Inflation Reduction Act Archives

Commentary: BlackRock’s Larry Fink and the New Post-ESG Realism

March 30, 2023 RealClearWire

As regular as the turn of the seasons, each January sees Larry Fink, founder and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, publish a lengthy letter on the state of the world and its implications for finance and investors. This year, January turned to February, and still no letter. Instead, February saw Tim Buckley, CEO of Vanguard, global number-two asset manager, give a groundbreaking interview explaining Vanguard’s decision late last year to quit the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative, which had been formed ahead of the 2021 Glasgow climate conference to reallocate capital in line with net zero emissions targets.

Recent IRS Controversies Raise Doubts About Auditing Army’s Potential Bias

February 27, 2023February 26, 2023 The Center Square

President Joe Biden’s call for funding for 87,000 IRS agents to audit Americans has raised questions about whether the new rash of auditing will target poorer Americans or be politically motivated.

The Inflation Reduction Act included $80 billion to beef up IRS efforts, which Biden says will more than pay for itself in new audits.

Youngkin Felt Rejected Ford Battery Plant Deal Was ‘Deceptive’ Effort to Dodge Intent of Inflation Reduction Act

January 20, 2023January 19, 2023 Eric Burk

RICHMOND, Virginia – Governor Glenn Youngkin said Thursday that he felt that Ford’s partnership with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) to build a battery factory potentially sited in Virginia seemed like an effort to dodge the intent behind the Inflation Reduction Act, and accused The Richmond Times-Dispatch of ignoring facts in reporting on his decision to block the economic development opportunity from going forward in the Commonwealth.

Chinese Communist Party-Linked Solar Panel Company Could Reap ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ Handouts with U.S. Factory

January 14, 2023January 13, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

JA Solar, a Chinese green energy giant whose chairman is tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has leased a plot of land in Phoenix, Arizona, to construct a $60 million solar panel factory that is poised to benefit from huge green energy tax incentives included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Jin Baofang, chairman and CEO of the Bejing-based company, said that he had been a CCP member for 40 years during a 2020 interview with the Chinese state-run newspaper “The Paper.” The JA Solar factory, which could take advantage of the green energy tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will create 600 jobs and use automated assembly lines to manufacture 2 gigawatts’ worth of solar panels annually once it becomes fully operational, according to a Tuesday Arizona Commerce Authority press release.

Commentary: With New Pricing Law, the Feds Can Make Drug Firms Offers They Really Can’t Refuse

December 28, 2022December 27, 2022 RealClearWire

President Biden has promised that the $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law this August, will “lower the cost of prescription drugs and health care for families” thanks to provisions that allow the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate the price of some medications directly with pharmaceutical companies.

Critics are decidedly less enthusiastic. They say the IRA’s new drug price provisions are more akin to government price-fixing than negotiation – an unprecedented power grab in health care.

White House to Go on Offensive Against GOP as Gas Prices Drop

December 12, 2022December 11, 2022 Admin

The average price for a gallon of gas has fallen below what it was one year ago, and the White House is preparing to go on the offense politically as consumers see more money in their pockets ahead of the holidays. The administration argument? Thank President Biden.

Commentary: On Her Way Out, Pelosi Threatens Year-Long Continuing Resolution of ‘Last Resort’

December 6, 2022December 5, 2022 Admin

“[A]s an appropriator myself, left to their own devices, the Republicans and Democrats in a bipartisan way on the Appropriations Committee can reach a solution. But sadly we have no choice if they can’t that we would have to have a year-long [continuing resolution].”

Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has issued an ultimatum to House and Senate negotiators of the year-end omnibus bill that either they “reach a solution” or else the House will “have no choice” but to just pass the same omnibus bill they passed last year via a year-long continuing resolution until Sept. 30, 2023, effectively freezing federal spending.

REVIEW: The Book Climate Industrial Complex Doesn’t Want You to Read

November 14, 2022November 13, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

When it comes to environmental policy, the only “solutions” coming from liberal politicians activists involve radically restructuring society and centralizing more power in the government — while, of course, handing out billions in tax dollars to politically-favored special interests.

Whether it’s the Paris climate accords, Green New Deal or the recently-passed Inflation Reduction Act, these political schemes to remake the economy often end up enriching the climate industrial complex and empowering unelected, unaccountable bureaucracies.

Commentary: The U.S. Senate’s ‘Spendthrift Seven’ Are the IRS’ Best Friends

November 8, 2022November 7, 2022 Admin

August 7 was a big day for the Spendthrift Seven. In just 12 hours, these Senate Democrats — all facing re-election Tuesday — gave the middle finger to middle-class taxpayers, hugged illegal aliens, and high-fived the IRS.

Arizona’s Mark Kelly, Colorado’s Michael Bennet, Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, Georgia’s Raphael Warnock, Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto, New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan and Washington’s Patty Murray did these things while the Senate considered President Joe Biden’s deceptively titled, 273-page Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Their votes should appall every American.

Commentary: The IRS Is Coming to Get Virginians Unless Republicans Win Back the House

October 27, 2022October 26, 2022 Admin

We need strong people in Washington who will stand with Americans and not against them, which is one of the important reasons Jen Kiggans is running for Congress in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. While Americans are struggling to pay rent, buy milk and eggs, and fill up their gas tanks, President Joe Biden, and his Democrats in Congress, are unleashing an army of tens of thousands of federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents to invade the homes of hard-working Americans.

Democrats in Congress passed a phony bill titled the “Inflation Reduction Act” that had a provision hidden in the text giving tens of billions in taxpayer’s cash to the IRS for the purposes of hiring a platoon of new federal agents to collect even more taxes. Soon, voters in Virginia will have the opportunity to vote in Republicans who will repeal this provision of law.

