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Here’s what’s in the Inflation Reduction Act, the sweeping bill impacting health, climate and taxes

ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE

The House on Friday afternoon is expected to approve the Inflation Reduction Act, sending a top Democratic legislative priority to the White House in a significant victory for President Biden.

The measure contains a host of measures that would impact energy, the environment and climate change.

It has many provisions that promote the deployment of clean energy or that are otherwise designed to mitigate climate change, but also contains others that boost fossil fuels — included to secure the support of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). 

Nevertheless, models still estimate major climate benefits coming from the legislation. Three widely cited models respectively estimate that the bill will bring U.S. planet-warming emissions 31 to 44 percent, 37 to 41 percent and 42 percent lower than they were in 2005 by 2030. 

But the bill goes well beyond climate change. It also includes major changes to the tax code and to healthcare.

Here’s a look at what is included in the bill.

New incentives for lower-carbon and carbon-free energy.

• 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 contain bonuses for companies based on how much they pay their workers and whether they manufacture their steel, iron and other components in the U.S.

Consumers get tax credits 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 — including a requirement that some of the minerals used in their batteries come from countries that have free-trade deals with the U.S. Minerals from China, a major supplier, wouldn’t meet that requirement.
• 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.  

Fossil fuel production on public lands gets more expensive.

• 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 harmed by pollution 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.

— Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk

HEALTH CARE

The bill would allow Medicare to negotiate prices for some drugs and shore up health insurance subsidies. Democrats have been trying to enact the drug negotiation measure in particular for years over the fierce objections of the pharmaceutical industry. 

• Medicare could 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.
• The provisions are estimated to save the federal government more than $200 billion over 10 years.

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 financial assistance boost.

• The bill includes a three-year extension of enhanced financial assistance to help people enrolled in Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans afford premiums. 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.

— Peter Sullivan

TAXES

The bill would pay for climate and health measures by introducing new taxes on large corporations and going after wealthy tax cheats.

The centerpiece of the bill’s tax plan is a 15 percent minimum tax on the income that big corporations report to their shareholders. 

• The tax is expected to raise $222 billion over the next decade, the largest chunk of the $740 billion raised by the legislation. It applies to companies reporting $1 billion in annual earnings and would impact only around 150 large firms, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
• At Sinema’s request, the tax would exempt companies taking advantage of accelerated depreciation, a popular deduction that helps pay for capital investments such as new equipment, and small businesses that are subsidiaries of private equity firms.

New IRS funding aims to boost tax collection.

• The IRS will receive $80 billion to increase enforcement, an effort that is expected to net an additional $204 billion in taxpayer money. The Treasury Department and IRS have assured that wealthy individuals and corporations, whose audit rates have decreased more sharply in recent years relative to regular Americans, are the intended targets.
• Another $15 million funds a task force to determine how the IRS can deliver a “direct e-file tax return system” that would presumably replace or compete with commercial products, some of which have been accused of deceptive marketing practices.
• The bill also extends a set of limitations on losses that businesses can deduct from their taxes. The limits, which are expected to raise $52 billion, prevent wealthy individuals from significantly bringing down or even wiping out their income tax liability. 

New tax takes aim at stock buybacks.

• 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, primarily from large companies such as Apple, Nike and Exxon Mobil.

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

— Tobias Burns and Karl Evers-Hillstrom

Source: TEST FEED1

FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents in Trump search: report

The FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents while conducting the search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. 

The Journal reviewed a three-page list of items that FBI agents took from the Palm Beach, Fla., property on Monday, revealing that they took about 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note and Trump’s grant of clemency to his former adviser Roger Stone, who was convicted in 2019 of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction of an official proceeding. 

The list refers to one set of documents as “Various classified/TS/CSI documents,” meaning top secret/sensitive compartmentalized information. It states that FBI agents acquired four sets of top-secret documents, three sets of secret documents and three sets of confidential documents. 

The FBI reportedly sought documents containing information about nuclear weapons in the search, but it is unclear if the agency recovered any. The Journal reported that the list did not contain any additional details about what information was in the classified documents. 

News Nation separately reported that FBI agents had found dozens of classified documents during their search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago on Monday.

