Nancy's House yet to rubber stamp it, or have they already?
To get an initial grasp of the thing, two links, first CNN by screenshot -
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| click the image to read the short report |
Who do they think they are kidding with that headline, "READ: Inflation Reduction Act -- Democrats' sweeping climate and health care bill?" It is 755 pages long. Nobody is going to read all that junk. Not you, not the ones voting to pass or oppose it. They could hide in there, nobody would notice, a provision saying Charles Manson was innocent, or creating a ten billion buck Biden family trust, Hunter as Trustee. Not saying they did either, but that they could.
Second, Cox Media Group, specifically WFTV reporting (not WTFTV) with a bill synopsis. In part -
The bill, called the Inflation Reduction Act, includes an unprecedented $375 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below their 2005 levels by 2030. The bill represents the biggest investment in clean energy sources in U.S. history.
“This is one of the most significant pieces of legislation passed in a decade,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told The Washington Post, before the bill’s passage in the Senate. “Things that Americans have longed for and couldn’t get done.”
No Republican voted for the bill. The measure passed on a 51-50 vote with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tiebreaking vote.
“Their response to the runaway inflation they’ve created is a bill that experts say will not meaningfully cut inflation at all,” Senate Minority Leader Mitchell McConnell, R-Ky., said.
[...] The 755-page bill will now move to the House for a vote there.
Here are some of the measures in the bill:
Climate change: The bill includes $260 billion in tax credits for renewable energy, a move that will lower the cost of clean power sources such as solar and wind.
In addition, the bill includes money for:
[... stuff]
Taxes: The bill includes a 15% minimum tax on megacorporations and introduces a 1% excise tax on the buyback of shares. Money will also go into hiring Internal Revenue Service agents [...]
Health care: The bill includes changes that are meant to lower drug prices. One of the major points in the legislation allows Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over some [a tiny number of] prescription drug prices. The bill would also extend the enhanced federal premium subsidies for Obamacare coverage through 2025.
Democrats could not get enough votes needed to keep a provision to cap insulin costs at $35 a month on the private health insurance market. The legislation would still limit insulin costs for those on Medicare.
[italics added] A good summary, in a tightly written item. However, some mention of the timescale play within the bill might have been made, but it would have lengthened the item. On healthcare, too little substance, spread out too far into the future. But a significant start. Getting any relief against the screwing we get from Big Pharma and the Medical Industrial Complex is a first tiny step; with Bernie's amendments to make the bill friendlier to the will of the people stiffed by a likely prior caucus consensus to where Bernie was the only vote for most of them; Warren opposed to all.
So the Republicans stonewalled it to force a 51-50 vote. They should all be voted out of office for doing that, even with most of their seats on the line in future elections, not this November. They are uncaring ghouls.
Regarding the Sanders amendments, CommonDreams reports -
The Vermont senator was the lone yes vote on all but one of his amendments; Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) supported the proposal to expand Medicare.
Despite his concerns and warnings about the bill—which was repeatedly weakened in the days leading up to Sunday's vote—Sanders said in a statement after voting yes on the final package that "it is a step forward" and he "was happy to support it."
"At a time when we face the existential crisis of climate change, the most significant part of this bill is an unprecedented $300 billion investment in clean energy and energy efficiency, including a $7 billion solar rooftop proposal that I introduced," said Sanders. "This bill could help increase U.S. solar energy by 500% and more than double wind energy by 2035. That is no small thing."
"This bill also begins the work of making the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes by imposing a 15% minimum tax on corporations," the senator continued. "It also gives the IRS the resources they need to pursue the estimated $1 trillion in taxes not paid by the wealthiest people in this country, and will help ordinary, working people get their returns faster."
"This legislation also takes a small step in dealing with the outrageous prices of prescription drugs," he continued. "Finally, we are giving Medicare the power to directly negotiate prescription drug prices with manufacturers on behalf of beneficiaries. Unfortunately, that provision does not kick in until 2026 and starts with only ten drugs."
The bill is expected to clear the House this week, securing a legislative win for the Democratic Party after a year and a half of negotiations that were repeatedly derailed by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), corporate-funded lawmakers who were able to dictate the scope of the final package.
"This is not Bernie's bill," Manchin told reporters Sunday.
And that is the bottom line. Bernie made the point the bill is weak, but he voted it along as it is a landmark in several ways, as the CommonDreams quote notes.
Bottom line. The Manchin bill. A step toward a bigger set of goals the people in repeated polling majorities clearly indicate that they want.
One small step of a bill. One giant step for mankind?
Worth mention, Georgia Recorder published helpful information about the amendment "vote-a-rama" process:
Just two amendments during what is called vote-a-rama were added to the bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, after Democratic leaders earlier struck agreements needed to get Sinema and Manchin on board. Under budget reconciliation rules, the legislation only needed a simple majority for passage rather than the usual 60-vote threshold.
In the final stretch of voting and at the last minute, the Senate agreed to an amendment by John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, that made a 15% corporate tax included in the bill apply to fewer businesses owned by private equity firms.
The amendment was backed by Sinema, along with six other Democrats — Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Mark Kelly of Arizona.
[...] In another major change Republicans successfully stripped a provision to cap insulin co-pays at $35 in private health insurance plans, citing budget rules. A similar price cap for Medicare remains in the version of the bill the Senate approved.
The price cap has been a priority for Warnock and likely will become a prime campaign issue for Democrats to use against Republicans who voted to remove it. [...] Seven Republicans did vote with Democrats on the insulin amendment: Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi and Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska.
[...] Another unsuccessful Democratic amendment came from Warnock, who wanted a provision included in the bill to end a gap in Medicaid coverage for low-income people in his state and others, calling it a “moral moment” for senators.“I rise on behalf of nearly four-and-a-half million Americans in 12 states, including 646,000 Georgians, who a decade after the Affordable Care Act became law, still do not have access to affordable health care. They are the working poor,” Warnock said. “They are being blocked by governors and legislatures.”
But Warnock’s attempt was voted down, after Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon said he “tragically” had to oppose it to preserve the substance of the bill. Four other senators voted with Warnock: Collins, Ossoff, Sanders and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.
Still, Warnock celebrated the survival of the $35 cap for insulin for those on Medicare as well as a provision he championed that would block prescription drug prices for seniors on Medicare Part D from exceeding $2,000 annually.
Warnock is running in Georgia to hold his Senate seat against former football jock and two-man bobsled racer, Herschel Walker, who ran the ball, but otherwise has no further skill to offer (the Olympic bobsled effort went nowhere, Herschel being the pusher to grunt and get a strong start, another being the skilled sled pilot).
This bill is enough to cement a strong Dem GOTV effort. One strongly pushed from now to the last minute to cast a November ballot for the direction of things that barely passed. Do not fail to remember, 50 ill-intentioned and mean Senators steadfastly intent on sabotage if feasible, but otherwise staking out a position to go on to their campaigning efforts with lies and beguiles to get morons to vote their way in November. May they fail grandly in that intent. May the idiots not vote, or prove insufficient to overcome a hoped for Dem GOTV landslide. Likelihood aside, hope for it and do your share. Get the ballot in as soon as early voting in your state allows, or stand in line for as long as it takes election day. Much is at stake.
The vote of the two Georgia Senators on the one amendment is noteworthy. They held ranks, but did define themselves as open to the direction Sanders championed for Medicare reform to move. That is noteworthy. It is commendable. It helped.
In closing, the bolded opening sentence two paragraphs up said "is" and not "should be." Readers are urged to get the message and conform.