More good news for the Democrats
More good news today about the Inflation Reduction Act (the “Act”). Bloomberg reported that Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer built in a tax on the oil industry. Good. They’ve been making billions in profits for years and they keep those profits to themselves by refusing to lower prices and give consumers a break. The greed of corporate America is sickening, and the oil industry is the worst. Apparently, the industry used to pay these taxes, which had been allowed to lapse. If the Act passes the Senate, those taxes will be reinstated in the form of a fee on imported petroleum. Big oil will also now have to pay a fee on methane emissions, as well as an increased royalty on oil and gas produced on federal land.
Despite those taxes, Bloomberg reported that some oil industry companies support the bill, quoting Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Darren Woods calling it “a step in the right direction.” The bill will also allow an increase in lease sales for drilling on federal land, which the oil industry has been wanting. As promised in his interview with Jake Tapper, Manchin touts the Act as a “something for everyone” type of compromise, and so far, he is right. The greatest fight for the Act, however, remains to be seen as Bloomberg also reported that Manchin is trying to pitch the plan to Kyrsten Sinema, and a very real concern exists with respect to progressives, who wanted more than it offers.
According to Bloomberg, Manchin’s main goal in making the Sunday talk show rounds was to publicly pitch to Sinema, who has remained silent on the issue. He is hopeful that issues Sinema wanted to address will convince her to sign off and allow the Act to pass. Those items include lowering prescription drugs and allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices. Sinema is dead set against raising taxes, but Manchin pointed out that the Act contains one flat-rate tax on companies taking advantage of the ridiculously low tax rate they currently enjoy and closing the carried interest loophole which allows some of the richest in America to avoid taxes. Sinema is likely feeling important these days because even as Manchin courts her, Pat Toomey hopes she will stop it from passing.
Toomey claims that the Act won’t curb inflation but will do the opposite. He appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” and further claimed that the Act will not reduce the deficit. He called it “a disaster.” Toomey is retiring at the end of his term. He needs to focus on his retirement and let the members of Congress who are trying to find relief for the American people work. Obviously, there is no guarantee this bill is going to work, but at least someone is trying. We can easily understand why Republicans don’t want this measure to pass, and it has nothing to do with it being potentially “bad” law. Hopefully, the progressives don’t shoot their own party in the foot by failing to support this bill because it doesn’t give them everything they want. Everyone in Congress needs to grow up and remember why they are there.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years