One Year Later, Biden spills the beans about the ‘Inflation Reduction Act’

While celebrating the one-year anniversary of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) at a ritzy fundraiser in Park City, Utah, President Biden finally admitted the real point of the $740 billion law.

According to Biden, “The Inflation Reduction Act — I wish I hadn’t called it that, because it has less to do with reducing inflation than it does to do with dealing with providing for alternatives that generate economic growth.”

Of course, Biden’s recent admission does not mesh with how he and his party portrayed the IRA as it was making its way through the legislative process last summer.

For instance, on July 28 of last year, Biden implored his fellow Democrats to vote for the bill, declaring, “This is the strongest bill you can pass to lower inflation.”

Interestingly, in the same speech, Biden also said the IRA would “cut the deficit, reduce healthcare costs, tackle the climate crisis” and “promote energy security, all the time while reducing the burdens facing working-class and middle-class families.”

So, which is it? Was the IRA intended to reduce inflation or was it actually designed as a Green New Deal type of legislation to promote more of the left’s green energy boondoggles?

Based on the evidence, it sure seems that the latter objective dwarfed the former.

Consider.

According to Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act Guidebook, “The Inflation Reduction Act is aimed squarely at building a better America and delivering on President Biden’s vision to make sure the United States — powered by American workers — remains the global leader in clean energy technology, manufacturing, and innovation.” This includes “$370 billion in investments” to “accelerate private investment in clean energy solutions in every sector of the economy and every corner of the country.”

Moreover, as the Senate Democrats’ “Summary of the Energy Security and Climate Change Investments in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” states, “this package includes over $60 billion in environmental justice priorities to drive investments into disadvantaged communities.”

This includes, $3 billion for “neighborhood equity,” whatever that means.

Unfortunately, we are beginning to see the lousy results from the government trying to pick green energy winners and losers with taxpayers’ money. Case in point: Proterra, a company that makes electric buses and was showered with generous tax breaks and subsidies courtesy of the Biden administration, just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

For those of us who remember the Solyndra debacle, not to mention battery maker A123, this isn’t all that surprising. For those who aren’t aware, both of these green energy companies received substantial subsides and loans from President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Both went belly up shortly thereafter.

One need not be an economist to understand that throwing hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars at unproductive enterprises is a recipe for disaster.

On the same note, common sense tells us that spending $370 billion on not-ready-for-prime-time green energy companies exerts inflationary pressures on an economy already ailing with spiking inflationary forces. Furthermore, restricting the extraction, transportation, and production of affordable and reliable fossil fuel-based energy sources, which the Biden administration has done since day one, has been a key driver of inflation in the first place.

Last year, while crisscrossing the country to promote his Inflation Reduction Act, Biden lied to the American people. Per usual, he was aided and abetted by the mainstream media, which helped peddle the administration’s falsehoods about the IRA. However, as is always the case, eventually the truth comes out. And, I bet the more we learn about the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, the worse it will get.

Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.

Image: SEIU