn’t remotely the amount we’re in the hole. It is our unfunded entitlements that reflects the real fiscal gap, a number described by the Wall Street Journal as more than 100 million but in reality is twice that amount. And like politicians’ noses, this negative number grows by the second.

80-year-old Mitch, Nancy (82), newly minted 80-something Joe, spring chicken Chuck (72) and certainly Republican earmark Jedi master Richard Shelby, on his 88th trip around the sun and delivering $650 million of pork to Alabama on his way out, don’t care. They’ll be dead or cryogenically frozen before the real suffering sets in, and you can rest assured their families will be taken care of.

All kidding aside, an economic nightmare looms. Just imagine if we add on another, and worse, pandemic, or an outright war (the bill doesn’t help the 15 million people who will lose Medicaid benefits, but 45 billion more will go to Ukraine… for what exactly, and with what as an endgame?).

But economic catastrophe doesn’t require a war. All it requires is time, due to the compounding effects of our debt – and we’re just about out of it.

Please enjoy the holidays! After that consider devoting some real thought to your investment and tax strategies – not only yours but that of your children. Are you faithfully earmarking your investment dollars into the government-created 401(k) system, to be taxed at government-determined rates in the future? Will you be leaving your children with a legacy or a tax problem?

Would you like to continue on the Wall Street and Government-run roller coaster or find an alternative that allows you to sleep peacefully through the night, without having to worry about the next disaster?

I urge you to take control in 2023.

Omnibus Spending Bill. Is Christmas a Weapon? – December 2022 (Pdf Download)

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Disclaimer: This newsletter represents the opinion of Arieff Consulting, Inc, and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice.