Washington is not always what it seems. It’s why Congress labels bills with names they think will be more palatable to the public rather than a name that would accurately reflect the content of the legislation. Notice how many times over the years the word “civil rights” has appeared in legislation that often has had little or nothing to do with civil rights.
Now Democrats have junked the original title of President Biden’s “Build Back Better” massive spending plan and rebranded it “Inflation Reduction Act of 2020.” Clearly this was in reaction to Poll numbers showing the public blames the president and Democrats for the rise in food and gas prices, increased mortgage rates and so much else.
It seems that the name change along with some back-of-the-scenes negotiations were enough to allow Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV to abandon his opposition of the original bill. Manchin used to claim the bill would significantly increase debt and produce results not claimed by the administration.
Based on The Wall Street Journal: “The deal would dedicate $64 billion to extending healthcare subsidies for three years for some Affordable Care Act users. Because some subsidy are due to end Jan. 1, 2023, this has been a top priority of the Biden administration as well as congressional Democrats. The affected Americans will be notified about the increased premiums they have in the fall before the midterm election. The change would push the next expiration beyond the 2024 election.” How convenient. This is a bit snarky.
The measure includes $369 billion to combat “climate change” and incentives for consumers to buy electric and hydrogen vehicles. Some Republicans call the bill “frivolous.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the secret deal Manchin seems ready to vote for this week.
Manchin says he agrees with Schumer who claims the bill – which includes new spending to fight “climate change” and tax increases on “the wealthy” and those evil corporations Democrats love to hate – will reduce the deficit because the “extra” revenue from the tax hikes will be used for that purpose.
While the government has been able to collect record revenues, it is accumulating a large amount of national debt. $30 trillion It is on the rise. Taxes aren’t the best way to get rid of red ink. While the answer to this is to reduce spending, you may as well request that a politician accept terms limits.
Just one week ago, the President of the United States announced the 2nd consecutive month of economic contraction. Biden said, “We’re not going to be in a recession in my view.” He and his supporters not only deny the traditional definition of a recession – two straight quarters of negative growth – they are trying to redefine the definition they once accepted.
Brian Deese is the Director of National Economic Council. He was a Clinton adviser and once considered a decline in economic growth for two months to be a definition of recession. He now says that there are many other factors. To quote Humpty Dumpty from “Through the Looking Glass”: “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean…”
Democrats appear to be in a panic three months before the congressional elections, so they are trying to pretend they are finally “getting things done” before their vacations, other time off and what could be for them judgment day.
The way this works is that Schumer will meet out of public view with fellow Democrats, asking what they “need” in exchange for their support of this and other bills Democrats want to pass. This works almost every time because too many politicians seem to be concerned only with their careers and not the public welfare.
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