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  1. #2826
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    You know politics are bad in the States when it feels like a bipartisan bill, but only Democrats voted for it.

  2. #2827
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    President Biden is closing in on a legacy-defining win in Congress with the passage of a climate and health care bill in the Senate, a process officials say was not just months, but years in the making.

    While hopes of passing Biden’s agenda appeared dead just a few weeks ago, the president and White House officials quietly worked behind the scenes to help revive talks and ultimately get negotiations in the Senate over the finish line, an administration official said.

    Over the weekend, while the Senate was working through a very long series of votes to approve the package, Biden called roughly a dozen senators and called the cloak room, an administration source told The Hill. The White House legislative team also delivered White House cookies to members on Sunday.

    That followed several months of engagement between senior White House aides and Capitol Hill to get the reconciliation deal passed.

    Senate Democrats on Sunday voted to pass a $740 billion bill that would raise taxes on corporations, tackle climate change, lower prescription drug costs and reduce the federal deficit. Vice President Harris broke the 50-50 tie to send the bill to the House for a vote, where it only needs a simple majority to pass and be sent to Biden’s desk.

    ____________

    More detail on the bill........




    The Senate passed Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act on a party-line vote Sunday afternoon, delivering the long-awaited centerpiece to President Biden’s agenda.

    Democrats rallied behind the $430 billion climate, health care and tax overhaul after Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) reached a last-minute deal with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who had held up previous proposals.

    The House is expected to approve the legislation on Friday and send it to Biden’s desk.

    Here’s a summary of what’s in the Inflation Reduction Act:

    ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE

    Businesses would get incentives for deployment of lower-carbon and carbon-free energy sources.

    Tax credits are extended for energy production and investment in technologies including wind, solar and geothermal energies. The investment tax credit also now applies to battery storage and biogas.

    Tax credits would be created or extended for additional technologies and energy sources including nuclear energy, hydrogen energy coming from clean sources, biofuels and technology that captures carbon from fossil fuel power plants.

    Many of the incentives also contain bonuses for companies based on how much they pay their workers and offer credits for manufacturing their steel, iron and other components in the U.S.

    Consumers and businesses get incentives to make cleaner energy choices.

    Tax credits are extended for residential clean energy expenses including rooftop solar, heat pumps and small wind energy systems. Consumers can get credits for 30 percent of expenditures through 2032, and the credit phases down after that.

    Tax credits of up to $7,500 are offered to consumers who buy electric vehicles — but this credit comes with stipulations that may make it difficult for vehicles to actually qualify.

    A tax credit would be expanded for energy efficiency in commercial buildings.

    Some fossil fuel production on public lands would be bolstered.

    The future of solar and wind on public lands and wind in public waters would be tied to requirements to hold lease sales that open up new oil and gas production.

    The bill reinstates the results of a recent offshore oil and gas lease sale that was struck down on environmental grounds. The Interior Department would be required to hold at least three more offshore oil and gas lease sales by next October.

    New programs boost investment in climate.

    A new program aims to reduce emissions of the planet-warming gas methane from oil and gas by both providing grants and loans to help companies reign in their emissions and levying fees on producers with excess methane emissions.

    $27 billion would go to a green bank that would provide more incentives for clean energy technology.

    Costs increase for fossil fuel production on public lands.

    Minimum royalties increase for companies to pay the government for oil and gas they extract on public lands and waters. A royalty is added to the extraction of gas that is later burned off or released as waste instead of sold as fuel.

    Communities that face high pollution burdens get relief.

    $3 billion would go to environmental justice block grants — community-led programs addressing harms from climate change and pollutants, including $20 million for technical assistance at the community level, through fiscal 2026.

    More than $3 billion is allocated to funds for air pollution monitoring in low-income communities. Nearly half of the funds — $117 million — would specifically go to communities in close proximity to industrial pollutants.

    An excise tax on imported petroleum and crude oil products to fund the cleanup of industrial disaster sites increases from 9.7 cents to 16.4 cents per barrel. The reinstatement of the tax is projected to raise $11 billion.

    The bill permanently extends and increases the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, a tax on coal production to finance claims from workers with the condition. Black lung, caused by long-term exposure to and inhalation of coal dust, is believed to affect at least 10 percent of coal miners with at least 25 years’ experience, according to a 2018 study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

    HEALTH CARE

    Medicare can negotiate lower prices.

    The bill would allow Medicare to negotiate prices for some drugs for the first time, a policy Democrats have been trying to enact for years over the fierce objections of the pharmaceutical industry. The provisions save more than $200 billion over 10 years.

    It would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for 10 high-cost drugs beginning in 2026, ramping up to 20 drugs by 2029. There is a steep penalty if a drug company doesn’t come to the table: a tax of up to 95 percent of the sales of the drug. There is also a ceiling that the negotiated price cannot rise above.

    In a deal with moderates including Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), only older drugs are subject to negotiation after a period of nine years for most drugs and 13 years for more complex “biologic” drugs. That means the negotiations are more limited than many Democrats wanted.

    Drug costs can be capped but largely only for Medicare.

