The Inflation Reduction Act Will Be a Big Political Win for Democrats in More Ways Than One

     As much as I disagree with Joe Manchin, July and August 2022 will go down in American history as perhaps the most brilliant months politically in the history of the United States Senate. In early July 2022, I, and most Democrats, felt low. Not only had the Supreme Court just carpet bombed the country I love, but Mitch McConnell promised to block historic legislation to strengthen supply chains, lower costs, compete with China, restore science and innovation, and more even after nearly 18 months of negotiations in an act of retaliation for Democrats announcing a deal on healthcare, prescription drugs, climate, and taxes. 

     So, Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pretended that negotiations broke down, as they had no less than twice before; it seemed pretty believable for everyone observing the situation from the outside and even spurred President Biden to take a handful of executive actions on climate change. Soon afterward, the Senate passed a $280 billion piece of legislation called the CHIPS and Science Act that will, aside from the aforementioned provisions, restore American manufacturing to the tune of three million jobs.

     That's not the end of the story, however. Immediately after the bill passed, the Senate announced an agreement on a $750 billion bill to cut carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030, lower the cost of prescription drugs, extend subsidies on the Affordable Care Act, reduce the deficit by $300 billion, raise taxes on corporations, drastically expand the IRS, and more without raising taxes by a single penny on anyone making less than $400,000 per year: the Inflation Reduction Act.

     As a result of the agreement, Republicans ended their honeymoon with Joe Manchin and remembered that, even if in name only, he is a Democrat. Their next approach was to pull out bullshit excuses to block the Honoring Our PACT Act, a $400 billion law that benefits 3.5 million veterans exposed to toxins in the military in what represents the largest expansion of healthcare for veterans in modern history. Schumer and Manchin didn't need any tricks for this one: the overwhelming outrage over a vote against what virtually every American considers one of the most important issues in the country spurred Jon Stewart to camp out on the steps of the Capitol with veterans and forced the GOP on the defensive. The next vote was a success.

     In the process of voting for the Inflation Reduction Act in a 50-50 Senate, Kamala Harris cast her 24th, 25th, and 26th tie-breaking votes, which puts her just five votes away from casting the most of any VP in U.S. history. Also in the process, the GOP voted down including a provision to cap the cost of insulin at $35 per month, which, like the PACT Act vote, caused national outrage. Like the PACT Act, I'm confident the INSULIN Act will pass as a standalone bill this autumn. However, like the PACT Act, the political damage to the GOP was already done.

     Even the name itself is a victory. Republicans have made inflation a political weapon against the Biden administration, but the vote against a popular bill chock-full of popular provisions has forced them to lie and exaggerate their way out of explaining to their constituents why they voted against a bill called the Inflation Reduction Act when even the likes of Larry Summers, a leading economist who has criticized the Biden administration's prior spending and been the go-to for Minority Leader McConnell on prior pieces of legislation, has publicly supported the bill.

     This bill proves to the American people, as did the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act; the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO; the CHIPS and Science Act; and the Honoring Our PACT Act; that Congress, and democracy more broadly, can deliver results for the American people. This is the first bill that Congress has passed that takes on Big Pharma, the first bill that makes any major investment in combatting the climate crisis, and the first bill in decades that raises taxes on the wealthy instead of cutting them. In short, this bill makes clear the distinction between America's political parties, with the GOP fighting for the wealthy and corporations and Democrats fighting for working families. The Inflation Reduction Act will be a big political win for Democrats in more ways than one.