Schumer-Manchin So Called “Inflation Reduction Bill” Might Lower Inflation – in 2026

When I wrote about the agreement West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin made with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on July 27 regarding the Inflation Reduction Act, I predicted that the actual details of the bill wouldn’t be known immediately and would trickle out over time. Famously stated that Nancy Pelosi had to “pass the bill” despite not referring specifically to the Inflation Reduction Act, but the same principles would apply.

It’s only years later that you find out $100 million was earmarked for the Barney Frank Underwater Basketweaving Society.

Each time more information about the Schumer-Manchin agreement is released, it’s harder to understand what Manchin was up to. He has a majority of his funding from out-of state voters, and won only three percent , in his last election. His talk has been tough about inflation and he has ruled out the elimination of the filibuster. He often sounds like he is considering joining the Republican Party. This bill is a bloated mess.

The National Review explains:

…a closer look at a fresh analysis of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office shows that over 90 percent of the promised deficit reduction in the bill would come after 2026 — meaning it would do absolutely nothing to help reduce the current inflation problem. (Emphasis mine. )

Nick Arama, a RedState colleague reports about how Manchin attempted–and failed to–to understand this contradiction on Harris Faulkner’s Fox News program. This will not help Biden’s chances of re-election, Sister Toldjah reports.

The National Review blasts this bill further:

Of the $305 billion in promised deficit savings over the next decade, CBO says just $21 billion will be coming over the next five years, when we’re in the midst of a historic inflation crisis, while the remaining 93 percent of the claimed savings won’t come until after 2026. The bill’s claim that it will address current inflation problems is ridiculous, regardless of what else can be said.

The bill consists of green-energy handouts totaling hundreds of billions, and an Obamacare expansion. These are supposedly to be compensated by increased IRS enforcement and tax increases. We need the IRS more in our lives.

Joe Biden promised he wouldn’t raise taxes on anyone making less than $400k a year. He 100% lied. It’s shameful you signed on to this @Sen_JoeManchin. Vote yes to this and your political career ends in West Virginia. pic.twitter.com/ZYh9LcfYcc

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 3, 2022

It turns out that Manchin isn’t the moderate man he portrays. According to Fox News, he toes the Democrat line far more regularly than you might think:

Manchin, D-W.Va., voted with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., 88% of the time this Congress, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., 91% of the time, according to a ProPublica database. Significantly, he also agreed with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on 91% of votes, according to ProPublica.

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board is not a fan of the bill, writing that it’s just a big payoff to unions and special interests:

The 725-page bill is riddled with green goodies that favor unions and projects located in specific regions. Tax credits for renewable energy projects will be five times as generous if the contractors are paid “prevailing wages”, which is union-scale wages, and employ apprentice workers. They are often run by unions.

It is difficult to imagine what Manchin thought about this. Maybe he just wants to be feted and invited to Georgetown cocktail parties by New York Times and Washington Post.

I used to love him because he was strong against the elimination of filibuster, and he talked well about inflation. He seems to have turned his back against his principles and the American people. We can only hope that Arizona Senator Krysten Silena will not vote for this terrible bill.