{"id":1604363,"date":"2022-08-13T08:16:36","date_gmt":"2022-08-13T12:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1604363"},"modified":"2022-08-13T08:17:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-13T12:17:47","slug":"the-so-called-inflation-reduction-act-does-nothing-manchin-claims-it-does","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-so-called-inflation-reduction-act-does-nothing-manchin-claims-it-does\/","title":{"rendered":"The So-Called &#8220;Inflation Reduction Act&#8221; Does Nothing Manchin Claims It Does"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-so-called-inflation-reduction-act-does-nothing-manchin-claims-it-does%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1604363&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><span>By James D. Agresti<\/span><br \/><span>August 12, 2022<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10531\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10531\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/joe_manchin_chuck_schumer.png\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10531\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Senator Joe Manchin confers with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D\u2013NY), AP Photo\/Patrick Semansky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/07\/27\/us\/politics\/manchin-climate-tax-bill.html\">major reversal<\/a>, U.S. Senator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">Joe Manchin<\/a> (D\u2013WV) struck a deal with Senator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/majority-leader-schumer-floor-remarks-on-the-inflation-reduction-act\">Chuck Schumer<\/a> (D\u2013NY) to enact a major climate, entitlement, and tax bill. This legislation has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2022\/07\/28\/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\/\">praised by<\/a> President Biden, Al Gore, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/majority-leader-schumer-floor-remarks-on-the-inflation-reduction-act\">other<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/07\/29\/business\/energy-environment\/climate-bill-electric-cars-energy.html\">proponents<\/a> of highly progressive policies.<\/p>\n<p>Dubbed the \u201cInflation Reduction Act of 2022,\u201d Senate Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/5376\/actions\">voted<\/a> to pass this bill only 11 days after releasing its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/inflation_reduction_act_of_2022.pdf\">725 pages<\/a> of text. Democrats are pushing this bill so rapidly through Congress that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/Honorable_Bernie_Sanders.pdf\">Congressional Budget Office<\/a> estimates it won\u2019t be able to \u201cprovide a complete cost estimate for the legislation\u201d until more than a week after Congress is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/08\/12\/house-to-vote-on-inflation-reduction-act-tax-and-climate-bill.html\">expected<\/a> to pass it.<\/p>\n<p>Manchin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">press release<\/a> claims the law will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201caddress record inflation by paying down our national debt, lowering energy costs and lowering healthcare costs.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cdisplace dirtier products\u201d and ensure \u201cAmerican energy is affordable, reliable, clean and secure.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>bring \u201cgood paying energy and manufacturing jobs back to America.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cmake America more energy secure\u201d and \u201cfinancially sound.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>not raise taxes on \u201cfamilies and small businesses making less than $400,000 a year.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201clower the cost of healthcare for working families and small businesses.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>support \u201cthe everyday hardworking Americans we have been elected to serve.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>adopt \u201ca tax policy that protects small businesses and working-class Americans\u2026.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In reality, the legislation will do almost none of what Manchin claims it will\u2014and often the exact opposite. If it becomes law, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>have no material impact on inflation.<\/li>\n<li>increase pollution by subsidizing electric vehicles, which emit more toxic pollutants over their lifespans than normal cars.<\/li>\n<li>enrich \u201cgreen\u201d energy investors while doing little-to-nothing to help workers.<\/li>\n<li>raise energy costs and make America poorer by subsidizing products that are much more expensive.<\/li>\n<li>harm the manufacturing sector.<\/li>\n<li>enact hidden taxes that fall on Americans of all income groups.<\/li>\n<li>reduce incentives to work by giving people more welfare.<\/li>\n<li>increase the costs of prescription drugs for working Americans by pushing more of the research and development costs onto them.<\/li>\n<li>target wealthy people with IRS audits while letting the vast bulk of tax dodgers continue cheating the honest taxpayers of America.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Inflation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Contrary to its name, there is no credible evidence the Inflation Reduction Act will reduce inflation.