The list reported by the Wall Street Journal were included in a seven-page document that also includes the search warrant the FBI executed. It also mentions information about the “President of France.” 

The warrant shows agents planned to search “the 45 Office” and “all storage rooms and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by [the former president] and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate,” according to the Journal. 

The FBI did not appear to search private guest rooms. 

Trump allies have claimed that the former president declassified the documents that he brought to Mar-a-Lago while he was still in office. 

Trump and his allies have attacked the search as being politically motivated with Trump considers another run for the White House in 2024.

Republicans have called for answers from the Justice Department (DOJ) over what led up to the search, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) vowed to launch an investigation into the department if Republicans retake control of the House in the November midterm elections. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that the DOJ filed a motion to request that the search warrant be unsealed given Trump’s public notice of the search and the significant public interest in the situation.

Garland also defended the DOJ and FBI against attacks on its credibility, saying that their integrity has been “unfairly attacked.” He said he personally approved the search but did not do so lightly.

A group of news organizations also filed a motion on Thursday to support Garland’s effort to unseal the warrant and further request that all documents related to the warrant be made public.

The search was conducted over Trump’s potential violations of the Presidential Records Act, which requires presidents to turn over documents to government record-keepers after they leave office.

Source: TEST FEED1

Top Latino group jumps into contested NY House primary

The Latino Victory Fund endorsed a candidate Friday in a newly drawn New York House district where 12 Democrats are fighting for a wide-open nomination.

The group’s endorsement of New York City Council member Carlina Rivera comes two days after the race’s first televised debate drew blood among its six participants, but no knockout punches.

Rivera, who is considered among the favorites in a race that includes incumbent Rep. Mondaire Jones (D) and former Rep. Liz Holtzman (D), has already been endorsed by two top New York City Hispanic politicians, Democratic Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Nydia Velázquez.

“Carlina is a dedicated advocate and an experienced public servant who has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life of her community. She’s an effective, no-nonsense legislator with a proven track record as a city council member and the grit to get things done in Washington,” said Latino Victory Fund President and CEO Nathalie Rayes in a statement.

A recent Data for Progress poll of the district’s voters showed Rivera in the lead, albeit with the support of only 17 percent of surveyed voters, leading Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou by only 3 percentage points, less than the poll’s 4 percentage point margin of error.

The wild primary race claimed a high-profile victim shortly after that poll came out, as former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped out with sagging numbers.

New York’s primary election day is Aug. 27.

The wide field has turned the race into a slugfest of endorsements, with Democratic groups and elected officials spreading support across the array of candidates.

In backing Rivera, Latino Victory joins Espaillat and Velázquez, as well as a half-dozen labor groups and environmental, LGBT rights, Latino and animal welfare organizations.

Rivera’s signature projects have centered around homelessness and climate resiliency infrastructure, an issue that her debate opponents tried to turn against her.

In Wednesday’s debate, Rivera’s opponents called out her support of the East Side Coastal Resiliency project, a plan to raise some Manhattan coastlines by up to eight feet, arguing Rivera pushed the project through without sufficient community engagement.

But Rivera retorted that her opponents were new to the district, saying the project was necessary and required “political courage” to push through.

Rivera’s candidacy is also a boon for Hispanic progressives, who are looking to grow Hispanic representation in Congress in a complicated national election year.

“This newly drawn congressional seat presents a prime opportunity to increase Latino representation in Congress and strengthen the Latina delegation in the U.S. House, which remains severely underrepresented,” said Rayes.

Source: TEST FEED1

Inflation Reduction Act – Helping low-income families adapt to rising temperatures

Since the Inflation Reduction Act passed the Senate, Democrats have been calling the bill a gamechanger for climate adaptation and emissions reductions. And they are right. The bill will transform entire sectors to be more energy efficient and rely less on fossil fuels than ever before. But perhaps the most exciting provisions of the IRA, the subsidies for low-income households and disadvantaged communities, have gotten very little coverage.

