Biden and Democrats’ “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” – more aptly described as the new Bidenflation Scam — is seriously deceptive and out-of-step with the economic reality Americans currently face as the United States falls into a recession.
Sen. Joe Manchin, who greenlit the bill late last week, said this when he first ran for the Senate in 2010: “I don’t think during a time of recession you mess with any of the taxes or increase any taxes.” Former President Barack Obama once said the same thing. (RELATED: MURDOCK: Deflate Manchin And Schumer’s Inflation Reduction Act)
So what changed?
The U.S. is officially in a recession after the economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter. Yet the Democrat-led bill would without a doubt raise taxes on Americans. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, Americans making as little as $30,000 would pay more, with over half of the estimated new tax burden in 2023 paid by Americans making under $400,000. To help collect, the bill would double the size of the IRS and further expand the already gargantuan federal government.
Obviously, more taxes is the last thing 58% of Americans who are currently struggling to live “paycheck to paycheck” need. But it’s also the last thing small businesses can stand right now.
Democrats are trying to sell their bill as raising money by closing “loopholes” – or carried interest many businesses use to reinvest in their companies. Really, what Democrats are pushing is a “book tax” that would shrink the economy and destroy 23,000 jobs.
According to Brian Riedl, an economic expert at the Manhattan Institute: “Deducting business investments is not a random loophole, it’s one of the longstanding centerpieces of business tax policy.” More appropriately, then, Democrats’ bill would hamper growth and worsen supply-demand balances.
To top it off, Democrats’ bill takes direct aim at American manufacturers.
According to the National Association of Manufacturers, in 2023 alone the bill would kill over 218,000 jobs, shrink the economy by $68 billion, and reduce workers’ wages by over $17 billion. Crushing American manufacturing during a Democrat-created recession is a bad idea. Instead, our country needs to be building out our made-in-America infrastructure and creating jobs – not hollowing them out.
In short, Democrats either lack basic economic knowledge, or they are lying to the American people. There is no point in deciding. It’s both.
The very title Democrats gave the bill — “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” — is a boldfaced lie, and should be reason enough to view the bill as a scam. According to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, the bill would have no impact on inflation. In fact, it would “very slightly increase inflation until 2024” (emphasis added).
Given all this, what’s in it for the American people? The bill’s focus is largely on “Energy Security and Climate Change” programs. As Biden and Democrats now tout the “incredible transition” their anti-American energy policies have created, we already know what this will leave Americans with: higher prices and nothing but demands from Biden administration officials to buy expensive electric vehicles.
Industry experts already confirm this. The methane tax in the bill, for instance, would increase natural gas costs by 17% — or $100 a year for the average American family.
It’s clear that if Americans simply know the truth behind the bill, and what it will do to their pocketbooks, this latest ploy by Biden and the left to remake America leaves congressional Democrats even more vulnerable in November. Already, 82% of Americans say the economy is “poor.” This bill would only worsen every problem plaguing our economy.
Democrats who vote for this bill will be accountable to American voters in less than four months. In the meantime, let’s be honest: this is the newest Bidenflation Scam.
Tommy Hicks is the co-chairman of the Republican National Committee.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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