Wisconsin US Sens. Ron Johnson, Tammy Baldwin statements on passing of Inflation Reduction Act

This past weekend, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act with a 50-50 vote — all Republicans opposed, all Democrats in favor and Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie.

Read more on the act here and here.

Wisconsin’s two US Senators put out statements on the bill.

TAMMY BALDWIN: “Wisconsin working families need lower costs and I voted for the Inflation Reduction Act to deliver results. Our reforms will close tax loopholes for big, billion-dollar corporations and make them pay a fairer share of taxes so we can cut the deficit and lower the out-of-pocket costs for working families on prescription drugs and health care premiums. Our legislation will lower energy costs for consumers, and will make investments to boost the production of Made in America clean energy that will create jobs and take on the climate crisis. Today, while Senate Republicans stand on the sidelines with the big corporations and drug companies who have profited off inflation’s rising costs, I am voting to fight inflation and deliver some fairness and relief for working families.”

RON JOHNSON: “The Orwellian named ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ will do no such thing, as a number of prominent experts and economic policy groups have indicated. Over 230 economists wrote to Congress saying the bill would increase inflation. The Penn Wharton Budget Model, the Tax Foundation, and the Congressional Budget Office all found the bill won’t lower inflation and may make it worse. The IRS would more than double in size, unleashing 87,000 new enforcement agents on American families. This massive increase of government intrusion would result in the IRS employing more bureaucrats than the Pentagon, State Department, FBI and Border Patrol combined. Last year, the IRS audited Americans earning less than $25,000 a year at five times the rate of other groups. The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation says that 78% to 90% of the revenue raised from misreported income would likely come from those making under $200,000.

“This bill will not only raise the burden Americans will bear from business tax increases but it will also supercharge the IRS to go after American families at a time when many are simply struggling to pay their bills. Democrats also imposed a new natural gas tax, which could potentially lead to a 17 percent increase in monthly natural gas bills while the Consumer Price Index for energy already rose 41.6 percent since last year. This is a Green Energy Fantasy that will more likely drive the cost of energy up rather than down.

“It’s hard to overstate the damage and destructive impact of the self-inflicted wounds imposed on the American economy by the Biden administration and its Democrat enablers in Congress. They are as detached from economic reality as they are from the truth. Giving bad policies a nice name will not prevent the harm they will inflict on us all.”