Up to now, federal incentives to help families switch from gasoline to electric vehicles and retrofit their homes were accessible primarily to upper income families. This is because the incentives usually came in the form of tax breaks, which many low-income households cannot benefit from because they do not make enough money to owe income tax, or as credits that only covered a portion of the costs of the measure.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides funding for more than 100 programs to help the nation meet its climate goals and transition to a clean energy economy. An important subset of these programs provides $60 billion in grants, tax credits and other subsidies to meet the administration’s environmental justice goals. These programs will help lower-income families transition to a clean energy economy and adapt to rising temperatures by increasing the energy efficiency of their homes, cars, and communities.

On average, families with incomes of less than $38,500, representing the lowest 40 percent of income, pay 25.7 percent of their household income for home energy and gasoline. As incomes increase, the share of income spent on home energy and gasoline declines. Households in the top 20 percent of income, more than $240,500 a year, only spend 4.8 percent of their income on these expenses. The IRA recognizes that lower income families have limited resources to pay for climate-friendly measures and that the government needs to step up if we are going to meet the nation’s climate goals.

First, the IRA provides $4.5 billion to provide rebates of up to 100 percent for lower income families to purchase and install new energy efficiency appliances including heat pumps, water heaters, stoves, and clothes dryers. Families with incomes of up to 80 percent of area median income (AMI) will receive a 100 percent rebate of purchases up to $14,000 and those between 100 percent and 150 percent of AMI will receive a rebate of 50 percent. In addition, if required, subject to the $14,000 price cap, households can also receive a rebate to purchase an upgraded breaker box, electrical wiring, and insulation, ventilation and air sealing.

Second, the IRA provides $4.3 billion for rebates to cover a portion of the upfront costs of installing energy saving measures throughout families’ homes when the projected savings of the measures is expected to offset the purchase price. The program provides specific language that would allow states to increase the percentage of the grant covering the installations for families with incomes of less than 80 percent of AMI. For example, in the case of a retrofit that achieves modeled energy systems savings of 35 percent, the family would receive the lesser of $4,000 or 50 percent of the project costs. However, the bill includes language that would allow states to raise the matching rate to up to 100 percent for lower income families.

Third, the price of new electric vehicles is out of reach for most lower-income families and the current tax credit is only applied to the purchase of new electric vehicles. The bill would provide a reduced credit of $4,000 for used electric vehicles, increasing the accessibility of electric cars for lower-income families. The credit would only be available to individuals with incomes of up to $75,000 and $150,000 for those who are filing jointly.

The savings for lower-income families will be significant. The combined benefits from electrifying their homes with an electric heat pump for heating and cooling, purchasing an electric vehicle and installing solar panels according to a recent report by Rewiring America, would save $1,800 a year. For lower income households these savings will be transformative, reducing their energy bill by about 30 percent. 

What the IRA gets right is acknowledging that low-income families will need help in order to participate in the national effort to address rising temperatures and climate change. The included programs will help to reduce the crushing burden lower income families face in transitioning to a green economy. However, the bill is only a first step. Close to 32 million households currently receiving energy bill assistance will also need help retrofitting their homes. The IRA provides the conceptual framework and initial funding to get this done. The challenge will be to make sure investments in these households continue, and funds are added to these new programs as necessary so that all families are able to get the help they need.

Mark Wolfe is an energy economist and serves as the executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA) and the Energy Programs Consortium, representing the state directors of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. He specializes in energy and housing affordability and related finance issues.

Cassandra Lovejoy serves as the Policy Director for NEADA and the Energy Programs Consortium. She specializes in energy and water access and affordability.

The opinions expressed in this article are their own.

Source: TEST FEED1

Republican Rep. Brad Finstad sworn in to finish Hagedorn’s House term

Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.) was sworn into the House on Friday to finish the term of the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), who died of kidney cancer in February.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) facilitated the oath of office on the House floor for Finstad, who was surrounded by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and members of the Minnesota congressional delegation.

His swearing in came three days after the Minnesota Republican won a special election to replace Hagedorn. Finstad bested his closest opponent, Jeff Ettinger, by 4 percentage points.

In remarks on the House floor Friday, the new congressman said it was an “extraordinary honor” to be elected to Congress. He spoke about his background of being a farmer.