    The bill includes other measures to cap drug costs. The provisions still largely apply only to seniors on Medicare, not the millions of people who get health insurance through their jobs, in part because complex Senate rules limited how expansive the provisions would be.

    If drug companies raise prices in Medicare faster than the rate of inflation, they must pay rebates back to the government for the difference.

    Democrats tried to apply this provision to the private market, but the parliamentarian ruled it violated the Senate rules used to bypass a GOP filibuster.

    In one of the most tangible provisions for patients, the bill caps out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 a year for seniors on Medicare, starting in 2025.

    The bill also caps patients’ insulin costs at $35 a month, but only for seniors on Medicare. Republicans voted against overruling the Senate parliamentarian to extend that protection to patients with private insurance.

    People enrolled in ACA plans get an extension on premium assistance.

    The measure also builds on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by extending enhanced financial assistance to help people enrolled in ACA plans afford premiums for three years. The extra help otherwise would have expired at the end of this year, setting up a cliff. The provision expands eligibility to allow more middle-class people to receive premium help and increases the amount of help overall.

    TAXES

    Large corporations will pay for climate and health measures within the bill.

    The bill introduces new taxes on corporations to pay for its climate and health care measures.

    The centerpiece of its tax plan is a 15 percent minimum tax on the income that big corporations report to their shareholders, a tax known as the minimum book tax. Initial proposals put the amount of revenue raised by the book tax at $313 billion — more than 40 percent of the $740 billion raised by the legislation as a whole.

    The tax applies to companies reporting $1 billion in annual earnings. It would impact only around 150 large firms, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

    Sinema demanded some last-minute exclusions to the minimum tax that were favorable to the U.S. manufacturing sector and private equity firms.

    The tax will exempt companies taking advantage of accelerated depreciation, a popular deduction that helps pay for capital investments such as new equipment.

    Small businesses that are subsidiaries of highly profitable private equity firms will also be exempted from the minimum tax.

    The IRS gets a funding boost.

    Another key measure allocates $80 billion to boost enforcement at the IRS. Democrats hope that, with more employees and better technology, the IRS can more closely examine wealthy individuals and ensure they aren’t dodging taxes. That extra revenue is expected to lower the deficit by $203 billion over the next decade.

    Stock buybacks will get an additional tax.

    The bill enacts a 1 percent excise tax on stock buybacks to replace the revenues lost by appeasing Sinema. Democrats expect the provision to raise $74 million over a decade.

    Share repurchases by S&P 500 companies have soared in recent years and are on track to surpass $1 trillion this year. Companies buy back their stock to reward shareholders and boost their stock price by artificially limiting supply.

    The tax will impact the nation’s largest companies that rely on multibillion-dollar buybacks to raise their stock price, including Apple, Nike and Exxon Mobil.

    Democrats have criticized the practice, arguing that companies should invest in workers and innovation instead of repurchasing stock.

    To further recoup revenue lost to the private equity sector, the bill also extends a set of limitations on losses that businesses can deduct from their taxes. The limits prevent wealthy individuals from significantly bringing down or even wiping out their income tax liability. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said that extending the caps would raise $52 billion.

    ___________

    Extra.

    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

  3. #2828
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Remember when baldy orange cunto said he was going to bring drug prices down and Republicans all said he would?

  4. #2829
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    ^Kind of

    But hopefully what more Americans will remember is where the Republicans stood on drug prices/health care……

    Joni Ernst’s (R) insulin speech……..


    • Dan Diamond - In 2020, @SenJoniErnst warned about the “heartbreaking” consequences of high insulin costs and called on lawmakers to “come together” to lower them.


    Ernst voted against the insulin copay cap today.: https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1556313038554267649


    • Senate Republicans blocked Democrats on Sunday from including a cap on insulin in their sweeping Inflation Reduction Act legislation.


    The proposed provision of the bill would have capped the price of insulin for those on Medicare and with private coverage at $35.

    The cap was defeated 57-43, despite many GOP Senators campaigning on lower drug prices, including Iowa’s Joni Ernst (R-IA) who once gave an impassioned speech on the topic.

    “The skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs has become a matter of life and death for so many,” said Ernst on the Senate floor in 2020.

    ___________

    Jordan - The price of insulin in the United States is so high it has led to nearly 4 in 5 diabetics who rely on it taking on debt. https://twitter.com/JordanUhl/status...21357641748482

    Last edited by S Landreth; 09-08-2022 at 09:36 AM.

  5. #2830
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    Quote Originally Posted by S Landreth View Post
    Senate Republicans blocked Democrats on Sunday from including a cap on insulin in their sweeping Inflation Reduction Act legislation.
    Yet it is their voting constituents (obese mid-western and southern conservatives) that have diabetes at the highest rates. Amazing that most of the idiots will vote for them anyway.

    President Joe Biden-states-highest-projected-diabetes-rates_2019-06-a

  6. #2831
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    Quote Originally Posted by bsnub View Post
    Yet it is their voting constituents (obese mid-western and southern conservatives) that have diabetes at the highest rates.
    Perhaps that Obamacare should have waited a while.

  7. #2832
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    President Biden on Wednesday signed into law a bill to expand benefits for millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins during service and are suffering illnesses as a result.

