The Biden administration is leaning into a new attack on congressional Republicans, suggesting that the GOP is colluding with “Big Pharma” to keep medical prices elevated for middle-class and elderly Americans.
The White House plans to send out a memo titled “Congressional Republicans have a bold economic message: telling the middle class that it can go to hell” Wednesday outlining the new messaging line.
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Biden officials have consistently claimed that Republican attempts to curb Biden’s spending packages, specifically the Inflation Reduction Act, will hand out tax benefits to corporations and wealthy Americans, cut manufacturing jobs, and increase the cost of living for lower-income Americans.
In the memo itself, obtained by the Washington Examiner ahead of its release Wednesday morning, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates cites a recent report from the Washington Post to claim that “Congressional Republicans are working in tandem with Big Pharma in a frenzied attempt to ensure older Americans ‘never see cheaper pharmacy bills.’
“After their economic argument was defeated in the best midterms for a new Democratic President in 60 years, the House GOP is tripling down on a bold policy message: telling the American middle class to go to hell,” Bates writes.
“Last week, the Republican Study Committee, which represents over ¾ of the House Republican Conference, went on record with a plan that would not only ban Medicare from negotiating lower drug costs, but would raise Medicare premiums for many seniors while raising the retirement age for Social Security and cutting Social Security disability benefits,” he continues. “That followed Speaker McCarthy telling Fox News that he wanted to set up a fiscal commission that would target Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits. The American people solidly oppose such cuts.”
The memo additionally claims that polling from Morning Consult shows significant majorities of Americans supporting Medicare, drug pricing reforms, and energy tax credits. Those economic benefits would disappear if Republicans were to successfully repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, the White House claims.
“There couldn’t be a sharper difference between this and the President, who’s working every day to invest in America and make growing the middle class our top economic priority. That includes by protecting the Medicare and Social Security benefits Americans pay to earn, and that Speaker McCarthy recently complained the President forced out of budget negotiations,” the memo concludes. “That includes by continuing to execute on the historic manufacturing resurgence he’s creating, and on ensuring that prescription drugs aren’t a bankruptcy sentence for older Americans. That includes by further reducing the deficit by having the wealthy pay more of their fair share, while cutting energy costs.”
The new attack from the White House comes as President Joe Biden is ramping up his 2024 reelection effort.
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The president spent the past two days in California, where he unveiled new climate-focused investments, hosted a meeting with industry leaders on AI, and attended a number of closed-door fundraisers.
Democratic officials familiar with Biden’s campaign strategy tell the Washington Examiner that the president’s team will focus on drawing contrasts between the Biden and Republican agendas, rather than “waste time” confronting any Democratic or independent presidential challengers.
