Letter: Democrats delivering on inflation bill
Editor, Register-Mail: The Democratic Senate passed a significant bill on Aug. 7, the Inflation Reduction Act, after a 27-hour marathon session of debates, in a vote-a-rama, reconciliation process, where Democrats worked very hard to compromise, passing the act with a tie-breaking vote by VP Harris; and wherein all Republican senators voted "NO" on all these measures for the American people.
The House of Representatives plans on returning Friday to pass the huge bill and send it to President Biden's desk. The bill makes a historic down payment on the federal deficit to fight inflation; it invests in domestic energy production and manufacturing, will reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030, which is slightly over seven years from now. There are initiatives for clean energy, solar and other renewables; and tax-incentives and savings for utility companies, rate-payers and homeowners to switch to electricity to power their businesses, homes and vehicles.
The bill extends subsidies for three years for those with health coverage under ACA, and it allows Medicare to negotiate for price reductions for some pharmaceuticals, over the next several years, which will eventually save government money on future Medicare spending. (The V.A. has been negotiating for lower drug prices for three decades for veterans.) This is a 10-year package of spending & tax cuts. Cooperation is the name of the game; we must do more, but this is the bill that we could get the diverse Democrat party to cooperate on and vote "YES" to.
In addition, with MUCH hard work, the bill closes some loopholes which had allowed large corporations to hide profits and avoid paying taxes; 55 companies paid no net federal taxes in 2020. Now many corporations will have to pay at least a 15 percent tax rate, and the plan imposes a 1 percent tax on stock buybacks. This revenue will pay for some of the spending in the bill.
In less than two years, several of Biden's big initiatives have passed: American Rescue Plan, for COVID relief; the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; a Gun safety reform law; CHIPS (China competition) Act; reinstatement of the PACT Act, a veterans' healthcare law, funding for veterans exposed to toxic substances during military services; and then there was the drone strike on al-Qaida chief, Ayman al-Zawahri, for icing on the "BFD" cake! How can a president who has accomplished so much in less than two years have such a low approval-rating? I don't get it. For those who love to proclaim, "GO BRANDON", Brandon, like "Barry," is a freaking rock-star! — Trish Forsyth Voss, Victoria
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Democrats delivering on inflation bill; Republicans don't
