Mike Lee Shreds Big-Government Swamp Creatures [WATCH]

Sen. Mike Lee warned that the federal government’s growing national debt is driving inflation that is disproportionately harming poor and middle-class Americans, arguing that Washington has strayed far beyond the limited powers granted under the Constitution.

Lee said the United States has accumulated an unprecedented level of debt and continues to add to it at a pace he described as unsustainable.

“When we look at the fact that the federal government is 38 and a half trillion dollars in debt, when we look at the fact that we have impoverished Americans, keep in mind when we spend this much money that we don’t have adding to that 38 and a half trillion dollar debt at a staggering rate, approaching $2 trillion a year,” Lee said.

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He argued that the consequences of this spending are not felt evenly across society, noting that inflation impacts working families far more than the wealthy.

“What does that do? I’ll give you a hint. It is not the rich people who suffer,” Lee said.

“Rich people find ways of getting even richer during times of tremendous inflation. It is hard working Americans, especially poor Americans and middle class Americans, who are living paycheck to paycheck. They are the ones who suffer.”

Lee said lawmakers have a moral responsibility to address the economic pressure facing those Americans.

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“And damn all of us if we don’t look out for them, shame on all of us if we don’t fix this,” he said.

Lee cautioned that fixing the problem does not mean tweaking procedures or relying on different bureaucratic approaches, but instead requires a fundamental reexamination of the federal government’s role.

“And by fix this. And by fix it, I don’t mean get smarter people have better procedures,” Lee said.

“I mean, maybe we should start looking at the fact that our constitution puts this government in charge of a few things.”

He listed the limited responsibilities he said the Constitution assigns to the federal government.

“National defense, wage and measures, trademark, copyrights and patents, regulating trade or commerce between the states, with foreign nations and with the tribes,” Lee said.

“There are a few others, but that’s the lion’s share of the power.”

Lee argued that the government was never intended to function as a broad welfare provider.

“We were not equipped from the beginning to be a welfare agency,” he said.

He pointed to the Constitution’s text to support that claim.

“The word welfare appears exactly twice in the Constitution, once in a non operative, non authority granting preamble, and a second time in the Spending Clause, which was included as a limitation on the spending power, rather than an expansion of it,” Lee said.

Lee warned that expanding federal authority beyond those limits has contributed directly to the current debt crisis.

“There is no power to just look out for people generally, unless we rely on a bastardized version of the Constitution that has driven us into 38 and a half trillion dollars in debt,” he said.

He said the result has been economic instability that makes it increasingly difficult for families to survive.

“Crippling poor and middle class Americans with destabilizing inflation, inflation that makes it impossible to raise a family in this country,” Lee said.

Lee closed by urging lawmakers to recognize the severity of the situation.

“And shame on all of us if we don’t take this as a severe wake up call, because this is going on all the time,” he said.

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