It is so much more than an Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act is a HUGE win for the climate and the American people.  

Some of the key provisions include:

• For the auto industry - The new bill would eliminate the current tax credit cap on purchasing an electric vehicle and extend the tax credit until 2032; used cars would also qualify for a credit of up to $4,000.  This overall promotes the shift from fossil fuel based engines to battery/electric vehicles.

• For the energy industry - the bill would provide billions of dollars in rebates for Americans who buy energy efficient and electric appliances as well as tax credits for companies that build new sources of emissions-free electricity, such as wind turbines and solar panels. The package also sets aside $60 billion to encourage clean energy manufacturing in the United States. The bill also requires businesses to pay a financial penalty per metric ton for methane emissions that exceed federal limits starting in 2024.

• For low-income communities - the bill would invest over $60 billion to support low-income communities and communities of color that are disproportionately burdened by effects of climate change.

• For the fossil fuels industry - the bill would require the federal government to auction off more public lands and waters for oil drilling and expand tax credits for coal and gas-burning plants. This is a short term measure to assist during the transition from a fossil fuel economy to one based on clean energy.

• The bill also allows Medicare to negotiate medication prices so medications cost less. President George Bush and Republicans are responsible for denying Medicare to negotiate lower dug prices and we have all been paying for it since then.  

• The bill caps insulin prices for Medicare recipients at $35 per month.  See the section below entitled “Meanwhile, the Republicans …”

• It puts a minimum 15 percent tax on corporations that have paid little or nothing, meaning the bill pays for itself 

• It extends health care subsidies from the ACA (Obamacare) to lower health care insurance premiums.

• Cap seniors’ out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs at $2,000 per year.

• Does NOT increase taxes on income under $400K despite the Republican lies and spin.

The Inflation reduction Act does much more than reduce inflation.  It is a Democrat led legislative achievement that directly helps the average American as well as the entire planet.

Not a single Republican (including our 6th District Congressman, Ben Cline) voted for the bill. The Republicans even removed insulin cost reduction benefits for patients with private or no insurance. Remember that on Election Day in November.

More information on the Inflation Reduction Act

• State climate action could be supercharged by the Inflation Reduction Act
• 5 ways the Inflation Reduction Act could save you money
• 4 underrated parts of the Inflation Reduction Act
• The Inflation Reduction Act Supports Workers and Families
• SUMMARY: THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT OF 2022
• CBO Scores IRA with $238 Billion of Deficit Reduction
• The Inflation Reduction Act Will Save Families Thousands of Dollars

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Watch the Joe Biden speech at the Inflation Reduction Act signing ceremony.

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Read excerpts from President Joe Biden’s speech at the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act:

“EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN VOTED AGAINST IT.”

And I’m about to sign the Inflation Reduction Act into law, one of the most significant laws in our history.  Let me say from the start: With this law, the American people won and the special interests lost.  The American people won and the special interests lost.

People doubted whether any of that was going to happen.  But we are in a season of substance.  This administration began amid a dark time in America — ‘a once-in-a-century pandemic’ — devastating joblessness, clear and present threats to democracy and the rule of law, doubts about America’s future itself. 

And yet, we’ve not wavered.  We’ve not flinched.  And we’ve not given in.  Instead, we’re delivering results for the American people.  We didn’t tear down; we built up.  We didn’t look back; we looked forward.

And today — today offers further proof that the soul of America is vibrant, the future of America is bright, and the promise of America is real and just beginning.  (Applause.)

Look, the bill I’m about to sign is not just about today, it’s about tomorrow.  It’s about delivering progress and prosperity to American families.

It’s about showing the American and the American people that democracy still works in America — notwithstanding all the — all the talk of its demise — not just for the privileged few, but for all of us.

…To me, the critical duty — the critical duty of the presidency is to defend what is best about America.  And that’s not hyperbole.  Defend what’s best about America.  To pursue justice, to ensure fairness, and to deliver results that create possibilities — possibilities that all of us — all of us can live a life of consequence and prosperity in a nation that’s safe and secure.  That’s the job. 