“When we wake up in the morning, we know something will be broke. So we wake up trying to figure out how am I gonna fix things? So really, to me, serving in Congress is all about that: rolling up my sleeves, taking that farmer mentality, figuring out what’s broke and how we’re gonna fix it and move on. And that’s the farmer in me, that’s the Southern Minnesotan in me,” he added.

Finstad’s swearing in comes nearly six months after Hagedorn, 59, died of kidney cancer. The Minnesota Republican was first elected to Congress in 2018. He announced in April 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer.

Finstad served in the Trump administration, working as the state director for the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development in Minnesota. He previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives and spent time as the executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, the executive director of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, and area director at the Minnesota Farm Bureau.

Finstad called his predecessor “a true fighter for Southern Minnesota” and “a great example of hard work and what we strive to be in Minnesota.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Pelosi calls on Republicans to tone down attacks on FBI

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday urged Republicans to cease their attacks on the FBI and other law enforcers, suggesting the rhetoric has heightened the threat of violence against public officials. 

A number of GOP lawmakers have gone after the FBI in the wake of Monday’s search by the agency into classified documents allegedly held by former President Trump at his South Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago.

During a press briefing in the Capitol, Pelosi denounced Trump’s history of bashing the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, saying the threat to public officials, including members of Congress, has been “exacerbated by the statements of the [former] president.” 

Pelosi then called on other Republican leaders to condemn GOP attacks of the same ilk, particularly before the details surrounding the FBI search become known. 

“You would think there would be an adult in the Republican room that would say, ‘Just calm down. See what the facts are, and let’s go for that,'” she said, “instead of … instigating assaults on law enforcement.”

Following Monday’s FBI search, a number of GOP lawmakers have attacked the agency, accusing the Justice Department of abusing its powers for the sole purpose of doing political harm to Trump, who speculated to be eying another run for the White House in 2024. 

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) quickly tweeted the need to “destroy the FBI” in order to “save America.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) compared the U.S. under President Biden to a banana republic. And Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) are calling on Congress to defund the FBI. 

The fiery GOP response prompted Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday to rush to the agency’s defense, condemning the “unfounded attacks” on “patriotic public servants.”  

“Every day, they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism, and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights,” Garland said.

The threat of violence against law enforcement was amplified on Thursday when police in Ohio killed a man who had allegedly stormed into a Cincinnati FBI building with an AR-15-style rifle.

Reports have indicated that investigators are looking into the suspect’s potential ties to extremist groups and last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.  

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has also hammered the FBI in the wake of Monday’s search, gave no indication Friday that he is ready to take Pelosi’s advice to tone down the rhetoric. He said Democrats are to blame for any demonizing of law enforcement. 

“It’s all on the Democratic side, they want to defund the police. They’ve been doing that for a number of years,” he said. “I just think that’s wrong.”

While congressional leaders are frequently briefed on matters of national security, Pelosi said Friday that she had not been made aware of any aspect of either Monday’s search or the ongoing investigation into the documents Trump had held at Mar-a-Lago. 

“Just know what’s in the public domain,” she said. 

But Pelosi also characterized what’s appeared in those public reports as deadly serious when it comes to protecting national security, likely alluding to The Washington Post report suggesting the documents pertained to nuclear weapons. 

“If the nature of these documents is what [it] appears to be, this is very serious, Pelosi said.

Aris Folley contributed. 

Source: TEST FEED1

House holds moment of silence to honor Rep. Jackie Walorski

House lawmakers held a moment of silence on the floor Friday morning to honor the late-Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), who died in a car accident last week.

Members of Congress from both parties rose on the House floor to honor the life of Walorski, 58, and two of her staffers, Zachery Potts, 27, and Emma Thomson, 28, who also died in the car accident. Lawmakers stood in silence for roughly 40 seconds.

Walorski, Potts and Thomson died on Aug. 3 in a two-car crash in Indiana. The driver of the car that crashed with Walorski’s, Edith Schmucker, 56, also died in the accident.

“Jackie was a giant in Indiana politics and she had a giant impact here in this institution as well,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said on the House floor prior to the moment of silence while surrounded by other members of the Indiana congressional delegation.

