August 8, 2022 |
After an overnighter Saturday into Sunday, the Democrats passed a $700 billion government spending bill they call the Inflation Reduction Act. Critics say that much government spending is guaranteed to increase inflation. The party line vote to pass the lightweight version of “build back better” legislation was 51-50 with the vice casting the tie-breaker Sunday afternoon.
The bill includes $369 billion in spending on climate change programs estimated to reduce U.S. global warming emissions by 40 percent over the next seven years. It also authorizes the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents.
Getting to Sunday’s final vote was torturous. It included an all-night amendment jam session. The budget reconciliation process allows the party in control of the Senate to pass major legislation with a simple-majority vote. The trade-off is the minority party can vote on an unlimited number of back-to-back amendments.
Republicans tried their best, offering at least 50 amendments meant to put the breaks on the Green New Deal parts of the bill. They were all rejected.
Wyoming’s John Barrasso was among the senators whose midnight amendment was rejected. Barrasso’s amendment would have required the Biden administration to conduct supplemental onshore oil and gas leases by the end of this year. Barrasso framed it as a vote between American energy production or foreign “dictators.”
Senate Democrats killed off the unfriendly amendments, like Barrasso’s, one-by-one. Other amendments the Democrats defeated included approving new coal leases, prohibiting sale of Strategic Petroleum Crude to China, protect American energy producers from tax hikes and prevent a looming price increase at the pump by striking $12 billion imported and domestic oil tax put in the spending bill by Democrats.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz said the amendments that were defeated represented commonsense ideas meant to help the American economy. Cruz said the bill that passed will double the size of the IRS.
In a statement Sunday afternoon after the spending measure passed by a single vote, Sen. Barrasso said the spending package and the defeated amendments represents the continued war on American energy.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis said in a statement that the bill is bad for Wyoming. Because it raises taxes on Wyoming families at a time of record inflation and pushes Green New Deal priorities that will harm domestic energy production.
“The last thing Washington should be doing right now is raising taxes that will harm low and middle class families, but that’s exactly what this bill does,” Lummis said.
The bill now goes back to the House of Representatives where it is practically assured final approval.