<\/p>\n<p>The Penn Wharton Budget Model\u2014which is <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/what-we-do\">often touted<\/a> by Democrats like Schumer\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/7\/29\/inflation-reduction-act-preliminary-estimates\">estimates<\/a> that the bill\u2019s effects on inflation are \u201cstatistically indistinguishable from zero, thereby indicating low confidence that the legislation will have any impact on inflation.\u201d Moreover, the model is biased in favor of the bill because it uses an admitted \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/3\/28\/carbon-emission-reductions-in-build-back-america\">assumption<\/a>\u201d that reducing carbon dioxide makes society \u201cmore productive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/58357-Graham.pdf\">estimates<\/a> the bill could <em>increase<\/em> or <em>decrease<\/em> inflation by up to 0.1 percentage points in 2023, a result that is also statistically indistinguishable from zero.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">Manchin<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/majority-leader-schumer-floor-remarks-on-the-inflation-reduction-act\">Schumer<\/a>, and the Committee for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crfb.org\/blogs\/ira-will-help-fed-fight-inflation\">Responsible Federal Budget<\/a> claim that the bill\u2019s tax increases will reduce inflation by decreasing the federal deficit. There is a grain of truth in this because the Federal Reserve has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/monetarypolicy#quantitative\">aggressively printing<\/a> money to finance the federal debt, a policy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/monetarypolicy#inflation_definition\">which fuels<\/a> inflation.<\/p>\n<p>However, any deflationary aspects of the bill must be measured against its inflationary elements. CBO notes that these include but are not limited to the \u201cinflationary effects\u201d of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/58357-Graham.pdf#page=2\">health insurance subsidies<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/58357-Graham.pdf#page=3\">government purchases of goods and services<\/a>.\u201d In fact, CBO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/58357-Graham.pdf#page=4\">found<\/a> that such dynamics can lead to a situation where the bill causes inflation \u201ceven when the overall deficit was reduced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More importantly, Manchin and Schumer\u2019s statement that federal deficits spur inflation is a tacit admission that the deficit spending they previously voted for\u2014which is far greater than the supposed deficit reduction in this bill\u2014is fueling the <a href=\"https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/graph\/?g=PfKF\">high inflation<\/a> that is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/monetarypolicy#inflation_effects\">punishing<\/a> Americans. Since the start of the Biden administration less than two years ago, Manchin, Schumer, and nearly all Democrats voted for:<\/p>\n<p>This was on top of the bipartisan \u201cCovid relief\u201d spending of 2020, which added <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/reference\/covid-19_federal_spending.xls\">$3.4 trillion<\/a> to the national debt. Taken together, this is $5.5 trillion in deficit spending, or 18 times the supposed deficit reduction of the Inflation Reduction Act, which CBO estimates to be about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/hr5376_IR_Act_8-3-22.pdf#page=3\">$300 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Put another way, the bill\u2019s deficit reduction would undo about 5% of the inflationary damage that Manchin and company caused by deficit spending in the past 2.5 years.<\/p>\n<p>That also assumes the enhanced Obamacare subsidies in the bill will end in just three years, a budget gimmick used to shroud the long-term costs of this policy. The bill raises taxes for 10 years but only funds this entitlement for three years. If Congress extends it, as lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/socialspending\">often do<\/a> with entitlements, the bill will reduce the deficit by <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/7\/29\/inflation-reduction-act-preliminary-estimates\">$87 billion<\/a>, or less than one-third of CBO\u2019s estimate.<\/p>\n<p>Manchin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">press release<\/a> decries \u201cthe severe threat of inflation and the consequences of unprecedented domestic spending,\u201d but this bill increases spending on a host of programs detailed below. Far from a course change, Manchin is now voting for \u201ctaxing and spending\u201d instead of mere \u201cspending.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pollution<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Contrary to Manchin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">claim<\/a> that his bill will \u201cdisplace dirtier products,\u201d it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2022\/07\/28\/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\/\">heavily subsidizes<\/a> electric vehicles, which emit more pollution over their lifespans than normal cars. Yet, Manchin\u2019s bill codifies an alternate reality by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/inflation_reduction_act_of_2022.pdf#page=377\">rewriting federal law<\/a> to define electric vehicles as \u201cclean.