The 2024 Economic Report of the President claimed wages grew, among other statements about the state of the economy. Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) responded and discussed the Report in a recent appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box, blasting the wage growth claim as "election-year math."
Host Joe Kernen began by addressing the Report's suggestion that wages and salaries grew by almost $17,000, including spending from the COVID-19 pandemic and stimulus programs, meaning wage growth was pointless.
"We refer to that as election-year math," said Rep. Schweikert, "and there is a reason so many people are angry in our society. I represent the Phoenix-Scottsdale area. If you do not make well over 26% more, and that is the mean, since President Biden took office, you are poor."
Rep. Schweikert further suggested the debt ties into obesity and aging populations, which, when combined with a progressive tax policy, "may be good theatrics for being on a television show, but it is crappy math. It is almost just rounding errors."
In March, the Arizona Congressman explained to Cactus Politics that as the population ages, more money must be spent on healthcare, but the government is not receiving the tax revenue necessary to fund healthcare programs, thereby driving debt.
More recently, Schweikert released a complete response to the 2024 Economic Report and, in a summary, laid out several more refutations of claims.
For example, the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to rise if current spending continues unabated, raising interest rates. Similarly, "The 10-year cost of clean energy subsidies is estimated to be up to $1.2 trillion, though emissions from electricity production were already declining."
Another point addressed in Schweikert's response refers to "taxing the rich" as "inflammatory political rhetoric" that does not produce the tax revenue necessary for high spending. Instead, he proposed that cutting spending would be better for consolidating the economy.
Lastly, he suggested that artificial intelligence (AI) could be helpful by cutting back on administrative costs, a point Schweikert made in his bid to use AI in auditing the Pentagon.
