Saturday saw Democrats continue to push for votes in the Senate regarding the Manchin/Schumer deal, which the two politicians incorrectly called the Inflation Reduction Act.
But Republicans have been introducing all kinds of amendments — a vote-a-rama — to hold up the deal and expose how false some of the Democratic claims about the bill are. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), was also offering amendments to make the bill more favorable. They’ve been going for more than 24 hours now.
Vote-A-Rama recap….so far
The following are the votes of Dems:
Double the IRS’s size
Petroleum and oil products are subject to higher taxes
China sells strategic reserves oil
Target lower-income Americans in the new IRS army
Leasing of oil and natural gas should be stopped
Taxes on Americans of lower income should be raised— mallen2010 (@mallen_2010) August 7, 2022
But as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) explained, perhaps few things in the bill are as bad as the lie the Democrats are trying to sell about the hiring of 87,000 more IRS agents, acting as though it’s only going to go after “billionaires” to make them pay their fair share. We should be scaling back the IRS–not building it up. Border agents should be the only thing we spend money on if anything else.
This is big government running amok.
My amendment would have approved funding for 87,000 additional IRS agents. Democrats are determined to audit more Americans and small business owners.
They won’t go after billionaires. #votearama pic.twitter.com/A6uDGb9j6U
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) August 7, 2022
Cruz stated that this would result in more than one million audits. Most of these will be conducted on people earning $75,000 and less. He said he wanted to abolish the IRS, “but, at a minimum, we shouldn’t make the IRS larger than the Pentagon, the State Department, the FBI, and the Border Patrol — all combined.” He proposed an amendment to curtail that part of the bill.
This chart, posted by Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich, shows how the audits would likely be distributed using the $80 billion to the Internal Revenue Service — nearly six times the agency’s current annual budget. It’s concentrating far more on the lower and middle class, if this is true.
Rep Kevin Brady: Manchin/Schumer reconciliation bill “adds $80 billion to the Internal Revenue Service – nearly six times the agency’s current annual budget – to supercharge the IRS and unleash 87,000 new IRS enforcement agents on taxpayers, including the middle class.” pic.twitter.com/kEZq86S6zR
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 5, 2022
Senator Mike Crapo, R-ID put them to the test. He offered an amendment saying that they weren’t going to use this bill to go after people making below $400,000 — Joe Biden’s tax promise. They did what? The Democrats voted it down, as well as Cruz’s amendment, showing exactly what liars they are.
Why did Democrat senators vote against the Amendment protecting taxpayers with less than $400,000 ??????https://t.co/NOj8kRUdhK pic.twitter.com/OVnvfSWkuE
— MC Bennett (@SyrenSongs) August 7, 2022
Crapo amendment to the Manchin bill to limit the bill’s 87,000 new IRS agents to auditing comapnes and individuals with income of $400,000 or more FAILED 50-50.https://t.co/oPKr11BAYw pic.twitter.com/mH4wuMsmJ4
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) August 7, 2022
We are familiar with the Obama administration’s use of the IRS, and we can see the way that the FBI is being politicized. We can be certain that the IRS will continue to be weaponized.
In the middle of a recession, they’re going to increase taxes, including on oil.
Fox and Graham discuss reconciliation bill. The CBO predicts that next year’s inflation will rise or fall 0.1%. This is a small reduction. Imported oil will be subject to tax hikes in this bill. Consumers will receive the tax increases in the bill at $75,000 and below.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) August 5, 2022
They’re stomping on domestic production and taxing imports, which will then be passed on to the rest of us. If gas prices are falling, they will rise again if it passes.
Cruz introduced an amendment that would prohibit Biden selling oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve to CCP. It was also rejected by the Democrats.
This Manchin-Schumer deal is likely to pass, now that they have all the Democrats in the Senate likely “yes” votes, although there’s a slight possibility that vulnerable Democrats in the House might nix it still. But along the way, the Republicans are going to point out every lie–and just how much this all will hurt the American people in the process.
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