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The belief that electric vehicles are \u201cclean\u201d is based on a childish notion that ignores all pollution which doesn\u2019t come out of a tailpipe. Assessing the environmental impacts of energy technologies requires measuring all forms of pollution they emit over their entire lifespan, not a narrow slice of it. To do this, researchers perform \u201clife cycle assessments\u201d or LCAs. Per the <a href=\"https:\/\/nepis.epa.gov\/Exe\/ZyPDF.cgi\/P1000L86.PDF?Dockey=P1000L86.PDF\">EPA<\/a>, LCAs allow for:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>the estimation of the cumulative environmental impacts resulting from all stages in the product life cycle, often including impacts not considered in more traditional analyses (e.g., raw material extraction, material transportation, ultimate product disposal, etc.). By including the impacts throughout the product life cycle, LCA provides a comprehensive view of the environmental aspects of the product or process and a more accurate picture of the true environmental trade-offs in product and process selection.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>LCAs are <a href=\"http:\/\/formations.cirad.fr\/analyse-cycle-de-vie\/pdf\/Heijungs_2.pdf\">subject<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/nap.nationalacademies.org\/catalog\/12568\/environmental-decisions-in-the-face-of-uncertainty\">multiple<\/a> levels of <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/j.1530-9290.2012.00478.x\">uncertainty<\/a>, but an assessment published by the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0959652621001037\">Journal of Cleaner Production<\/a><\/em> in 2021 shatters the notion that electric cars are environmentally friendly. The LCA found that manufacturing, charging, operating, and disposing of electric vehicles increases \u201cfine particulate matter formation (26%), human carcinogenic (20%) and non-carcinogenic toxicity (61%), terrestrial ecotoxicity (31%), freshwater ecotoxicity (39%), and marine ecotoxicity (41%) relative to petrol vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even before that LCA, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eea.europa.eu\/publications\/electric-vehicles-from-life-cycle\/at_download\/file\">European Environment Agency<\/a> admitted in 2018 that electric vehicles \u201ccould be responsible for greater negative impacts\u201d on \u201chuman toxicity\u201d than standard cars. On the other hand, the report notes that electric vehicles \u201cpotentially offer local air quality benefits\u201d because the pollution from their manufacturing, charging, and disposal is usually emitted away from densely populated areas.<\/p>\n<p>However, electric vehicles emit local pollution due to road, tire, and brake wear, and these forms of pollution are worse in electric vehicles than standard cars. Per a 2016 paper in the journal <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S135223101630187X\">Atmospheric Environment<\/a><\/em>, \u201cElectric vehicles are 24% heavier than their conventional counterparts,\u201d and this creates more \u201cnon-exhaust emissions\u201d like \u201ctire wear, brake wear, road surface wear and resuspension of road dust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>LCAs have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0959652621001037\">found<\/a> that electric cars emit less carbon dioxide (CO2) than standard cars, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/globalwarming#media-pollution\">carbon dioxide<\/a> is an organic, colorless, non-carcinogenic gas that has no toxic effects on humans until concentrations exceed at least 6 times the level in Earth\u2019s atmosphere. Thus, CO2 has no bearing on which product is \u201cdirtier,\u201d to use Manchin\u2019s word.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond giving consumers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2022\/07\/28\/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\/\">$7,500<\/a> towards the purchase of each new domestically manufactured electric vehicle, the bill also provides $4,000 for used ones. This is on top of state handouts for electric vehicles, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/service-details\/state-and-federal-electric-vehicle-funding-programs\">$2,500<\/a> in MA and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.gov\/governor\/news\/news\/562022\/20220725a.shtml\">$4,000<\/a> in NJ. All of this money goes towards creating more pollution.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jobs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Contrary to Manchin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">claim<\/a> that the bill will bring \u201cgood paying energy and manufacturing jobs back to America,\u201d it will enrich green energy investors while neglecting workers and harming the manufacturing sector.<\/p>\n<p>As explained in scholarly publications like the encyclopedia <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc-clio.com\/products\/A3779C\/\">Environmental and Natural Resource Economics<\/a><\/em>, the financial benefits of \u201cgreen energy\u201d subsidies \u201clargely accrue to the owners of capital\u201d because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cenergy development,\u201d whether \u201cgreen or fossil fuels,\u201d is \u201ccapital-intensive,\u201d which means it uses much more materials and equipment than human labor.<\/li>\n<li>growth in \u201cthe green jobs sector does not necessarily imply net job creation\u201d since it reduces the jobs \u201cthat would have been produced from fossil fuels,\u201d and thus, \u201cnet job creation may be zero (or negative).\u201d<\/li>\n<li>consumers suffer because green energy mandates subsidize \u201cinefficient technologies that are more costly,\u201d and this reduces people\u2019s standards of living.