Build Back Better is dead and Democrats are trying to reach an alternative deal known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. But though they are framing it as a deal to fight inflation, the act would also spend billions on climate change initiatives that could seriously damage American agriculture.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia announced on Wednesday that he had reached a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the new act, the Washington Examiner reported.
It seems fitting that Manchin is at the head of this new deal since he was the one that essentially killed the Build Back Better plan in December 2021.
He argued at the time that the $2.4 trillion welfare and green energy bill was simply too expensive. This frustrated the rest of the Democratic Party and without Manchin’s support, Democrats were left unable to pass the legislation in the Senate.
But now, as Democrats are facing a fight for their congressional majorities in the November election, they are scrambling to address the inflation crisis that is on every American’s mind.
“Over the last year, leaders in Washington have ignored repeated warnings about the severe threat of inflation and the consequences of unprecedented domestic spending,” Manchin argued in a statement, according to the Washington Examiner.
“Despite these concerns and my calls to give the country time to fully realize the impacts of such historic levels of spending and our inflation crisis, many Democrats have continued to push for trillions more in spending to meet a political deadline,” Manchin added. “As difficult as it is for some to hear, political calls to action that ignore the severity of the crises we face and will continue to face are a recipe for national disaster.”
So this new Inflation Reduction Act seems to be a bit of a reconciliation bill.
“Contrary to foolish talk otherwise, America cannot spend its way out of debt or out of inflation,” Manchin said. “With respect to my position, I have never and will never walk away from solving the problems facing the nation we all love. I strongly support the passage of commonsense policies that reduce inflation and focus on the major challenges confronting America today and in the future.”
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However, though the name of the act sounds great and Democrats seem to be counting on everyone getting behind the idea of fighting inflation, they have tucked all sorts of spending into the act.
Climate change and an Affordable Care Act Extension make up a significant part of the spending in the bill, and those are issues that are bound to become sticking points for Republicans.
But it’s the goals of the climate change spending in this bill that should have people particularly worried.
“The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will make a historic down payment on deficit reduction to fight inflation, invest in domestic energy production and manufacturing, and reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030,” the summary of the act outlined.
Democrats want to allocate $369 billion to “Energy Security and Climate Change.”
This is potentially bad news for the bedrock of American living — farmers.
If Democrats want to spend billions on reducing carbon emissions, farmers are bound to suffer since farming equipment runs on fossil fuels agriculture makes up 11 percent of the overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Already, American farmers are suffering as skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer costs are draining them, the American Conservative reported.
“Farmers are masters at adaptation and managing weather and price fluctuations. But the extreme cost inflation of diesel fuel and fertilizer is taking a severe toll, they say, and will not only continue to drive prices up in grocery stores but could have lasting repercussions in the years to come,” the American Conservative wrote.
But imagine how much higher the price of fuel and fertilizer could go if policies that go after environmentally damaging products are put in place.
So, sure, the Inflation Reduction Act may be a reconciliatory bill that is an improvement from the dead Build Back Better Plan. But it still has problems and initiatives that could push essential American businesses to the brink of destruction.
