Talk about “sucking all the oxygen out of the room…” The four indictments of Trump have consumed most of the media, masking what would otherwise be a greater emphasis on administration actions and policies, and overwhelming what ought to be applauded as the enormous success of “Bidenomics.”
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is one year old; it is central to “Bidenomics.” A recent Treasury Department analysis found that it has incentivized unusually strong business investment–investment Axios recently called a “tailwind for economic growth.”
Together with the bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act, the IRA has especially spurred investments in manufacturing and clean energy. According to Treasury officials, evidence shows that private investment has held up, even in the face of increases in interest rates. And the report also noted that most counties where IRA-related investments have been announced are areas where college graduation rate, employment and wages are lower. In other words, Republican, largely rural areas.
As Heather Cox Richardson noted in a recent daily Letter,
The IRA was the eventual form President Joe Biden’s initial “Build Back Better” plans took. It offered to lower Americans’ energy costs with a 30% tax credit for energy-efficient windows, heat pumps, or newer models of appliances; capped the cost of drugs at $2,000 per year for people on Medicare; and made healthcare premiums fall for certain Americans by expanding the Affordable Care Act.
By raising taxes on the very wealthy and on corporations and bringing the Internal Revenue Service back up to full strength so that it can crack down on tax cheating, as well as saving the government money by permitting it to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, the IRA was expected to raise $738 billion. That, plus about $891 billion from other sources, enabled the law to make the largest investment ever in addressing climate change while still bringing down the federal government’s annual deficit.
“This is a BFD,” former President Barack Obama tweeted a year ago.
It is a “BFD,” and it is extremely frustrating that reporting on its effects has been smothered by a combination of “it bleeds so it leads” reporting and the massive amounts of propaganda “flooding the zone” ala Bannon.
The law has driven so much investment in U.S. manufacturing that the CEO of U.S. Steel recently suggested renaming it the “Manufacturing Renaissance Act.” Manufacturers have been returning previously off-shored production to the U.S., bringing supply chains back to the U.S. And as Richardson emphasized,
These changes have meant new, well-paid manufacturing jobs that have been concentrated in Republican-dominated states and in historically disadvantaged communities.
The IRA has also been enormously consequential to the fight to tame climate change.
Scientists Alicia Zhao and Haewon McJeon, who recently published an article in Science, today wrote that the IRA “brings the US significantly closer to meeting its 2030 climate target [of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 50–52% below 2005 levels], taking expected emissions from 25–31% below 2005 levels down to 33–40% below.”
Republican presidential candidates have—predictably–refused to credit the act with these results; Richardson quoted former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who called the IRA “a communist manifesto,” although, with their usual hypocrisy, “Republicans have been eager to take credit for IRA investments in their districts without mentioning either that they voted against the IRA or that they are still trying to repeal it.”
The Environmental Defense Fund recently issued a statement rebutting several of the Republican misrepresentations–okay, lies–about the IRA. The organization noted the difficulty of getting factual information out:
The truth takes about six times as long to reach 1,500 people as false stories do. Six. Times. Longer.
And this is from a study that is a few years old, before the global pandemic and the 2020 U.S. election — events that caused an explosion of lies online by Bad Actors.
A simple google search brings up dozens of reports from highly credible and nonpartisan sources, confirming the truly massive economic and environmental benefits triggered by the IRA, and the fact that those benefits are being felt in parts of the country that have previously been left behind.
Those reports won’t reach the millions of Americans glued to Faux News and its clones, or the other millions who have turned off the news because they no longer know what or who to believe–a situation that explains Biden’s low approval numbers.
My middle son said it best. In a conversation a while back, he said “Biden is the first President I’ve voted for who vastly exceeded my expectations.”
To quote Barack Obama, Biden’s Presidential performance has been a BFD. Too bad so few Americans understand that.
Yesterday I got a very informative email from Democratic congressman Andre Carson. He is doing a good job of spreading the good news about the advances from the Biden administration . Spread the good news 🙂
patmcc; I also received the letter from Rep. Carson, he also keeps me apprised of the status of issues before the House. He and “Mayor Pete” are the only two high level representatives in government from Indiana that I can think of; we need more, many more. Can’t remember who commented late yesterday about the lack of information about current Indiana candidates but they are on target. I recently saw a few Facebook posts from John Gregg which made me shiver; is the Indiana Democratic party considering running our twice ghost candidate for Governor for anything?
It isn’t only Trump’s four indictments that have “consumed most of the media”; the “fact’ that he will not join the debate, maybe he will be there, he will be there, he will not join the debate is running a close second.