And today is part of an extraordinary story that’s being written by this administration and our brave allies in the Congress.

…This law — this law that I’m about to sign finally delivers on a promise that Washington has made for decades to the American people. 

… We’re giving Medicare the power to negotiate those prices now, on some drugs.

This means seniors are going to pay less for their prescription drugs while we’re changing circumstances for people on Medicare by putting a cap — a cap of a maximum of $2,000 a year on their prescription drug costs, no matter what the reason for those prescriptions are.

That means if you’re on Medicare, you’ll never have to pay more than $2,000 a year no matter how many prescriptions you have, whether it’s for cancer or any other disease.  No more than $2,000 a year.

And you all know it because a lot of you come from families that need this.  This is a Godsend.  This is a Godsend to many families and so, so long overdue. 

The Inflation Reduction Act locks in place lower healthcare premiums for millions of families who get their coverage under the Affordable Care Act. 

Last year, a family of four saved on average $2,400 through the American Rescue Plan that I signed into law that Congress voted in place.

In the years ahead, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, 13 million people are going to continue — continue to save an average of $800 a year on health insurance.

The Inflation Reduction Act invests $369 billion to take the most aggressive action ever — ever, ever, ever — in confronting the climate crisis and strengthening our economic — our energy security.

It’s going to offer working families thousands of dollars in savings by providing them rebates to buy new and efficient appliances, weatherize their homes, get tax credit for purchasing heat pumps and rooftop solar, electric stoves, ovens, dryers.

 

  It gives consumers a tax credit to buy electric vehicles or fuel cell vehicles, new or used.  And it gives them a credit — a tax credit of up to $7,500 if those vehicles were made in America. 

American auto companies, along with American labor, are committing their treasure and their talent — billions of dollars in investment — to make electric vehicles and battery and electric charging stations all across America, made in America.  All of it made in America.

This new law also provides tax credits that’s going to create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and clean energy manufacturing jobs, solar factories in the Midwest and the South, wind farms across the plains and off our shores, clean hydrogen projects and more — all across America, every part of America.

This bill is the biggest step forward on climate ever — ever — and it’s going to allow — it’s going to allow us to boldly take additional steps toward meeting all of my climate goals — the ones we set out when we ran.

It includes ensuring that we create clean energy opportunities in frontline and fence-line communities that have been smothered — smothered by the legacy of pollution, and fight environmental injustice that’s been going on for so long.

And here’s another win for the American people: In addition — in addition to cutting the deficit by $350 billion last year, in my first year in office, and cutting it $1.7 trillion this year, this fiscal year, we’re going to cut the deficit — I point out — by another $300 billion with the Inflation Reduction Act over the next decade.

We’re cutting deficit to fight inflation by having the wealthy and big corporations finally begin to pay part of their fair share.

Big corporations will now pay a minimum 15 percent tax instead of us — five- — 55 of them got away with paying zero dollars in federal income tax on $40 billion in profit.

 And I’m keeping my campaign commitment: No one — let me emphasize — no one earning less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in federal taxes.  (Applause.)

Folks, the Inflation Reduction Act does so many things that, for so many years, so many of us have fought to make happen.

And let’s be clear: In this historic moment, Democrats sided with the American people, and every single Republican in the Congress sided with the special interests in this vote — every 

Drug companies spent nearly $100 million to defeat this bill.  A hundred million dollars.

And remember: Every single Republican in Congress voted against this bill. 

Every single Republican in Congress voted against lowering prescription drug prices, against lowering healthcare costs, against a fairer tax system.

Every single Republican — every single one — voted against tackling the climate crisis, against lowering our energy costs, against creating good-paying jobs.

My fellow Americans, that’s the choice we face: We can protect the already-powerful or show the courage to build a future where everybody has an even shot.

And today — and today, we’ve come a step closer to making that America real.

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