    The Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act also expands presumptions of service connections for a variety of conditions related to toxic exposure — meaning veterans don’t have to prove their illness was service-connected.

    “This is the most significant law our nation has ever passed to help millions of veterans who are exposed to toxic substances during the military services,” Biden said in remarks from the East Room.

    “You know, Secretary McDonough can tell you I was going to get this done come hell or high water,” the president continued, referring to Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough.

    Heath Robinson died of a rare form of lung cancer that was developed as a result of exposure to toxins during his deployment in Iraq and Kosovo.

    “We could not have done this without you all,” Danielle Robinson said. “Ours is just one story. So many military families who had to fight this terrible emotional battle. So many veterans are still battling today, too many have succumbed to those burn pits as well.”


    ____________




    President Biden signed a bill into law Wednesday that expands health care benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals from burn pits.

    The bipartisan bill, dubbed the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, is the most significant expansion of veteran health care in 30 years, according to a White House statement.

    “The PACT Act is the least we can do for the countless men and women, many of whom may be in this room for all I know, who suffered toxic exposure while serving their country,” said President Biden during the bill’s signing.

    “Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan not only face dangers in battle. They were breathing toxic smoke from burn pits… I was in and out of Iraq over 20 times and in Fort Barstow and all those places you could actually see some of it in the air,” Biden added.

    “Burn pits the size of football fields incinerating waste of war such as tires, poisonous chemicals, jet fuel…and a lot of the places where our soldiers were sleeping were literally a quarter mile, a half a mile away.”

    The law essentially links 23 types of cancer, respiratory illnesses and other conditions to burn pit exposure and removes the need for some veterans and their survivors to prove service connection if they are diagnosed with any of those conditions.

    The PACT Act also lengthens the window that post 9/11 veterans have to enroll in the VA health care services from five to 10 years after discharge, in addition to creating a one-year open enrollment window for veterans who served in prior conflicts like Vietnam and the Gulf War.

    Under the law, all veterans enrolled in the VA will have access to toxic chemical screenings as well.

    Biden was joined by Danielle Robinson, wife of the late Sergeant Heath Robinson whom the bill is named after, along with their 9-year-old daughter Brielle and Heath Robinson’s mother Susan Zeier.

    Robinson died in 2020 after a yearslong battle against lung cancer which he developed after being exposed to toxic chemicals emitted from a burn pit during his time in Bagdad.

    Robinson spoke to her husband’s battle against the disease and how the bill would help thousands of other veterans who have become sick due to the harmful way the United States military destroys its waste.

    “As a military spouse, the day your loved one returns home safely from deployment, you count your blessings,” said Robinson. “Fear turns to relief when you start to live as a family again. But 10 years post deployment from Iraq, my husband began the biggest battle of his life, a terminal stage four lung cancer diagnosis due to toxic exposure from a burn pit.”

  8. #2833
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    President Biden got another sliver of positive news on Wednesday as inflation dipped to 8.5 percent in July after hitting a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June, highlighted by falling gas prices that finally is giving consumers some relief.

    The Associated Press: U.S. inflation slips from 40-year peak but remains high.

    The news was welcome given that Dow Jones economists had been expecting an uptick of 0.2 percent in inflation from June to July. In addition, the consumer price index was unchanged on a monthly basis, according to the Department of Labor (The Hill).

    July core inflation, which includes all goods sans food and energy, stayed even at 5.9 percent. The totality of the news was also reflected on Wall Street where stocks jumped across the board (CNBC).

    The easing of inflation is continuing a trend for Biden, who is reveling in recent good news, including narrow passage by the Senate on Sunday of a $740 billion measure focused on prescription drug pricing, health care costs and climate change. In total, the news has helped flip the script for Biden and allowed him the rare chance to go on offense with less than three months until the midterm elections.

    Political observers tell The Hill’s Amie Parnes that the president has one card that needs to be played: talking about the robust jobs market in the country.

    “It’s truly the greatest jobs market in the history of our country.” said Tony Fratto, an economic policy consultant who served as White house deputy press secretary under the former President George W. Bush. “They cannot win on inflation because it’s there and people are upset about it so if you can’t win the argument, change the subject.”

    “It’s communications 101…. And this isn’t that hard to do. These are alley-oop dunks,” he added.

    Veterans: Biden kept up that good news on Wednesday as he signed into law a bill expanding benefits for millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins during war and are suffering illnesses. The PACT Act expands presumption of service connections for a number of conditions related to toxic exposure — meaning veterans don’t have to prove their illness was service-connected.

    “This is the most significant law our nation has ever passed to help millions of veterans who are exposed to toxic substances during the military services,” Biden said in emotional remarks from the East Room (The Hill and The Associated Press).

    The new law is also personal for the president, whose elder son Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015, years after deploying to Iraq in 2008. The president, who made the hazards of military base burn pits and resulting illnesses a priority during his State of the Union address in March, linked his son’s cancer to military deployment with the Delaware National Guard (The Associated Press).

    “I was going to get this done, come hell or high water,” Biden said.

