The vote … in the House of Representatives was 220-207 Friday with unanimous Republican opposition to the bill. Approximately $370 billion for curbing harmful emissions and subsidizing green technology counts as the federal government’s “largest-ever investment” in climate change mitigation, according to The Washington Post, and relies on tax law revisions, including a 15% minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations that now pay nothing, plus a new tax on corporate tax buybacks and new funding for the Internal Revenue Service. Democrats claim a $300-billion reduction in the federal deficit, although the fiscal analysis is not yet final, according to WaPo.
The Senate passed the bill last weekend along party lines, 51-50, with Vice President Harris breaking the tie.
Upshot: Though progressive Democrats will have to get over, or hide, their disappointment that their party’s majority in Congress could not pass the much larger Build Back Better bill, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 now stands as the latest and best argument for stanching a Republican wave in November 8th’s midterm elections. Republican candidates are countering with arguments that small businesses and the middle class will be subject to greater harassment by the IRS and inflationary effects from the federal spending.
--Todd Lassa
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