Federal infrastructure boondoggle will bankrupt my generation

The Senate just voted to begin deliberations on a $1 trillion infrastructure boondoggle. When I was born in 1992, the federal debt was a little over $4 trillion. In 28 years our government has irresponsibly racked up another $24 trillion for a whopping $28 trillion, according to the most recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. My future and future generations’ lives will be plagued by public debt. I find it disturbing that few of our legislators are speaking up about what will eventually be a fiscal debt crisis.

The beginning of this crisis can already be seen in the rise of inflation. If we continue on this path our dollar will look very much like Tulip Mania in 1636. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent report indicated inflation registered at 5.4 percent year over year last month, which seems remarkably low to what I see on the ground. This estimate doesn’t even account for housing price increases, which according to the Iowa Association of Realtors, increased by 13.2 percent in Iowa on an annualized rate.

The last thing this country needs is a federal infrastructure bill that contains less than 10 percent for actual infrastructure combined with a more than $5 trillion spending bill. If these things make it through, expect rates of inflation to skyrocket.

I encourage all of our legislators to take a step back from all of this spending for once and let the people build this economy back up.

John Freese

Cedar Rapids