    Lost pay: U.S. workers without paid sick leave during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic lost an estimated $28 billion in wages, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Urban Institute with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It found that work absences due to illness, child care or other family matters increased by 50 percent when compared to the previous two years. Most absences were due to a worker’s personal illness. Women were 40 percent more likely to miss work without pay, while they were also among several groups — including self-employed, Black and Hispanic workers — who experienced the biggest increase in missed days.

    Trade: The administration is rethinking whether to scrap some tariffs on Chinese goods or potentially impose others in the wake of Beijing’s Taiwan response, putting aside options for now, Reuters reports. Biden has not reached a decision.
    Last edited by S Landreth; 12-08-2022 at 09:08 AM.

  9. #2834
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    Quote Originally Posted by S Landreth View Post
    Trade: The administration is rethinking whether to scrap some tariffs on Chinese goods or potentially impose others in the wake of Beijing’s Taiwan response, putting aside options for now, Reuters reports. Biden has not reached a decision.
    Scrap some would be the best option. Tariffs and sanctions are lose/lose for both parties.

  10. #2835
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    ^I’m not going to disagree

    ___________




    The House of Representatives on Friday passed Democrats' $740 billion tax, health care and climate bill, which now goes to President Biden's desk for his signature.

    Why it matters: The bill's passage notches a big legislative victory for Democrats with the midterms approaching and delivers on several long-standing liberal policy goals.

    Driving the news: The bill passed 220-207 with all Republicans voting against it.

    Details: By far, the largest spending provision in the bill is nearly $370 billion to combat climate change, including tax credits and funding for renewable energy, electric vehicles and energy-efficient home improvements, as well as incentives for companies to cut methane emissions. It also:


    • Extends enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
    • Allows Medicare to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs and requires drug companies to pay rebates for raising prices faster than inflation.
    • Imposes a 15% minimum tax on corporations making $1 billion or more in annual profits and a 1% fee on stock buybacks.
    • Invests $80 billion in the Internal Revenue Service to crack down on tax evasion by the wealthy and corporations.


    What they're saying: "This landmark [legislation] that we send to the president's desk is a resounding victory for America's families starting at their kitchen table," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a floor speech.

    Swing-seat Democrats told Axios they think the bill will boost them on the campaign trail.


    • "The prescription drug portions, in particular, are really going to be impactful," said Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), adding she got almost 1,000 calls in the last few days urging her to vote yes for those provisions, "which is high for us."
    • But, Slotkin added, the bill won't just sell itself: "We need to explain it because we live in a world where, if you don't message, someone else will do it on your behalf."
    • Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) told Axios: “Results get results. … This is going to be a shot in the arm to Democrats everywhere.”


    The other side: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in a floor speech, called the legislation "the largest tone-deaf bill I've ever seen in this chamber in 232 years."


    • "They are choosing to spend the session by spending half a trillion dollars more of your money, raising taxes on the middle class and giving handouts to their liberal allies."


    The backdrop: The bill was rolled out last month as a compromise between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).




    Yes, but: The bill falls far short of what most Democrats had hoped for when Biden took office last January.


    • Democrats spent months last year pushing for a $3.5 trillion package that included paid family and medical leave, universal pre-K, tuition free community college, and an extension of the child tax credit.
    • That proposal was rejected by Manchin in December.




    ______________

    Investors like the climate deal



    The early verdicts have arrived: Investors are confident the Democrats' climate deal will translate into expanded real-world deployment of low-carbon energy.

    Driving the news: The movement of exchange-traded funds and individual companies in several segments of the energy sector tell a similar story.


    • The Climate Tech Index from the VC firm Energy Impact Partners tallies a basket of companies' performance against the wider market (though it's not an investment vehicle).
    • The index is both wide-ranging and combines new market entrants and more established players.


    Zoom in: The Invesco Solar ETF is up 16% since the deal emerged in late July and passed the Senate over the weekend, while the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF is up 14%.


    • Companies like EVgo (charging), Sunrun (solar), and Orsted (wind), to name just a few, have all seen gains since the surprise revival of the bill that's heavy on expanded and extended tax breaks.


    Yes, but: If the bill passes, a lot needs to happen before it translates into a deployment surge, given workforce challenges, project siting hurdles and more.


    • And the bill is unlikely to end volatility in the clean energy sector, where companies are grappling with input cost fluctuations and other variables.
    • "Republicans are expected to take back control of Congress this fall, so it’s important to remember that policy uncertainty contributes to their volatility and that’s unlikely to change over the next few years," DataTrek Research's Jessica Rabe tells Bloomberg.


    What they're saying: The CEO of wind turbine maker Vestas said this morning that the bill is "very supportive of renewable energy in the United States over the next ten years," should it pass the House, which is expected to take up the bill on Friday, per Reuters.


    • A recent note from Goldman Sachs analysts said the legislation is bullish for utilities "as the wind, solar and storage tax credits would reduce the costs of building new renewables in the U.S."
    • On solar specifically, the bill's announcement was a "welcome surprise for investors who by that point had become less confident on climate-related policy support being passed this year," Goldman's note states.
    Last edited by S Landreth; 13-08-2022 at 05:25 AM.

