House Democrats on a party-line vote passed their signature agenda bill, giving President Biden a major legislative win that capped a months-long fight among Democrats and with Republicans over policies and priorities.
For Democrats like House Rules Committee Chair Jim McGovern, it was about the needs of constituents.
“To combat inflation, to deal with the climate crisis, to control healthcare costs, to lower energy costs. I mean, there’s a contrast. So, I’m not going to apologize for this process, because quite frankly, I’m proud of this product. It’s not everything I wanted, as I said, but I think it’s going to help people, help my constituents.â€
Republicans pushed back against the Senate-passed bill, mocking its title by calling it the Inflation “enhancement†Act and belittling its climate change provisions. Ranking Budget member Jason Smith; “You have $1.5 billion for ‘tree equity,’ and another $1.9 billion, dedicated, in part, to fill gaps in tree canopy coverage. How is that going to bring down food and gas prices?â€
The GOP attacked Democrats’ ‘tax-and-spend’ policies they claim will worsen inflation and argued a new minimum tax on big companies will force lower wages and higher consumer costs. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley complains farmers are already paying too much for inputs. “We already have two, three hundred percent increase in fertilizers this year, and corn is not at the highest price that it’s been. And if we don’t get seven-dollar corn with this high price of inputs to agriculture, and this bill isn’t going to help any of that, it’s going to hurt American agriculture.â€
On the flip side, the bill would spend billions on tax breaks to spur renewables like biofuels and billions more on climate-smart Ag, boosting EQUIP and RCPP (‘R-SEP’).
Read more from DTN/Progressive Farmer here: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2022/08/12/divided-house-sends-climate-health