Regarding President Biden’s Infrastructure Law; the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which is a benefit to many Americans, there is one provider which needs a close investigation for fraudulently receiving funds from the FCC. I spent 4 1/2 HOURS yesterday on the Internet informing, asking, demanding and begging in the name of God for AT&T Internet to cancel my service and that of DirecTV Stream. Their system equipment has been UNinstalled and all equipment returned via UPS and AT&T is still REFUSING to cancel my account. The Facebook Social Media Specialists are usually the system to get results but, nearing the 4 1/2 HOUR mark, CarlosC finally said he would cancel my account and I would receive an E-mail notification of the cancellation. I received the no reply AT&T Internet E-mail thanking me for CHOOSING THEM, with affordable rates of my choice; $1 monthly or minus $1 monthly or $0 monthly. I returned to Facebook and CarlosC to report this situation, have received two more offers from him to “look into the situation”. My response was that, if he thought I would agree to his “help” again that he is crazier than I thought he was. I have installed Spectrum Internet and cable services and applied for the ACP on that account; if AT&T is still listing me as recipient with their services they are fraudulently collecting FCC funds in my name. And…will this block the transfer of my ACP services to Spectrum? Any idea how or who to report this scam situation to?
And how many other scams are running through President Biden’s work to save this nation on all levels?
“Dr” Biden prescribed a long term cure. News reports only short term ills.
I am uncertain if increased news coverage of Biden will improve his poor approval rating in the USA. The country’s economy, including the manufacturing and chip industries, operates as a form of socialism for the oligarchy. We cannot rely on China for goods in times of conflict. However, is that trickling down?
Although HCR supports the DNC, the inflation act has not significantly reduced living expenses for Americans. Check your county’s property tax sale list to see if the numbers are up or down. Unfortunately, our numbers in East Central Indiana are way up.
The good news for savers is that 1-year CD rates are way up from their fraction of a percentage.
Despite the DNC media bashing RFK Jr., his approval ratings keep rising and with right-wing support, he’s gathering steam from populists on both sides of the aisle. Cornel and Jr. will eat up Biden in a debate format.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: people have spent the last fifty years underestimating Joe Biden, Paul Ryan was supposed to wipe the floor with Biden, but Biden beat him handily. He is the politician’s politician. He knows how to get things done and he’s the ultimate good old boy.
Once again, the problem is MARKETING. The dems need to learn that. It seems they are getting better at it. My advice, send Pete to Faux News and let him talk about Bidenomics.
“By raising taxes on the very wealthy and on corporations”…please list the references for these in the IRA. Facts do matter…..
They said “Let’s go Brandon!” and he did. The problem is, indeed, that “Facts Don’t Matter!”
I did read that he, or the DNC, plans to plater the country with signs proclaiming his part in the new growth, in those places where his policies are making a difference for ordinary people.
Let’s Go Brandon!
As soon as “everyday Americans” (with a likely 6th grade education level of critical thinking) see the names of legislation, their eyes gaze over. When they buy gas or food or try to rent/buy a house they see “their” economy. Just the facts, m’am…..
@ Lester Levine:
Heather Cox Richardson provides references and footnotes in each of her daily posts (I don’t know how she has time to do it and do her full-time job). I haven’t checked whether she has a reference for your question but click through to Richardson’s post.
David – I am not a subscriber and her today’s post is not online.
Lester – https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-21-2023?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Joyce Vance recently observed that we live in a time where the political fight should be about which party has the best plan for dealing with climate change. In light of all the floods, fires, hurricanes, quakes, etc. I think she is absolutely right.
The facts don’t matter to the Republican Party and those on the right. But, the same is true for some on the left who ignore facts. The popularity of RFK, Jr. for one. Republicans like RFK Jr. more than Democrats do. Fivethirtyeight.com reported on a summary of polls of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. favorable and unfavorable ratings among Democrats and Republicans and concluded that RFK is running in the wrong primary. He’s minus 5 among Democrats in popularity and +28 among Republicans. I can only speculate as to why.
Todd, you mention the number of property tax sales is up across East Central Indiana. I grew up in that a small town near Muncie which was once a manufacturing hub with thousands of high-paying manufacturing jobs. Those union jobs moved South and, ultimately, to Mexico and overseas. Under Biden’s leadership and in support of his Build Back Better initiative, Congress passed the IRA and it has stimulated tremendous investment in our manufacturing sectors. Unfortunately, the new jobs being created are not in East Central Indiana.
In essence we have an old world peasant problem. They are going to support their king and if the king says someone is an enemy, then he is. Brandon is an enemy. They were Loyalists during the revolution, Confederates or sympathizers during the Civil War, and now they are Trumpers. Their primary loyalty lies in this very antiquated notion of being bound to the land – an idea that began at least as far back as feudal times (Land and Lord were supreme) and effectively ended with the Industrial Revolution.
They didn’t get the memo.