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The bill also increases taxes on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/inflation_reduction_act_of_2022.pdf#page=2\">certain large corporations<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finance.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/CAMT%20JCT%20Data.pdf\">half of these taxes<\/a> would come from the manufacturing sector. Per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/58357-Graham.pdf#page=6\">CBO<\/a>, this \u201cwould reduce the incentive for those large corporations to invest,\u201d which means less <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/income_wealth_poverty#productivity\">productivity<\/a> and lower standards of living.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Taxes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Contrary to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sen_JoeManchin\/status\/1556076467225772032\">Manchin\u2019s<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sen_JoeManchin\/status\/1556076467225772032\">claims<\/a> that his bill does not raise taxes on \u201cfamilies and small businesses making less than $400,000 a year,\u201d it does exactly that by enacting hidden taxes that fall on Americans of all income groups.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/taxes#hidden\">Hidden taxes<\/a> are those that are not apparent because they generally don\u2019t appear on purchase receipts, paychecks, or tax returns. Some examples include excise taxes, employer payroll taxes, and corporate income taxes. Although businesses write the checks for such taxes, they are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/taxes#distribution\">ultimately borne<\/a> by individuals via lower wages, higher prices, and lower profits.<\/p>\n<p>In the words of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/111th-congress-2009-2010\/reports\/03-04-ltr_to_grassley_on_fcrf.pdf\">Congressional Budget Office<\/a>, \u201cthe ultimate cost of a tax or fee is not necessarily borne by the entity that writes the check to the government.\u201d Likewise, the <a href=\"https:\/\/sgp.fas.org\/crs\/misc\/RL32808.pdf\">Congressional Research Service<\/a> explains that individuals \u201cbear the burden of the taxes paid by businesses\u201d because \u201ccorporations are not persons who can bear the burden of taxes, but merely legal entities through which individuals earn income.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>U.S. households paid an average of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/taxes#hidden\">$7,000<\/a> in hidden federal taxes in 2018, and Manchin\u2019s bill adds to this tab via taxes on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/inflation_reduction_act_of_2022.pdf#page=2\">corporations<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/inflation_reduction_act_of_2022.pdf#page=447\">crude oil<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/hr5376_IR_Act_8-3-22.pdf#page=30\">methane<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/inflation_reduction_act_of_2022.pdf#page=641\">offshore drilling<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/hr5376_IR_Act_8-3-22.pdf\">more<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As such, Congress\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finance.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/jct_distributional_effects_inflation_reduction_act.pdf\">Joint Committee on Taxation<\/a> estimates that the bill will slightly increase average taxes on every income group for the next 10 years. This includes families who make less than $10,000 per year to those who make more than $1,000,000.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Energy Costs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Contrary to Manchin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">claim<\/a> that the bill will lower energy costs, <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/7\/29\/inflation-reduction-act-preliminary-estimates\">it enacts<\/a> a form of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalaffairs.com\/publications\/detail\/spending-in-disguise\">stealth spending<\/a> (called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/taxes#preferences\">tax preferences<\/a>) to subsidize products that are far more costly than other options. Regardless of whether these additional costs are paid by consumers or taxpayers, they ultimately make America poorer and less competitive because they deliver less energy for every dollar spent.<\/p>\n<p>Due to government interventions and the complexities of the electricity market, measuring the costs of energy technologies can be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/energy.asp#costs_electricity_levelized\">extremely difficult and uncertain<\/a>. However, there are simple ways to estimate their relative competitiveness. One of them is to compare their market shares and how much government subsidizes and restricts them.<\/p>\n<p>For example, solar provided <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/energy#supsec\">1.5%<\/a> of all U.S. energy in 2021, while natural gas supplied <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/energy#supsec\">32%<\/a>. This 20-times differential is in spite of 40+ years of aggressive government actions to bolster solar while constraining the use of fossil fuels through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/energy#taxes\">taxes<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/energy#regulations\">regulations<\/a>. Some examples of how government has boosted solar include the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/document\/federal_energy_subsidies_eia_1999.pdf#page=29\">1978<\/a>, the federal government has continuously provided tax credits for solar energy systems ranging from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/analysis\/requests\/subsidy\/pdf\/subsidy.pdf#page=31\">10% to 30%<\/a> of their production or capital costs.