  11. #2836
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    good news for most all of us......

    President Biden - With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, House Democrats chose to build a future where everybody has a shot, not just the already-powerful. https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1558234907058573312

    The White House - President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act takes the most significant leap forward in tackling the climate crisis and strengthening our energy security. https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/statu...23694408962050

    Jill Biden - What a day — what a week!

    Proud is an understatement. https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1558212484007432192








    Thanks to President Joe Biden’s leadership, and the hard work of Majority Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, the Inflation Reduction Act is off to the President’s desk.

    Because of this, we will lower the cost of prescription drugs for our seniors and reduce health insurance premiums for 13 million Americans. We will make the largest investment in our nation’s history to address the climate crisis, creating good-paying, union jobs in wind, solar, and electric vehicle manufacturing. We will lower energy bills for working families and support environmental justice. And, the legislation is fully paid for by finally ensuring the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share. This is an historic achievement for our country that will directly benefit millions of Americans.

    Unfortunately, not a single Republican in Congress voted for the package. Not a single Republican voted to lower the cost of prescription drugs, reduce health insurance premiums, make investments to address the climate crisis, tackle inflation, or require the wealthiest corporations to pay their fair share.

    In the 18 months since President Biden and I took office, we have created nearly ten million jobs, and helped to rescue small businesses; begun upgrading our roads and bridges and removing lead pipes; and we are making sure high-speed internet is available and accessible for all Americans. There is more work to do. But it is clear our nation is moving in the right direction.

    These achievements reflect the determination of the American people and the vision President Biden and I laid out at the beginning of our Administration to take on the challenges of today and build a strong, prosperous future for America.




    Last edited by S Landreth; 13-08-2022 at 09:14 AM.

  12. #2837
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    The package, which similarly passed the Senate on Sunday along party lines, was approved around 6 p.m. by a vote of 220-207.

    Democrats in the chamber were seen celebrating what they are sure to champion as a legislative achievement -- which aims to make prescription drugs and health insurance cheaper while raising taxes on the wealthy, cutting the deficit, investing in clean energy and curbing climate change -- ahead of a contentious midterm cycle, when they will be up against the president's low approval ratings and other headwinds.

    Biden soon tweeted his reaction to the House passage: "Today, the American people won. Special interests lost.”

    “With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in the House, families will see lower prescription drug prices, lower health care costs, and lower energy costs," he wrote, and said he planned to sign the bill next week.

    Total party unity in both chambers is a major feat for Democratic leadership, which has struggled for months to unite the caucus around one cohesive strategy. The party has been attempting since Biden took office in January 2021 to pass a social spending bill, which eventually became the IRA, a much slimmed-down version of the multitrillion-dollar plan Biden first backed.

    The more than $700 billion package includes the nation’s most extensive investments ever in new climate initiatives; allows Medicare to negotiate some drug prices; and extends Affordable Care Act subsidies while reducing the federal deficit with a 15% corporate minimum tax and with an excise tax on corporate stock buybacks.

    Despite the legislation's name, Republicans have pointed out, it will have only a negligible effect on inflation in the short term, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found.

    But the CBO said it would reduce federal budget deficits by $102 billion over 10 years.

    At a press conference ahead of the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was questioned on whether the bill could actually tame high -- but slightly cooling -- inflation in the next months.

    “Well, you have to get started,” Pelosi said, noting that inflation is caused by many factors, like the COVID-19 supply chain crunch and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

    The House GOP leader, Kevin McCarthy, on Friday called the bill “misguided" and “tone deaf." He spoke on the House floor for about 50 minutes ahead of the vote, mostly blasting the widespread use of proxy-voting for the bill’s passage and the IRA’s boosted IRS tax enforcement measures, which supporters say will actually target the wealthy who shuck their tax bills.

    “Democrats more than any other majority in history are addicted to spending other people’s money,” McCarthy said.

    Over half of the House voted by-proxy, which prolonged the bill’s passage by designating a certain member to cast in-person votes on behalf of absent lawmakers.

    The IRA passed the Senate on Sunday without a single Republican supporter. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie breaking vote after a 16-hour "vote-a-rama" that saw a slew of proposed amendments by both parties -- and saw Senate Democrats forced to make last-minute adjustments to the bill's tax provisions.

    On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the IRA "one of the most comprehensive significant pieces of legislation that has passed the Senate and the Congress in decades."

    “While much of D.C. was focused on the Senate vote earlier this week, the White House was just as focused on the House at the same time,” a White House official told ABC News, noting that the administration had been in contact with House leadership throughout the week.

    Staff was also talking with individual members about the legislation, answering any questions and sending materials every day, the official said.

    ​​From his summer vacation on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, Biden twice video-conferenced with his staff who worked on the IRA, according to the White House.

    “The president called House members throughout the week; we had members at the CHIP signing and PACT Act signing which was another opportunity for POTUS to touch base with members on IRA," the official said. "White House staff also worked hard to refute Republican attacks on the bill and go on offense because of what Republicans were opposing.”