“Her lifetime of public service will be long remembered, from her time on the mission field in Romania, to her time at the Indiana State House, to the time that she spent serving our nation here with all of us. She embodied public service and putting others before herself,” he added.

Walorski served in the House for almost 10 years, serving as ranking member of the House Ethics Committee at the time of her death. She also sat on the Ways and Means Committee.

Before her time in Congress, Walorski served in the Indiana House of Representatives, was a missionary in Romania and worked as a television reporter.

Members of Congress mourned Walorski’s death at her funeral in Indiana on Thursday. The House sergeant-at-arms coordinated transportation for members to attend the ceremony, according to Punchbowl News.

“Hoosiers mourn the loss of a leader known for her kindness, dedicated public service, and strong work ethic,” Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.), the dean of the Indiana congressional delegation, said on the House floor Friday.

“We all stand together to celebrate the generous spirits of Jackie, Emma and Zach, and their lives of public service. We also uplift their families as they deal with this tragic loss,” he added.

Banks also recognized Potts, Thomson and Schmucker.

“We also honor the lives of Zach Potts and Emma Thomson, two staffers who should remind all of us of the sacrifices that our staffs make to serve each of us in our important roles. I also want to say to the family of Edith Schmucker, who was involved in this tragedy as well, that we honor her life, the life of your loved one as well,” he said.

“Tragedies like this one remind us of how fleeting and fragile our lives really are. But Jackie’s life reminds us that we should live it to the fullest, just as she did. And that’s how we can honor her best,” he added.

Source: TEST FEED1

Three cheers for government action

July’s job numbers show that the strong recovery from the COVID-19 recession continues. This is a victory for advocates of an effective Hamiltonian federal government that small government policies could never have achieved. The addition of 528,000 jobs in July gets payrolls back to where they were when COVID-19 reduced them by almost 23 million in early 2020. The rapid and relatively painless recovery that began in early 2021 is taking place because the federal government did what it needed to do. The Trump and Biden administrations and Congress spent $5-$6 trillion to put cash in the pockets of people COVID-19 put out of work, help businesses at risk of going under, and maintain state and local services until COVID-19 could be managed. Federal spending kept airlines flying, small businesses from closing or being forced to sell out at bargain basement prices, and much more. 

This success should be an important lesson in the historic American debate about the role of the federal government. From 2020 to 2022, it spent a river of money that state and local governments could never have raised and spent. This federal action avoided what could have been a very serious depression. Indeed, if President Herbert Hoover and his administration after the Crash of 1929 had done what the federal government did in 2020 and 2021 there would have been no Great Depression. Hoover could have used government money to replace the shortfall in demand created by the collapse of the stock market and the failure of private companies and financial institutions, and that could have prevented disaster. However, he failed to play the government’s strong hand, and the Great Depression came on. 

Hoover and his administration had an alibi. They followed the advice of what they believed were the best business and financial minds of the era. Those leaders said cut government spending and wait for the economy to cure itself. Led by Andrew Mellon, Hoover’s hugely wealthy and pedigreed Treasury secretary, they followed this advice and failed to spend money to end the economic bloodbath. As a result, the country got the Great Depression, not the kind of economic resurgence that the U.S. has had in 2021 and 2022.  

The danger in 2022 is that those who call themselves “economic conservatives” and champions of small government are advocating policies that would repeat the mistakes of Mellon and Hoover.  Mellon and his friends were focused on inflation, not on employment and growth. According to Hoover’s memoirs, Mellon wanted to bring the “high costs of living and high living” down and argued that the way to do this was to “liquidate” (sell) and cut spending on everything. Accordingly, he told the president that the Great Depression would end only when wages and the prices of goods, services, and businesses had fallen so far that “enterprising people (would) pick up the wrecks from less competent people.” What he was saying was that wages and prices should be encouraged to fall until super-rich people like himself and his friends could hire hungry workers cheaply and buy up the businesses, homes, farms, and other assets of ordinary folk for pennies on the dollar. 

