White House continues to push debunked zero-cost claim on Biden's agenda

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Biden coverage turns negative

Even liberal outlets acknowledge problems

President Biden is sticking to his claim that his Build Back Better agenda will cost the average American taxpayer nothing.

"The cost of the Build Back Better Agenda is $0," the White House tweeted Sunday. 

"The President's plan won't add to our national deficit and no one making under $400,000 per year will see their taxes go up a single penny," the tweet read. "It's fully paid for by ensuring big corporations and the very wealthy pay their fair share."

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Biden and his administration have repeatedly claimed that Build Back Better, a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, will cost zero dollars, despite multiple analysts rebutting the claim from both sides of the political aisle. The president bases the zero-cost claim on the idea that the package will add nothing to the federal deficit because the cost will be offset by tax increases and other revenue-generating schemes.

Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the reconciliation bill will only raise $2.1 trillion through taxes over 10 years, falling far short of the $3.5 trillion cost. And even the $3.5 trillion figure is being contested as the true cost: The Wall Street Journal editorial board argued it's based on "budget gimmickry including entitlement phaseouts and phase-ins" and that the real cost "will be at least $5 trillion, probably far more." 

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The Washington Post's fact-checker, Glenn Kessler, similarly called the zero-cost claim "misleading" and argued that lawmakers "play all sorts of budget games to achieve that mythical zero within the 10-year budget framework." He said the bill's impact on the deficit could "be as low as zero or as high as $1.75 trillion over 10 years."

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The White House tweet Sunday sparked a flurry of replies from skeptics.

Fox News editor Tyler O’Neill contributed to this report.