  13. #2838
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    Quote Originally Posted by bsnub View Post
    Yet it is their voting constituents (obese mid-western and southern conservatives) that have diabetes at the highest rates. Amazing that most of the idiots will vote for them anyway
    I loved the line from Forrest Gump
    "stupid is as stupid does"
    and obesity is in my opinion the result of bad life decisions, sure there is some that is a result of medical factors and genetics , but for the most part is IMO and the opinion of many others , the result of bad life decisions.
    And if one is to make bad decisions in one thing, predictors will indicate that one probably would make bad decisions in an other also.
    So it does not surprise me that people in "Red" states vote against their best interest more so than others.
    President Joe Biden-iq-state-jpg
    The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up.

  14. #2839
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    President Biden will sign into law the sweeping climate, health care and tax legislation that has been Democrats’ priority for more than a year during a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday.

    The signing will represent a major milestone for Biden and his domestic economic agenda. The prospects of his climate proposal appeared hopeless a month ago but were dramatically revived in an agreement between Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) at the end of July.

    Biden, fresh off a family vacation in South Carolina, will sign the legislation and deliver a speech in the State Dining Room on Tuesday, according to a White House advisory. With Congress currently on recess, Biden is expected to host a larger celebratory event in September.

    “This historic bill will lower the cost of energy, prescription drugs, and other health care for American families, combat the climate crisis, reduce the deficit, and make the largest corporations pay their fair share of taxes,” the White House advisory said.

    “In the coming weeks, the President will host a Cabinet meeting focused on implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, will travel across the country to highlight how the bill will help the American people, and will host an event to celebrate the enactment of the bill at the White House on September 6th,” it added.

    The legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act, passed the House in a party-line vote Friday, about a week after passing the Senate with only Democratic votes through a process known as budget reconciliation. Vice President Harris cast the tiebreaking vote.

    The legislation contains provisions to lower prescription drug costs, offer clean energy tax credits to Americans and companies, and establish a 15 percent corporate minimum tax and a 1 percent excise tax on stock buybacks.

    Biden administration officials are preparing to traverse the country to promote the bill in the coming weeks, making the case to voters that Democrats can deliver on their promises in the critical three months before the November midterm elections.

    Cabinet members plan to visit 23 states to speak about the bill between now and the end of August, according to a White House memo released Monday morning.

    https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1557728662015082498

    Last edited by S Landreth; 16-08-2022 at 05:22 AM.

  15. #2840
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    If there is anything good in this bill, Republicans will take credit whether they voted for it or not.

  16. #2841
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    ^They’re screaming and that when they take back the House and Senate (need 2/3’s vote in both) while Biden is in office, they’ll correct the bill.

  17. #2842
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Before the signing/celebration today I want to point out that there were some concessions made to pacify Joe Manchin.

    They aren’t that bad considering the overall climate package in the bill.

    The article below breaks it down. It is not that deep.

    Critics Call Dems’ Climate Bill a “Devil’s Bargain” on Climate. Here’s What the Devil Is Getting.

  18. #2843
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Biden signs Inflation Reduction Act affecting health, climate and the economy




    A look at Biden’s past executive orders on climate change

    Here is a list of executive orders on climate change issued so far, according to the Federal Register:


    • Upon inauguration, President Biden signed executive order 13990 in January 2021 to conduct an immediate review of all agency actions taken throughout former President Trump’s administration as they relate to public health and the environment. The order also placed a temporary moratorium on activities related to the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program.
    • Executive order 14007, signed in January 2021, created a council of advisors on science and technology to enable decisions based on evidence. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology would consist of a maximum of 26 members to guide the administration’s decisions.
    • Also in January 2021, the President signed executive order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” which in part aimed at prioritizing the crisis in foreign policy and national security decisions. Biden also called for a government-wide approach for meeting climate related challenges in the United States, and called on agencies to empower workers to advance reforestation and conservation.
    • February of 2021 saw the signing of executive order 14013, “Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs To Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration.” The order directs agencies to report on climate change’s impacts on migration patterns, as well as the security implications of climate migration.
    • Also in February of 2021, President Biden signed executive order 14017 to bolster the country’s supply chains in the face of global disruptions such as climate shock and extreme weather events. Rebuilding the countries’ domestic manufacturing capacity will also result in less distance traveled for goods, cutting down on the use of fossil fuels for shipping and transportation.


    • May of 2021 saw the creation of the Climate Change Support Office via executive order 14027. The temporary office will be part of the Department of State and serve to advance the country’s efforts to meet the global climate crisis. It will also support the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, the first of whom is John Kerry.
    • Executive order 14030 was also signed in May of 2021. Titled “Climate-related financial risk” the order aimed to advance disclosure of climate-related financial risk information, including that of transitional and physical risks. It would also account for the disparate impact of climate change on underserved communities and communities of color.
    • In August of 2021, President Biden signed executive order 14037 “Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks.” As part of this order, by 2030 half of all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in 2030 will be zero-emission. The order also called on the EPA administrator to consider rulemaking under the Clean Air Act to establish new emissions standards for certain vehicles manufactured between 2027 and 2030.
    • November 2021 saw the implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act via executive order 14052. The Act aims to improve access to safe drinking water, advance environmental justice, and invest in underserved communities. These actions will be achieved through numerous initiatives such as building resilient infrastructure and coordinating with state and tribal governments to better target interventions.