So where are we now in this historic framework? Unfortunately, Mellon-ism is alive and well among today’s “conservatives.”  They worry more about inflation than about unemployment, while most Democrats lean the other way. The Federal Reserve, which is raising interest rates sharply seems to be in the camp of “conservatives” who are more concerned about the toll of inflation than the danger that the higher interest rates it is engineering will lead to a recession and higher unemployment.  

Is choosing to fight inflation rather than maintaining a tight job market really the right economic priority? For “conservatives” it almost always is since it makes working people more dependent and pliable. It is in a sense about class and power not economics. Conservatives were appalled during the “Roaring 20s” that working people for the first time could buy cars and homes on credit even though it was good for business. One cartoon during that era had a well-off man saying, “You know how bad things are when your plumber offers you a ride downtown.”  

This view, modernized a bit, persists in conservative economic thought in 2022. The sense that it was bad when plumbers could afford cars 100 years ago, is echoed by conservative senators today who are appalled that household help and millions of others who do the most unpleasant work are able to demand and get decent wages because of today’s hot job market. 

The goals of government economic policy in 2022 should be to avoid a recession, maintain the strong job market, and bring down inflation by increasing supply and innovation. Slashing government spending and raising interest rates is not what we ought to be doing. The country’s painful experience with the policies of Mellon and Hoover should have taught us that.

Paul A. London, Ph.D., was a senior policy adviser and deputy undersecretary of Commerce for Economics and Statistics in the 1990s, a deputy assistant administrator at the Federal Energy Administration and Energy Department, and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. A legislative assistant to Sen. Walter Mondale (D-Minn.) in the 1970s, he was a foreign service officer in Paris and Vietnam and is the author of two books, including “The Competition Solution: The Bipartisan Secret Behind American Prosperity” (2005).

Source: TEST FEED1

The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Biden agenda moves closer to finish line

To view past editions of The Hill’s 12:30 Report, click here: https://bit.ly/30ARS1U 

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–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.* 

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

NEWS THIS MORNING 

It’s show time:

The House has briefly returned from August recess on Friday to pass the Democrats’ massive climate, tax and health care package that has been in the works for almost the entirety of President Biden’s administration. 

Are we expecting any drama?: Not really. House Democrats are pretty much all on board for passing this bill. It’s possible it will pass without a single Democratic “no” vote. 

^ Why that’s notable: House Democrats passed a considerably larger bill last year. Some progressives have grumbled about the smaller bill, but don’t seem willing to tank it so far. 

Democrats don’t have many votes to spare: Every Republican is expected to vote “no,” so with the small majority in the House, Democrats can’t afford many defections. 

The gist of what’s in the bill: “The package features major changes across the spectrum of domestic policy, including efforts to slash drug costs for seniors, expand health care subsidies for the working classes, cut deficit spending via corporate tax hikes and incentivize both businesses and individuals to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. All told, it represents the most comprehensive effort to combat climate change in the nation’s history.”  

How we got here, via The Hill’s Mike Lillis 

Watch the action: Here’s the C-SPAN livestream of the House on Friday 

‘HOW THE DEMOCRATS’ INFLATION BILL COULD CUT CONSUMER ENERGY COSTS’: 
Via The Hill’s Rachel Frazin 

HAPPY FRIDAY! I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

⚕️ News this morning 

Oh, that’s what you want to hear: 

The Associated Press reports that “the polio virus has been found in New York City’s wastewater in another sign that the disease, which hadn’t been seen in the U.S. in a decade, is quietly spreading among unvaccinated people, health officials said Friday.”  

How to protect yourself — from New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan: “The risk to New Yorkers is real but the defense is so simple — get vaccinated against polio. … Polio is entirely preventable and its reappearance should be a call to action for all of us.”  

What we know

🌴 In Mar-a-Lago 

It’s not like he has classified nuclear weapon info or anything. 

*pauses for a whispered update in my ear* — or did he?: 

The Washington Post’s Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey, Perry Stein and Shane Harris report that “classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought in a search of former president Donald Trump’s Florida residence on Monday, according to people familiar with the investigation.”  

Did they find such documents?: We don’t know.  