<\/li>\n<li>In 1998, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/electricity\/archive\/0623.pdf\">reported<\/a>, \u201cFor many years, state and federal governments, as well as environmentalists and utilities, have strongly supported the use of solar energy\u2014especially in the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s research and development budget.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>In 2011, the <em>New York Times<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/11\/12\/business\/energy-environment\/a-cornucopia-of-help-for-renewable-energy.html\">reported<\/a> that \u201ctaxpayers and ratepayers are providing subsidies worth almost as much as the entire $1.6 billion cost\u201d for \u201ca compound of nearly a million solar panels,\u201d and \u201csimilar subsidy packages have been given to 15 other solar- and wind-power electric plants since 2009.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>From 2007 to 2016, the federal government subsidized solar at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/energy#subsidies\">200 times<\/a> the rate of natural gas.<\/li>\n<li>In 2016, EIA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/analysis\/requests\/subsidy\/pdf\/subsidy.pdf\">reported<\/a>, \u201cMore than 70% of [energy-related] physical science grants went to solar energy research with virtually all of the remainder for other renewable energy (e.g., fuel cells).\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Many states <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S1040619019301861\">have required<\/a> utilities to purchase electricity from customers with solar panels for much more than its actual value, thus transferring these costs to the electric bills of customers who don\u2019t have solar panels.<\/li>\n<li>30 states and the District of Columbia <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/research\/energy\/renewable-portfolio-standards.aspx\">have required<\/a> utilities to generate or obtain specified amounts of their electricity from renewables like solar, essentially forcing its use.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Collectively, these facts prove beyond all doubt that solar energy is not competitive.<\/p>\n<p>Another simple way to estimate the relative cost of energy technologies is to look at the prices of energy in places with different energy mixes. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrel.gov\/docs\/fy22osti\/82854.pdf\">California<\/a>, for example, gets more of its electricity <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrel.gov\/docs\/fy22osti\/82854.pdf\">from solar<\/a> than any other state and also has the highest electricity prices in the continental U.S., or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/electricity\/data\/browser\/#\/topic\/7?agg=1,0&#038;geo=g0fvvvvvvvvvo&#038;endsec=g&#038;linechart=ELEC.PRICE.US-ALL.A~ELEC.PRICE.CT-ALL.A~ELEC.PRICE.ME-ALL.A~ELEC.PRICE.MA-ALL.A~ELEC.PRICE.NH-ALL.A~ELEC.PRICE.RI-ALL.A~ELEC.PRICE.VT-ALL.A~ELEC.PRICE.NJ-ALL.A~ELEC.PRICE.NY-ALL.A~ELEC.PRICE.PA-ALL.A~A&#038;columnchart=ELEC.PRICE.US-ALL.A&#038;map=ELEC.PRICE.US-ALL.A&#038;freq=A&#038;ctype=linechart&#038;ltype=pin&#038;rtype=s&#038;maptype=0&#038;rse=0&#038;pin=\">77%<\/a> more than the national average. Moreover, this doesn\u2019t account for all of the government spending on solar that is borne by taxpayers instead of consumers.<\/p>\n<p>Another prime example is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/energy#public_regulations_wind\">Germany<\/a>, where wind and solar provide 33% of the country\u2019s electricity, as compared to 12% in the United States. As a consequence of this and <a href=\"https:\/\/rumble.com\/vy8nyr-energy-policies-that-empower-tyranny.html\">other factors<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu\/nui\/show.do?dataset=nrg_pc_204&#038;lang=en\">average price<\/a> of household electricity in Germany is about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/energy#public_regulations_wind\">three times<\/a> that of the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Manchin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">claims<\/a> his bill won\u2019t move the U.S. \u201ccloser to the unstable and vulnerable European model of energy we are witnessing today,\u201d but it takes the U.S. down that road by using taxpayers\u2019 money to subsidize the same technologies that Europe has supported.<\/p>\n<p>Worse still, Manchin\u2019s bill hides those costs from consumers and voters by <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/7\/29\/inflation-reduction-act-preliminary-estimates\">using<\/a> tax preferences that don\u2019t show up in electricity bills or appear as line items in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalaffairs.com\/publications\/detail\/spending-in-disguise\">federal budgets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Welfare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Contrary to Manchin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">claim<\/a> that the bill will \u201clower the cost of health insurance,\u201d it will make taxpayers pick up the tab for enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Moreover, all of this welfare will go to people with incomes <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/7\/29\/inflation-reduction-act-preliminary-estimates\">greater than 400%<\/a> of the poverty line.