    • In December 2021, Biden signed executive order 14057, “Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability.” The move bolsters the country’s efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and aims to achieve 100 percent carbon-pollution free electricity by 2030. The order also involves provisions aimed at training and educating the federal workforce to incorporate sustainability and climate adaptation into their work.
    • As part of executive order 14067, “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets,” signed in March 2022, the president directed appropriate agencies to research how certain technologies impede or advance efforts to combat climate change and investigate the potential use of blockchain technology to monitor or mitigate climate impacts.
    • Signed on Earth Day, 2022, executive order 14072 looks to strengthen the nation’s forests by pursuing sustainable and science-based land management. The government will collaborate with local and Tribal governments, along with the scientific community to do so. It will also work to promote forest resilience on federal lands and promote sustainable local economic development.



    And why policy and voting matters: https://www.vox.com/2018/11/27/18112...climate-change


    Last edited by S Landreth; 17-08-2022 at 03:37 AM.

  19. #2844
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    • Obama: Climate, health care bill ‘a BFD’


    Former President Obama tweeted that the Democrats’ newly signed climate and health care bill “is a BFD,” making a reference to a hot mic moment President Biden had years ago.

    “This is a BFD,” Obama wrote in a tweet on Tuesday, quoting his former vice president’s tweet on the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act.

    Obama made the reference to a moment in 2010 when Biden was caught on a hot mic telling Obama that signing the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as ObamaCare, was a ”big f—— deal.”

    At an event focused on the Affordable Care Act earlier this year, Biden jokingly referenced his hot mic moment to Obama as he left the podium to sign an executive order.

    “Now, I’m gonna sign an executive order, and, Barack, let me remind you: It’s a hot mic,” Biden told Obama.

    In response to Obama’s tweet, Biden simply replied, “Thanks, Obama.”

    Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law on Tuesday. The sweeping $740 billion package will lower health care costs, address climate change, reform the tax code, and provide funding to the IRS to expand enforcement.

    Biden added that the newly signed legislation will help people’s lives improve.

    “With unwavering conviction, commitment, and patience, progress does come,” Biden said at the signing of the bill. “And when it does, like today, people’s lives are made better and the future becomes brighter and a nation can be transformed.”



    https://twitter.com/BarackObama/stat...69129535176710

    Last edited by S Landreth; 17-08-2022 at 10:47 AM.

  20. #2845
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Some highlights




    The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden, is set to lower the cost of prescription drugs — including cancer medications, blood thinners and insulin — for millions of Americans, experts say.

    Here’s what to know:

    Medicare will negotiate prices

    The Inflation Reduction Act allows the federal government to negotiate prices for some of the drugs that Medicare spends the most money on, a long sought-after goal by Democrats and some Republicans.

    Previously, the U.S. government was explicitly prohibited from engaging in price negotiations with drugmakers on behalf of the Medicare population.

    The new law essentially establishes a process whereby the Health and Human Services secretary proposes the government’s offer price for certain drugs, said Tricia Neuman, senior vice president with the Kaiser Family Foundation.

    Starting in 2026, Medicare will begin negotiating the price of 10 drugs, followed by an additional 15 drugs in 2027, and eventually an additional 20 drugs in 2029 and beyond. The negotiation process applies to drugs covered under Medicare Part D that lack a generic or comparable alternative, though drugs under Medicare Part B will eventually be included.

    A $35 monthly cap on insulin

    The cost of insulin will be capped at $35 a month for patients on Medicare under the new law.

    However, the law does not cap the cost of insulin for the millions of people with private health insurance, as Republicans successfully blocked its inclusion in the bill.

    The cap on insulin for people on Medicare takes effect next year.

    The monthly cap is important, experts say, because patients usually need to buy multiple vials of insulin per month to maintain their health, which can sometimes cause costs to skyrocket.

    $2,000 out-of-pocket cap

    The law includes a $2000 out-of-pocket spending cap on prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries. It takes effect in 2025.

    Previously, people on Medicare had to spend about $7,000 out of pocket on their prescriptions before qualifying for "catastrophic coverage," according to Medicare's website. Under catastrophic coverage, patients are only charged either a copayment — which is a set amount, usually $10 or $20 per prescription — or a coinsurance percentage, which is set at 5% of the cost of the drug.

    Under the new law, in 2024, that 5% coinsurance will be reduced to zero, eliminating it.

    The new benefit is not tied to income, said Juliette Cubanski, a Medicare expert with Kaiser Family Foundation, meaning that the out-of-pocket spending limit will apply to everyone on Medicare.

    Other notable benefits

    The law immediately extends subsidies through 2025 for the roughly 13 million people who buy individual coverage through the ACA. The subsidies were set to expire this year.

    Next year, seniors on Medicare will no longer have a copay for adult vaccinations, such as the shingles and pneumonia vaccines.

    Beginning in 2024, drugmakers will have to pay a rebate to Medicare if they raise the price of their medications faster than inflation, dampening drugmakers’ abilities to hike prices.

