[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 129 (Tuesday, August 2, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3842-S3843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Inflation Reduction Act

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, Democrats dropped the latest version of 
their tax-and-spending spree last week. And like every previous 
version, this bill is a bad deal for the American people.
  So where should I start? Well, maybe with the bill's title. In true 
Orwellian style, Democrats are calling the bill the Inflation Reduction 
Act, even though the bill would do nothing to reduce inflation. And you 
don't have to take my word for it.
  The nonpartisan Penn Wharton Budget Model analyzed the bill and found 
that the bill would not reduce inflation. In fact, the analysis found 
that

[[Page S3843]]

the Democrats' bill would contribute to inflation through 2024 and have 
no material impact on inflation in the long term.

  Inflation has hit working Americans hard. Their grocery bills have 
ballooned. Rents have skyrocketed. Filling up their cars costs 75 
percent more per gallon than it did when the President took office. 
Their utility bills have increased. And the list goes on.
  Families are having to cut back on purchases and dig into their 
savings or pull out their credit cards--or in some cases, visit a food 
bank--to make ends meet.
  And what does Democrats' tax-and-spending spree do to help? Nothing. 
Americans are dealing with the worst inflation in more than 40 years, 
and Democrats' bill does nothing to help end our current crisis.
  So what does the bill do? Well, for one thing, it raises taxes. That 
is right. Our economy has shrunk for each of the past two quarters--in 
fact, by any common definition we are now in a recession--and the 
Democrats' bill raises taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars.
  Here is what the Democratic leader previously had to say about 
raising taxes in a recession.

       If we're in a recession and we're in a difficult economic 
     time, I don't think Sen. Obama or anyone else is going to 
     raise any taxes. You don't want to take money out of the 
     economy when the economy is shrinking.

  That is something the Democratic leader has previously said.
  President Obama himself expressed a similar sentiment when he said:

       [T]he last thing you want to do is to raise taxes in the 
     middle of a recession.

  ``The last thing.'' Apparently, that doesn't apply when Democrats 
have Green New Deal projects they want to pay for.
  The Democrats' bill attempts to offset the cost of the Green New Deal 
spending spree by raising taxes on American businesses, particularly--
particularly--manufacturers. The proposed book minimum tax would be a 
$313 billion tax hike, with roughly half of that increase falling on 
American manufacturers.
  I don't think I need to tell anyone the likely outcome of raising 
taxes on businesses, particularly when the economy is contracting. The 
likely outcome is less growth, lower wages, and fewer jobs.
  According to an analysis from the National Association of 
Manufacturers, in 2023 alone, the bill would reduce real gross domestic 
product by more than $68 billion and result in 218,108 fewer workers in 
the overall economy--218,000 fewer workers in 2023 alone. That is 
according to the National Association of Manufacturers if the 
Democrats' bill passes.
  The Democrats' bill also raises taxes on the energy sector--
specifically, on domestic oil and gas production. It is another face-
palm move from Democrats.
  Currently, gas prices are 75 percent higher than they were when 
President Biden took office. Electricity prices are up. The cost of 
utility gas service is way up. And yet Democrats think it is a good 
idea to raise taxes on domestic oil and gas production. Apparently, 
Democrats want our current high energy prices to stick around for the 
long term.
  So what are Democrats going to use all that tax-hike money for? Well, 
for one thing, they are going to use it to fund Green New Deal 
projects; critical priorities like monitoring gaps in tree canopy 
coverage and road equity and funding--funding--for the post office's 
purchase of electric delivery vehicles.
  And then there are the multiple slush funds for Green New Deal 
projects and the tax credit for the purchase of a new electric car or 
truck. Of course, you will only be able to use the credit if you can 
afford to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $60,000, which is the 
average price for a new electric vehicle, while we are in the middle of 
a recession.
  So it would almost undoubtedly be mostly Americans with higher 
salaries--and according to the bill, up to $300,000 per household--who 
would be able to make use of this credit. So it is a tax credit to buy 
electric vehicles for rich people.
  But I guess Democrats think electric vehicle tax credits for 
wealthier Americans are a good use of taxpayer dollars.
  What else is in here? I mentioned the bill's tax hikes, but the 
Democrats' bill also attempts to raise revenue by increasing IRS audits 
and enforcement. That is right. The Democrats' bill would more than 
double the current number of IRS employees, making the Agency nearly 
three times larger than the U.S. Customs and Border Protection--the 
Agency, I might add, that is charged with security at all of our 
Nation's borders--and more than 50 percent larger--this is the IRS on 
the Democrats' plan--more than 50 percent larger than the entire U.S. 
Department of Agriculture.
  Democrats give the IRS a whopping $80 billion in additional funding 
over the next 10 years. Of that $80 billion, 57 percent goes to 
enforcement; 4 percent goes to taxpayer services. That is right: 4 
percent. This is an Agency that only succeeded in answering about 1 out 
of every 50 phone calls during the 2021 tax season, and yet 4 percent 
of the $80 billion is going to taxpayer services. Fifty-seven percent 
goes to enforcement so that the IRS can spend more time harassing 
taxpayers around this country. Democrats are focused not on improving 
the IRS's responsiveness to taxpayers, but on boosting the number of 
IRS audits.
  I still haven't mentioned the bill's socialist-style price controls 
for prescription drugs--price controls that would result in fewer new 
drugs and treatments. A study from last November found that Democrats' 
price control plans would result in 135 fewer new drugs through 2039. 
That is a lot of potentially life-changing and lifesaving treatments to 
lose.
  Then, of course, there is Democrats' plan to expand Obamacare 
subsidies to higher earning Americans, a move which would drive up the 
cost of health insurance.
  I could go on.
  Most Americans remember the lead-up to Democrats' American Rescue 
Plan spending spree last March. We were promised--they were promised--
at the time that passing that bill would have big benefits for our 
economy and for American families. Well, we know what actually 
happened. Democrats' reckless spending spree helped trigger the worst 
inflation for decades, and American families have suffered as a result.
  Now we are being asked to swallow a similar story about the 
Democrats' latest spending legislation. This bill will help our 
economy, we are told, even though we know it would make life harder for 
American businesses and workers at a time when the economy is already 
contracting. Make no mistake about that. This is the second consecutive 
quarter where we have had negative economic growth, negative GDP 
growth, in our economy.
  It will help inflation, Democrats claim, even though a nonpartisan 
analysis said it would do nothing--nothing to help alleviate our 
current crisis.
  It will reduce our deficit, Democrats say, relying on some very shady 
accounting measures to reach their supposed deficit reduction number.
  It will help lower energy prices, the President claims, even though 
new energy taxes would further inflate near-term energy bills during a 
season of already historic prices.
  You would think Democrats might have been chastened by their 
disastrous American Rescue Plan spending spree, but you would be wrong. 
Apparently, Democrats are determined to get in another disastrous 
spending bill. And, once again, it will be the American people that 
will be left to suffer the consequences.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.