Kiggans and Luria Trade Blows on Abortion, Economic Policy

October 13, 2022October 13, 2022 Eric Burk

Representative Elaine Luria (D-VA-02) and challenger Virginia Senator Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia Beach) faced off in a Wednesday debate hosted by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. While many of the debate questions were more business-focused, the two candidates took repeated swings at their opponents’ weak points. Kiggans attacked Luria for aligning with Democrats and cited the economic impacts of their policy, and Luria warned that if elected, Kiggans would take a hard line on abortion and other reproductive issues.

The moderator asked Luria how she felt about the end of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and what the district should expect from Luria on energy. She responded by emphasizing the importance of nuclear power and added, “What they can expect from me: offshore wind development. You know, we’re not going to wake up tomorrow and stop using oil and natural gas. Of course we need adequate transmission of oil and natural gas to support our industry in the area.”

Commentary: Biden’s IRS Auditor Army Will Disrupt Economic Recovery

September 1, 2022August 31, 2022 RealClearWire

The Biden administration’s decision to recruit nearly 90,000 new IRS auditors could have a chilling effect on small businesses and economic growth, permanently impeding our nation’s ability to recover from its current economic malaise.

As part of the misleadingly titled “Inflation Reduction Act,” President Biden and his allies secured roughly $80 billion in new IRS funding to hire 87,000 auditors. This is bad news for the American economy.

Red States to Cash In on Dems’ Green Energy Bill

August 31, 2022August 30, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

The Inflation Reduction Act is pumping money for electric vehicle initiatives into Republican-led states with congressional representatives who unanimously opposed it.

The new law will offer a tax credit for the production of battery cells at a rate of $35 per kilowatt hour the battery can store, representing a credit of about 35% the cost for a company to fabricate a cell, according to Axios. A survey of major electric vehicle and battery production investments in the U.S. as of June 2022 reveals that roughly 2 out of every 3 are being built in a state with two Republican senators, according to data from Axios.

Biden’s New Spending Bill Supersizes the EPA’s Budget

August 21, 2022August 20, 2022 Admin

The Democrats’ massive climate spending package, which President Joe Biden signed into law on Tuesday, will give over $40 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), just as the bill allocates almost $80 billion to expand the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, includes $369 billion in total climate spending, and will give the EPA more than $40 billion in the current fiscal year to combat climate change, enforce environmental standards and secure “environmental justice,” according to a Congressional Research Service report. The EPA’s enacted budget for 2022’s fiscal year was about $9.5 billion, according to the agency figures, meaning the bill will more than quadruple the EPA’s current annual spending.

Virginia Democrats Praise ‘Historic’ Inflation Reduction Act, Republicans Say the Bill Will Increase Costs for Americans

August 15, 2022August 15, 2022 Eric Burk

Virginia Democrats trumpeted the Inflation Reduction Act after the House of Representatives passed the legislation on Friday, putting President Joe Biden on the path to a key win on his goals ahead of the 2022 congressional midterms. At the same time, Republicans mocked the bill’s title and criticized its policies.

In a speech on the House Floor, Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA-08) compared the bill to landmark legislation from the U.S.’ past.

“This is our generation’s signature contribution to American history. Our Social Security Act. Our Civil Rights Act, even the Bill of Rights,” Beyer said.

Arizona Representatives React to House Passing the Inflation Reduction Act

August 14, 2022 Neil W. McCabe

Arizona Representatives, including Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08), Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), all recently released statements slamming the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as it passed the U.S. House Friday and will move on to President Joe Biden.

“President Biden and congressional Democrats are so out of touch with everyday Americans that they just pushed through a massive tax and spending bill that will increase taxes, gasoline prices, and utility rates all while making the lives of Americans worse,” Lesko said. “I won’t do that to the American people and that is why I voted no.”

Analysis: The Inflation Reduction Act Farce

August 14, 2022August 13, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

In a major reversal, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D–WV) struck a deal with Senator Chuck Schumer (D–NY) to enact a major climate, entitlement, and tax bill. This legislation has been praised by President Biden, Al Gore, and other proponents of highly progressive policies.

Analysis: 10 Actions to Reduce Energy Prices That Won’t Cost Taxpayers $740 Billion

August 13, 2022August 12, 2022 The Center Square

Rather than impose higher taxes and more restrictions on domestic production of oil and natural gas, as Senate Democrats voted to do by passing the Inflation Reduction Act, those in the industry proposed 10 actions policy makers can take right now to reduce costs. The industry says its solutions won’t cost taxpayers $740 billion, as the Inflation Reduction Act does, or increase the national debt or inflation, as 230 economists have warned the act will do.

Harvard University Denied Tax Cut After Lobbying to Senate Democrats

August 11, 2022August 10, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

Harvard University’s request for an endowment tax cut was denied despite frequent lobbying to Senate Democrats for its inclusion in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 with tax increases on corporations and energy firms but did not include plans to lower the endowment tax, which is tax paid on income from individual donors to colleges, according to the bill. Senior Executive Director of Federal Relations at Harvard University Suzanne Day sent an email in July urging Democratic Senators to eliminate the tax in the upcoming bill.

Commentary: ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ Will Throw Fuel on the Flames of Stagflation

August 3, 2022August 2, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

The folly of the Biden administration’s recently announced “Inflation Reduction Act” recalls Orwellian slogans such as “Slavery is Freedom.” The plan will throw fuel on the flames of stagflation while accelerating environmental deterioration. The act would raise an estimated $739 billion through tax increases and heightened IRS scrutiny to then invest $306 billion in “deficit reduction” and $369 billion in “energy security and climate change” to “reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030.” If ever there were a proposal that failed out the gate, this is one.