[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 130 (Wednesday, August 3, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3875-S3876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        INFLATION REDUCTION ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now on one final matter, Democrats want 
to pass huge, job-killing tax hikes in the middle of a recession that 
they themselves created--hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes 
on American jobs, American manufacturing, American electricity, and 
American investment.
  Nonpartisan experts have proven these tax hikes will break President 
Biden's promise not to raise taxes on the middle class. The working 
class and the middle class will shoulder huge--huge--new burdens.
  And all these tax hikes would buy American families no relief 
whatsoever from inflation. Nonpartisan experts say Democrats' bill 
would make inflation actually even worse until 2024 and then do 
basically nothing--nothing--to inflation thereafter. In the teeth of 
the inflation crisis, Democrats' bill would make inflation even worse 
over the next 2 years.
  Even the most optimistic estimate, the best figures for Democrats, 
say it would take their legislation--listen to this--9 years--9 years--
to unwind as much inflation as the country added every week in the 
month of June--9 years of runaway taxing and spending in order to 
subtract 1 week's worth of inflation. And that is an optimistic 
projection.
  Obviously, the point of this bill is not to reduce inflation. 
Clearly, this taxing-and-spending spree has a different purpose. And 
when you look at the legislation, the real purpose is absolutely clear: 
This bill is a massive goodie bag of far-left environmental activists 
at the expense of working families.
  Democrats want to use their own inflation as a pretext to dump 
hundreds of billions of dollars into Green New Deal nonsense. This bill 
declares war on American energy independence and affordability. It will 
push working families' bills higher in order to send cash kickbacks to 
rich elites if they buy fancy cars and redo their kitchens.
  Democrats literally want to increase working families' gas bill, 
electricity bill, and heating bill so they can send rebates to rich 
people who buy $80,000 luxury electric cars.
  I am not making this up. They have come up with a huge new tax on 
American natural gas, which millions of Americans use to heat their 
homes, cook their food, and dry their clothes. On top of that, natural 
gas is the Nation's largest source of electricity. So Democrats want to 
add new taxes on top of two of the major bills that millions of 
American working families pay every month.
  That is not all. There is also a new per-barrel tax on American oil 
and new royalties and fees to drive up the cost of oil and gas 
production on Federal lands.
  With all the money they collect from shaking down American families, 
Democrats want to finance new credits for people who can afford to buy 
fancy new cars, stoves, and clothes dryers. Why? Because that is really 
``green''--subsidizing retail therapy for liberal elites to rip out 
working appliances, throw them away, and replace them with the latest 
fashions.
  We have the worst inflation in 40 years right now. Working families 
can barely afford gas and groceries right now. And Democrats' answer is 
to offer them a mail-in rebate if they buy an $80,000 car or remodel 
their kitchen? A specific subsidy for electric car buyers that the 
senior Senator from West Virginia once called ludicrous is in this bill 
which he has now authored.
  Oh, and the bill tries to skirt a Supreme Court victory that West 
Virginia just won to stop Democrats' illegal regulations from crushing 
the State's economy. The legislation intentionally--intentionally--
flouts the victory that people of West Virginia just won a few weeks 
ago at the Supreme Court.
  There are billions of dollars for environmental and climate justice 
block grants to directly enrich far-left nonprofits, including explicit 
language that would send taxpayer funding to political activism.
  Democrats literally want to raise your electric bill in order to pay 
off their own protesters. I guess the people who stand in the middle of 
highways during rush hour to make some protest gesture now want to 
receive taxpayer money for their trouble. Oh--oh--and their bill would 
send billions of dollars to the Secretary of Transportation to tear up 
highways instead of building more highways.

[[Page S3876]]

  If that is not enough, here is the kicker. All of this expensive 
nonsense adds up to no--no--meaningful impact whatsoever. All of these 
hundreds of billions of dollars to bankroll new appliances for rich 
people will not put so much as a dent--a dent--in worldwide emissions 
or temperatures.
  The Washington Post admitted on Monday this legislation ``can 
scarcely be expected to have an immediate, measurable impact on the 
warming planet.''
  Huge developing countries like China and India are dramatically 
increasing their emissions every year. Even according to liberals' own 
modeling, this bill that is supposedly worth looting--looting--the 
American people would have basically no measurable impact on global 
warming whatsoever.
  Liberal waste, subsidies for the rich, and, according to their very 
own models, no meaningful impact on the climate--I guess Democrats 
think their 30 percent approval rating on the economy is actually still 
too high.

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