<\/p>\n<p>Per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/58357-Graham.pdf#page=5\">CBO<\/a>, the bill \u201cwould reduce the incentives of some people to work, mainly because of the enhanced health insurance subsidies, pushing down output and pushing up inflation.\u201d Likewise, the <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/7\/29\/inflation-reduction-act-preliminary-estimates\">Penn Wharton Budget Model<\/a> found that this handout \u201creduces the incentive to work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/58357-Graham.pdf#page=5\">CBO<\/a> estimates that some of this work-deterring, inflation-producing welfare will go to people with high incomes, like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>64-year olds with incomes up to $163,700 per year.<\/li>\n<li>young families with incomes up to $192,700 per year.<\/li>\n<li>older families with incomes up to $304,100 per year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Prescription Drugs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Contrary to Manchin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">claim<\/a> that his bill will \u201clower the cost\u201d of prescription drugs, the bill will simply shift more of those costs onto working Americans.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/drjohnson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/buying_in_one_market_sellling_in_another.pdf\">main reason<\/a> why Americans pay more for prescription drugs than almost anywhere else in the world is because the governments of other nations use price controls and bargaining power to get rock bottom prices, while pharmaceutical companies are able to fund R&#038;D and make profits by selling to Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Manchin\u2019s bill <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/7\/29\/inflation-reduction-act-preliminary-estimates\">empowers Medicare<\/a>, which pays medical costs for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/healthcare#government-medicare\">almost everyone<\/a> aged 65 and older, to employ the tactics of foreign governments. This leaves U.S. workers to shoulder more of the tab for drug development and the profits that drive it. Medicare already does this with hospitals by paying them an average of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/healthcare#spending-government\">13%<\/a> below their costs of caring for Medicare patients. Hospitals then make up the difference by charging the private sector <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/healthcare#spending_overview\">exorbitant rates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This is part of a trend in which politicians <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/socialspending#programs_shifting\">shift the costs<\/a> of their welfare policies to the private sector. These are stealth taxes on Americans that increase the costs of their products and services.<\/p>\n<p><strong>IRS Audits<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Contrary to Manchin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/icymi-irs-will-not-target-families-making-less-than-400k-or-small-businesses\">claim<\/a> that the extra IRS funding in his bill won\u2019t be used to target people making less than $400,000 per year \u201cbecause they are already paying their taxes,\u201d the bill will let the vast bulk of tax dodgers continue to cheat the honest taxpayers of America. It also complicates tax code, which is a major cause of tax misreporting and a waste of people\u2019s time and money.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, the IRS spent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-pdf\/p55b.pdf#page=83\">$13.7 billion<\/a> and employed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-pdf\/p55b.pdf#page=83\">78,661<\/a> full-time equivalent workers. Manchin\u2019s bill would supercharge this agency by adding about <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/7\/29\/inflation-reduction-act-preliminary-estimates\">$80 billion<\/a> to it over the next 10 years. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/publication\/57444\">CBO<\/a> estimates this would increase the 2031 IRS budget by more than 90% and would \u201cmore than double the IRS\u2019s staffing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/system\/files\/136\/JLY-letter-to-Commissioner-Rettig-Signed.pdf\">Treasury Secretary<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-utl\/commissioners-letter-to-the-senate.pdf\">IRS Commissioner<\/a> have promised that they won\u2019t use these added resources to audit people making less than $400,000 per year, but that is where a massive amount of tax fraud occurs. This is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/taxes#compliance-refundable\">especially true<\/a> of people who work under the table, which is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/immigration#crime_fraud\">very common<\/a> for illegal immigrants. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-pdf\/p1415.pdf\">2019 IRS study<\/a> found that the tax non-compliance rate for people whose incomes were subject to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>withholding is 1%.<\/li>\n<li>\u201csubstantial information reporting but not withholding\u201d is 5%.