The Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law one year ago. Mr. President, don’t take a bow.

This climate-change spending bill does nothing that its name implies. Prices of consumer goods and services are high and rising.

Instead, it is a massive green subsidy giveaway to corporate friends at the expense of our limited tax dollars. Meanwhile, Biden’s agenda has opened the door to the government coming for our gas-powered cars, electric lightbulbs, gas stoves, and more.  

Here are five facts about the deceptively-named Inflation Reduction Act.

  1. The IRA did not reduce inflation. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted before the bill’s passage that the IRA’s impact on inflation would be negligible. The credit for falling inflation is due to the Federal Reserve’s 11 consecutive interest rate hikes and global falling oil and gas prices, not the IRA.
  2. The IRA was never meant to reduce inflation. President Biden admitted “I wish I hadn’t called it that. It has less to do with reducing inflation than it does providing for alternatives that generate economic growth.” Yet, that’s what he told Americans and sold West Virginia Senator, Joe Manchin, whose pivotal vote allowed the bill to pass. 
  3. The IRA won’t cut the deficit. President Biden boasted that the IRA would cut the deficit by $300 billion. However, the amount of free money given out in the form of federal subsidies has blown past expectations. Goldman Sachs estimates that federal subsidies will reach $1.2 trillion over ten years. Brookings Institution analysts estimate the cost could reach $1 trillion. Either way, there go any “savings” that Biden could claim.
  4. The IRA’s free money is still not that popular. Despite the tax subsidies for electric vehicles and other items, Americans simply aren’t lining up to buy EVs.
  5. The IRA will cost jobs. The fossil-fuel industry supports nearly a million jobs nationwide and they are on the chopping block from the IRA. Brian Anderson, executive director of the administration’s interagency working group on energy communities noted, “We’re standing right at the cusp of potentially still leaving them behind again.”

Inflation and the economy are top concerns for Americans. This bill does nothing to address their top concerns.

It’s not surprising that more than half of Americans think the economy is bad and getting worse. Two-thirds of Americans disapprove of President Biden’s handling of the economy and even more disapprove of his handling of inflation. Is there any reason they should?