Biden Signs $740 Billion Inflation Reduction Act
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law on Tuesday, a move heralded by the Biden administration as a huge win and by Republicans as a devastating loss.
During the bill signing on Tuesday, Biden called the legislation “one of the most significant laws in our history” and joked that he never had a doubt that he had Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) support for the legislation.
Manchin, who struck a deal in private on the legislation with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), has claimed that this package will help the nation fight inflation.
The president and his administration have promised that the act will lower the costs of energy, prescription drugs, and health care for American families, as well as combat the climate crisis, reduce the deficit, and force the largest corporations to pay their “fair share of taxes.”
The legislation passed the United States House of Representatives and Senate last week, allocating $740 billion toward Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding, Affordable Care Act subsidies, green energy subsidies and tax credits, and more.
Democrats claimed that the Inflation Reduction Act would allow Congress to pay down federal debt by leading to new federal revenue, but Republicans expressed strong concerns about the $80 billion allocated in new funding to the IRS (allowing for up to 87,000 new IRS employees) and argued that poorer Americans will subsequently face more audits.
“The law will increase historic inflation and deepen the ongoing recession,” Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of Job Creators Network, said in a Tuesday statement. “Not even the media, which is quick to echo Biden’s claims, thinks the legislation will reduce inflation.”
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES – AUG 12: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds a bill enrollment ceremony for the Inflation Reduction Act at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Friday Aug. 12, 2022. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“The law significantly raises taxes on job creators, including small businesses, to protect wealthy taxpayers in blue states,” Ortiz said. “It adds a football stadium worth of new IRS agents to overwhelm small businesses with audits, doubles down on failing Obamacare exchanges, and threatens the innovative prescription drug supply chain.”
He added: “The law breaks Biden’s promise not to raise taxes on ordinary earners and small businesses earning less than $400,000. It breaks the cardinal economic rule: Never raise taxes during a recession. Biden expects this legislation will save his presidency, but the practical effect on everyday Americans will only further doom it.”
On Monday, Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) triggered the wrath of Republicans by chatting about the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act until he was asked to point to a specific provision that would act to lower inflation.
“As soon as the act goes into effect, I hope that all of the provisions will begin to work,” he said. “I know that those who have been blaming President Biden for the inflation going up are now giving President Biden all the credit for inflation going down. So we’re moving things in the right direction already.”
“And what parts of the bill do you think will put — will work on that specifically?” a reporter asked Raskin.
“Next question,” he responded, shaking his head.
During an interview with Jonathan Karl on ABC’s “This Week,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also struggled with addressing how the act would bring inflation down.
Karl asked her: “But let me ask you, it’s called the ‘Inflation Reduction Act,’ but the Congressional Budget Office, which is nonpartisan, said that there would be a negligible impact on inflation this year and barely impact inflation at all next year. Isn’t it almost Orwellian? How can you call it ‘inflation reduction’ when the nonpartisan experts say it’s not gonna bring inflation down?”
“Look, here’s the thing. We have 126 economists, both Republicans, both Democrats who have said it’s going to fight inflation, five former secretaries of treasury,” Jean-Pierre said.
“So you disagree with the assessment of the CBO?” Karl asked.
“Well, there’s more to it than that,” she said, before arguing that Republicans are maliciously framing the issue in this way.
Virginia Kruta contributed to this report.
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