The Democrat Party achieved its greatest success since gaining total control of Washington DC 19 months ago. It will be interesting to see how their late political blossom smells in November.
The Agenda
A healthcare, climate change, and tax plan received unanimous support from every House Democrat on Friday night, fulfilling a key campaign promise of Biden’s presidency and bringing to an end more than one year of negotiations on Capitol Hill.
The law permits Medicare to bargain with drug firms on the priciest prescription pharmaceuticals, extends national healthcare subsidies until the 2024 election, and constitutes the greatest investment in combating climate change in American history.
Biden is anticipated to sign the bill right away.
Senate Democrats endangered lives to spend your money.https://t.co/TnLzsCcmHO
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) August 7, 2022
Democratic Rep. Chuy Garca summed up the day shortly after voting, saying, “Just when you believed nothing huge would occur, it turned out to be something big could happen. It’s a beautiful day.”
The plan, which is mostly funded by tax increases on major corporations and will eventually lower the U.S. deficit, was fiercely opposed by conservatives.
While recognizing the bill isn’t exactly what Democrats expected, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) remarked: “I’ve been claiming for a long time nowadays that Joe Biden is to this nation what Harry Truman was back in the 1940s.”
“I’ve always believed a half loaf is preferable to none at all. If we can hold a successful campaign in November and secure the required number of votes, you return back and get the other 50%.”
In his Friday convention speech, House Liberal Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries was more direct, saying, “It’s a big effing problem.”
Of course, it’s questionable if one package will be sufficient to reverse the record winds and inflation anxiety. Based on the bulk of polls, this put the House majority out of range for Democrats this fall and jeopardized their control of the Senate.
Democrats Have Lost It
In addition, the party must now win over voters who won’t experience many of the advantages of the bill for years, as well as its own progressive base, which is acutely aware of how many priorities were neglected.
Even still, three months out from Election Day, many party legislators are more optimistic than they have been in recent months about their prospects to overcome or temper the GOP’s lead
Our economy is broken when 8.5% inflation is celebrated as “progress.” Grocery prices are up 13% and electricity is up 15%. More spending, more IRS and higher taxes wont make things better. Ending Dem control of Congress this November will.
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) August 10, 2022
Democrats had to navigate months of internal conflict between liberals and moderates over the parameters of the plan once known as “Build Back Better.” However, that old bill has now been renamed as the “Inflation Reduction Act” to get to this current point.
Without an aggressive campaign to promote it, the landscape ahead could be equally difficult, now that the Democrat Party’s legislation is almost ready to become the law.
This article appeared in The Patriot Brief and has been published here with permission.
