(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Inflation Reduction Act: It's Already Doing A Lot of Good [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-08-22 A year ago this month, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (hereinafter the IRA.) This is the Biden administration’s signature policy achievement thus far. This groundbreaking new law shows what a united Democratic government can achieve. It’s already doing a lot of good. “The bill provided billions of dollars improving the energy grid and bringing clean jobs to communities- it has already created more than 170,000 good-paying jobs in 41 states. Every single person who gets their insulin through Medicare will see lower monthly costs, thanks to the $35 cap on monthly insulin costs — meaning 1.5 million people are saving hundreds of dollars a year. The IRA also reduces health insurance premiums by up to $800 for people who buy insurance on their own. What’s more: It’s leveling the playing field by ensuring that no family making less than $400,000, will see their taxes go up and making the big corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share.” Newsweek. The Inflation Reduction Act gives Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices — saving money for the federal government and senior citizens. The IRA makes significant investments aimed at the manufacture of electric cars, encourages wind and solar energy production, provides tax credits for Americans to encourage energy efficiency, places restrictions on the the burning of coal, and has even more tax incentives aimed at reducing the emission of greenhouse gases by up to 40% by 2030. The IRA’s climate provisions largely relies on tax credits offering individuals and businesses a variety of payouts to adopt renewable technologies, with the leading example being electric vehicles powered by green energy sources. “Right at the beginning, the Biden administration decided that its climate policy would be all carrots, no sticks — that it would provide incentives to do the right thing, not penalties for doing the wrong thing. This strategy, it was hoped, would prove politically feasible in a way that, say, a carbon tax wouldn’t. And this hope has been vindicated.” Paul Krugman of the NY Times. Increased production of renewable energy will reduce U.S. dependence upon hostile countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia for energy resources. Foreign dictators will no longer be able to hurt the American people by reducing oil production. The IRA has reformed the resource starved IRS. For years, Republicans in Congress have cut funding to the IRS to allow tax cheating by the GOP billionaire donor class. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS has significantly improved service for individual Americans and has recovered recovered approximately $38 million from 175 cheating millionaires. The GOP has falsely alleged that the IRA will fund 87,000 new IRS agents. Independent fact checkers have repeatedly rebutted this disinformation. The GOP is lying about the IRA because they want their wealthy donor class to continue to cheat on the American people by illegally underpaying their taxes. Biden’s economic policies represent a major break from the Republican trickle down policies that date back to the Reagan Administration in 1981. The Republicans like to cut taxes for rich people and hope that maybe someday they will create some jobs. The problem is that it never trickles down. In contrast, Biden and the Democrats want to grow the economy from the middle out and the bottom up. It it turns out investing in our people, and being pro labor and manufacturing grows the economy. Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of America’s gross domestic product. Putting more money into the pockets of America’s middle class and working families is the key to a strong economy. In response to the passage of the IRA, the Republicans have resumed their usual doomsday predictions. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) termed the IRA as a Trojan Horse for their “socialist agenda.” Does Blackburn even understand socialism? The GOP has been subsidizing the wildly profitable oil industry for generations. Nikki Haley, not to be outdone, claimed that the IRA is Joe Biden’s “communist manifesto.” Does Haley expect Americans to be sent to the gulag? You can’t make this stuff up. As president, she promised to repeal the IRA. “Want proof that the Inflation Reduction Act is working and popular? Many Republicans are actually trying to take credit for the jobs in solar and EVs and wind, even though they voted against these jobs in Congress. They’re coming to the ribbon-cutting ceremonies!” Chuck Schumer Every Republican voted against the IRA and they have pledged to repeal it if they win in 2024. In other words, they want to raise your prescription costs and continue our energy dependence upon dangerous foreign dictators. What’s more, the Republicans want to shutdown the government and show you pictures of Hunter Biden’s penis. The Democrats have created 13.4 million new jobs and reduced unemployment to its lowest level in over fifty years. We have had a record 18 straight months of unemployment below 4%. Wages are finally going up and inflation is finally coming down. We’re turning the corner. Why would anybody want to go back to the dark days of 2020 when you could barely leave the house or even find toilet paper? People were afraid. Trump held daily briefings in which he shamelessly lied, recommended quack cures and blamed everyone else. No one really knew what was going on. Millions of Americans lost their jobs and thousands were dying everyday. We can’t go back. It’s America or the MAGA Republicans in 2024. Choose wisely. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/22/2188817/-The-Inflation-Reduction-Act-It-s-Already-Doing-A-Lot-of-Good Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/