    _____________

    In other news…….


    • Biden’s Former ‘Climate Candidate’ Rival On Historic Spending Law: ‘It’s Only The First Step’


    In 2019, Jay Inslee bet that Americans fed up with catastrophic disasters and a Republican administration axing virtually every regulation meant to curb planet-heating pollution might be ready to send a “climate candidate” to the White House.

    The Washington governor authored a book-length stack of policy ideas to transform the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels, and pushed a crowded field of rivals to run on increasingly detailed and creative climate platforms. While his campaign failed to take off, Inslee made it to the debate stage that August, where he delivered some memorable jabs at the eventual winner, Joe Biden.

    Almost exactly three years later, Biden on Tuesday signed legislation containing an unprecedented $369 billion in spending meant to vastly expand how much of the United States’ economy is powered with low-carbon energy sources.

    Reached by phone Tuesday morning at his Bainbridge Island home, where the third-term governor recently installed new solar panels, Inslee, 71, was in a triumphal mood.

    “I’m just happy as a clam at high tide here,” he said. “We’ve got a good climate bill. It’s a nice day in Washington state. My grandkids are available to play today, so I’m goofing off today. It’s a good day.”

    Much more in the interview https://www.huffpost.com/entry/insle...b06389482e2725

  21. #2846
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by S Landreth View Post
    $369 billion in spending meant to vastly expand how much of the United States’ economy is powered with low-carbon energy sources.
    I "meant to" buy the wining lottery ticket, unfortunately the lottery machine failed to deliver my "promised, by the sales lady, win".

    "There is many a slip twixt cup and lip"

    Will "Asian" suppliers, be the "energy sources" mentioned in the new bill?

  22. #2847
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Climate impacts of the #IRA

    With the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on Tuesday Aug 16, the most significant climate legislation in US federal history (so far) became law.

    Despite the odd name (and greatly overused TLA), the IRA contains a huge number of elements, totalling roughly $350 billion of investment, in climate solutions over the next ten years. This is an historic effort though it falls short of the broader ‘Green New Deal‘ goals that were proposed in 2019, and doesn’t include all of the elements that were in the proposed 2021 reconcilliation package (the American Jobs Plan in “Build Back Better“) that ultimately floundered.

    As befitting an omnibus reconciliation package (of which there can only be one in each Congressional session), there are many different elements that have various pedigrees, magnitudes and likely impacts. There have been a number of good explainers about what is in the IRA, and what is not, and discussions about those climate impacts:





    Snapshot from NYT interactive graphic. Each green circle is a climate related part of the package, with area proportional to spending or revenue amount.

    As you can see there are tax credits and subsidies for electric vehicles, renewable energy, nuclear energy, transmission, hydrogen, air pollution reduction, energy infrastructure, climate resilience, rural development, residential buildings, etc. etc…. On the revenue side, the largest element is the proposed methane fee, followed by the reinstatement of the Superfund, a renewed tax on coal mining for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, and controversially, $0.5bn in anticipated revenue for oil and gas leases.

    Modeling the impacts of all this is hard. The net effects will depend on how people and enterprise respond to these incentives, what technological improvements occur, how fast we learn to do better etc. and so it’s not sensible to expect too much precision. Nonetheless, the projections from the ReadyProject (linked above), or the Rhodium Group suggest that the impacts on US net GHG emissions will be substantial:



    It’s not enough to meet the US Nationally Determined Contributions for 2030 under the UNFCCC or the Paris Agreement goals, but it definitely accelerates progress compared to the current trajectory.

    The biggest unknowns are the geopolitical implications. Now that the US federal government is finally acting on climate, what impact does that have on the eagerness of China or India to fulfill their pledges or even increase their ambition? How much global technological innovation will be spurred by these investments? Historically, these estimates have tended to be conservative (i.e. the indirect impacts have generally proven to be much larger than anticipated). Thus predicting the eventual impacts on temperatures and other climate variables is fraught with uncertainty – not that that will prevent some folks from making all the minimizing assumptions and ignoring any follow-ons and international impacts…

    However, the key point to remember is that global warming will only stop once we get to global net zero CO2 emissions (with minor caveats related to methane and aerosol levels). So estimated changes in US emissions on the order of 40% is very significant and, for the first time, commensurate with the size of the problem. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, this might not be the beginning of the end for climate policy, but it is likely to be the end of the beginning – at least at the federal US level.

  23. #2848
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    I like that corporations will have to pay tax on profits they told their shareholders they made. Seems pretty obvious right.
    Not on profits they told the tax dept. they made.

    Now that the US federal government is finally acting on climate, what impact does that have on the eagerness of China or India to fulfill their pledges or even increase their ambition?
    erm, none? Why would it?
    What naive world do you live in?

  24. #2849
    Thailand Expat russellsimpson's Avatar
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    Kiss the ring!

  25. #2850
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cujo View Post
    I like that corporations will have to pay tax on profits they told their shareholders they made. Seems pretty obvious right.
    Not on profits they told the tax dept. they made.


    erm, none? Why would it?
    What naive world do you live in?
    China has broken off all climate related cooperation with the US.

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