On Wednesday, Sen. Joe Manchin surprised Washington after announcing that he supports the Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer to change tax policy and introduce new green energy programs. Manchin and Schumer said that the newly repackaged Build Back Better bill, renamed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, will go to vote in front of the Senate next week.
The two of them released a joint statement saying: “The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will make a historic down payment on deficit reduction to fight inflation, invest in domestic energy production and manufacturing and reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40% by 2030.”
The bill expected to face staunch opposition from the GOP in the House and Senate and is a major reversal from the Senator’s previous stances on the Democrat plans.
Watch Fox Business’ coverage of the new bill.
The bill is set to raise $313 billion through a minimum 15 percent corporate tax, $288 billion through prescription drug pricing changes, $124 billion through IRS enforcement of the new tax code, and $14 billion by closing the carried interest loophole.
The bill will also invest $370 billion in green energy programs over the next decade with the goal of reducing emissions by 40 percent and will expand the Affordable Care Act over the next three years. This will allegedly result in $300 billion being used to reduce the deficit.
“Let me make it clear, I will not vote to support policies that make the United States more dependent on foreign energy and supply chains or risk moving the country closer to the unstable and vulnerable European model of energy we are witnessing today,” he said. “Most importantly, I am heartened by the bipartisan recognition that for America to achieve our energy and climate goals, it is critical we reform the broken permitting process.”
This is a crucial announcement for Democrats in Congress as it will give them ammo to motivate voters coming into midterms.
Manchin and Schumer have reached an agreement with President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi so they can pass legislation before the end of the year. Biden released a statement after their agreement claiming that the bill was “historic” and asked for Congress to quickly pass it. The bill will need to pass through the parliamentarian and pass both chambers of Congress and any other Democrat could derail it.
“This is the action the American people have been waiting for,” Biden said. “This addresses the problems of today — high healthcare costs and overall inflation — as well as investments in our energy security for the future.”
Manchin has been a stalwart against Democrat efforts to pass Biden’s bills because of concerns that it would increase inflation.
“Political headlines are of no value to the millions of Americans struggling to afford groceries and gas as inflation soars to 9.1%,”a spokesperson for the West Virginia Senator said . “Senator Manchin believes it’s time for leaders to put political agendas aside, reevaluate and adjust to the economic realities the country faces to avoid taking steps that add fuel to the inflation fire.”
Dem. Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota told CNN that she was called by Schumer when they reached the agreement and he exclaimed how big it was for them.
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“I knew it was Chuck; I did the complete no-no and answered the phone,” Smith told the press. “He said ’40% emissions reductions by 2030, this is a big F-ing deal!’”
Republicans online spoke out about the bill and called it a disaster.
Republicans are alleging that the bill will increase inflation and not hurt it. Here’s to hoping they are right about that and the yahoos in Washington DC can actually fix inflation, but we doubt it. It’s killing Americans and making life worse in this country, but what else can you expect from a Democrat run Congress and White House. What do you think caused Manchin to flip?