<\/li>\n<li>\u201csubject to little or no information reporting\u201d is 55%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Beyond outright fraud, one of the main reasons why people and corporations misreport their taxes is because the tax code is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/taxes#compliance\">extremely complicated<\/a>, a problem that Manchin\u2019s bill makes worse. As explained by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/112th-congress-2011-2012\/reports\/03-10-reducingthedeficit.pdf\">CBO<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The complexity of the tax system partly results from tax expenditures that are designed to affect behavior by taxing some endeavors more or less than others. \u2026 Complexity also arises from efforts to achieve certain equity goals. Provisions that phase out various tax credits and deductions at higher income levels are designed to target benefits toward people with the greatest need, but they make taxes more difficult to calculate.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Manchin\u2019s bill does this in droves by implementing the provisions above and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2022-08\/hr5376_IR_Act_8-3-22.pdf#page=30\">many more<\/a> detailed by CBO. As explained by the IRS\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/tas\/execsummary_2010arc.pdf\">Taxpayer Advocate<\/a>, \u201ctax law complexity leads to perverse results\u201d because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201ctaxpayers who honestly seek to comply with the law often make inadvertent errors, causing them to either overpay their tax or become subject to IRS enforcement action for mistaken underpayments.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201csophisticated taxpayers often find loopholes that enable them to reduce or eliminate their tax liabilities.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justfacts.com\/taxes#compliance\">U.S. taxpayers<\/a> (including businesses) spend roughly six billion hours per year complying with the requirements of federal tax law. This amounts to 48 hours per household, or the labor equivalent of more than three million full-time workers. Per the IRS\u2019s Taxpayer Advocate:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>these figures do not include \u201cmillions of additional hours that taxpayers must spend when they are required to respond to IRS notices or audits.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>the cost of complying with federal income tax laws was $195 billion in 2015, or 10% of income tax receipts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Manchin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">claims<\/a> the tax code is \u201cunfair\u201d because \u201csome of America\u2019s largest companies pay nothing in taxes\u201d and that his bill will fix this by forcing them to pay a \u201cminimum tax of 15%.\u201d However, progressive Ph.D. scholar <a href=\"https:\/\/itif.org\/publications\/2021\/12\/20\/whats-wrong-senates-proposed-15-percent-minimum-corporate-tax\/\">Robert D. Atkinson<\/a> explains that the reason why large companies pay \u201cless than 15 percent in profit taxes is because Congress put in place tax provisions to encourage companies to invest in ways more aligned with the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In brief, Manchin\u2019s bill stokes the tax problems he bemoans and punishes successful Americans by siccing more IRS agents on them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The very name of the \u201cInflation Reduction Act\u201d and nearly everything Joe Manchin has said about it is a farce that betrays his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/manchin-supports-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022\">promise<\/a> to support \u201cthe everyday hardworking Americans we have been elected to serve.\u201d Contrary to Manchin\u2019s claims that his bill will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>reduce inflation, there is no credible evidence it would do so.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cdisplace dirtier products,\u201d it heavily subsidizes electric vehicles, which emit more pollution over their lifespans than normal cars.<\/li>\n<li>will bring \u201cgood paying energy and manufacturing jobs back to America,\u201d it will enrich green energy investors while neglecting workers and harming the manufacturing sector.<\/li>\n<li>lower energy costs, it enacts a form of stealth spending to subsidize energy products that are far more costly than other options.<\/li>\n<li>not raise taxes on \u201cfamilies and small businesses making less than $400,000 a year,\u201d it does exactly that by enacting hidden taxes that fall on Americans of all income groups.<\/li>\n<li>\u201clower the cost of health insurance,\u201d it will make taxpayers pick up the tab by forcing them to pay Obamacare subsidies for people with incomes above 400% of the poverty line.<\/li>\n<li>\u201clower the cost\u201d of prescription drugs, it will simply shift more of those costs onto working Americans.<\/li>\n<li>ensure people \u201cmaking less than $400,000 and small businesses will not be targeted\u201d by the IRS \u201cbecause they are already paying their taxes,\u201d the bill will let the vast bulk of tax dodgers continue cheating the honest taxpayers of America.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By James D. AgrestiAugust 12, 2022 U.S. Senator Joe Manchin confers with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D\u2013NY), AP Photo\/Patrick Semansky Overview In a major reversal, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1604603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1604363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1604363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1604603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1604363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1604363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1604363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}