On Social Spending, the Question Isn’t “Can We Afford It?” but “Who Will Pay?”
When conservatives claim that we can’t afford new social programs, what they really mean is that they think individuals and families should figure out how to handle the costs of necessary care on their own.
On November 19, the House of Representatives passed the $2.2 trillion budget reconciliation bill, which includes a broad package of social spending consisting of universal preschool, expanded Medicare and Medicaid, paid family leave, and more. The bill now moves to the Senate, where it requires support from all fifty Democrats.
The current bill is much smaller than President Joe Biden’s original $3.5 trillion plan, owing largely to the recalcitrance of conservative Democrats who professed concern about the bill’s price tag. Explaining his opposition to the original plan, West Virginia senator Joe Manchin argued that “the amount we spend now must be balanced with what we need and can afford.”
It’s a line often repeated whenever new government social programs are under consideration: it might be a nice idea, but we as a country just can’t afford it.
But this logic is flawed, as it fails to account for an important detail: when it comes to social spending, Americans are already paying the bills. Regardless of what legislation Congress does or does not pass, Americans will continue to get sick, parents will need to figure out how to look after and educate their young children, adult children will scramble to secure care for their aging parents, climate change will continue to ravage communities, and so on.
So the question before us is not whether we can afford to pay for new social programs and benefits. It’s how to best cover social expenses that Americans are already paying for.
There are three possible answers to the question of who pays for social expenses. First, governments can pay by taxing their citizens to fund social programs. Second, employers can pay by using corporate revenues to provide employment-related benefits. Third, individuals and families can pay out of pocket, rely on unpaid labor from friends and relatives, or make do without.