Read the full WaPo report 

TRUMP CALLED THIS REPORT A ‘HOAX’:
Former President Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social: “Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more. Same sleazy people involved. Why wouldn’t the FBI allow the inspection of areas at Mar-a-Lago with our lawyer’s, or others, present. Made them wait outside in the heat, wouldn’t let them get even close — said ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT.’ Planting information anyone? Reminds me of a Christofer [sic] Steele Dossier!”  

LIGHTER TIDBIT — THIS MADE ME CHUCKLE: 

The Onion, in all of its glory, writes: “Mar-A-Lago Assistant Manager Wondering If Anyone Coming To Collect Nuclear Briefcase From Lost And Found.” The Onion even included a photo 😉

FIVE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON THE FBI PROBE: 
1. “What was sought and what was found? We don’t know but we soon might.”  

2. “Can Biden maintain his silence? So far, yes.”  

3. “Does the whole episode complicate life for Trump’s GOP rivals? Yes, unquestionably.” 

4. “What does it all mean for Democrats? It’s too early to tell.” 

5. “Will the story fade? Not anytime soon.” 

Explanations for each, from The Hill’s Niall Stanage 

FWIW, Trump says he wants the warrant publicly released: 

Late Thursday, former President Trump called for the release of the FBI warrant that allowed for the search of his Mar-a-Lago residence. 

Excerpt from Trump’s statement: “Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents.” Part 1 of Trump’s statement and part two

👔 In the White House 

Biden is feeling awkward in his job: 

“President Biden, wary of appearing to influence the ongoing Justice Department investigation into the former president, doesn’t want to talk about the FBI search earlier this week at Mar-a-Lago. Democrats say that’s the right approach, but it means Republicans hurling accusations and condemnations at the Justice Department and FBI will largely go unanswered by the White House.” 

This is a good point: “Biden is likely to shy away from openly criticizing his predecessor for the time being, despite most signs pointing to a Trump-Biden rematch in 2024.”  

How the White House is handling the uncomfy situation, via The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant and Amie Parnes 

What is Biden up to on Friday?: 

The Biden family is staying on Kiawah Island in South Carolina for a summer getaway.  

What we know about the trip, via The Associated Press’s Seung Min Kim and Zeke Miller 

The New York Post reported where Biden is staying: At the house of Democratic donor Maria Allwin

🦠 Latest with COVID 

‘I’m not like a regular CDC. I’m a ~cool~ CDC.’

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eased its COVID-19 guidelines on Thursday, relaxing quarantine requirements for unvaccinated people who have been exposed to the virus.  

The new mindset: A shift to living with the virus instead of preventing infection 

The gist of the new guidelines:  

• Not quarantining after a COVID-19 exposure regardless of vaccination status 
• No contact tracing except in health care and some high-risk settings 
• No more physical distancing 
• Consider your own risk in settings 
• “CDC will also no longer recommend screening testing of asymptomatic people without known exposures, except in certain high-risk settings like nursing homes and prisons.”  

More on the new recommendations 

Read the new guidelines from the CDC

➤ THE COVID-19 NUMBERS 

Cases to date: 92.4 million 

Death toll: 1,030,777 

Current hospitalizations: 36,305 

Shots administered: 606 million 

Fully vaccinated: 67.3 percent of Americans 

CDC data here.

🐥Notable tweets 

Throwback — Trump wasn’t the first presidential candidate to use the expression ‘make America great again’: 

C-SPAN’s Howard Mortman tweeted a clip of then-candidate Bill Clinton announcing his presidential campaign in 1991. “I believe that together we can make America great again,” he said. Watch the 1991 clip 

It’s a shame that 47 percent of you are just wrong:

University of Maryland data journalism professor Derek Willis tweeted a screenshot of a YouGov poll, which asks, “How many holes are there in a straw?”  

46 percent of respondents said one and 47 percent said two.  

“We are a polarized nation,” Willis added.

⏱On tap 

The House is in (!) and the Senate is out. President Biden is in South Carolina with no public events scheduled. Vice President Harris is in Oakland, Calif., and Los Angeles on Friday. 

• 10 a.m.: First votes in the House. Today’s House agenda 
• 2:05 p.m.: Harris delivers remarks on higher education. 
• 2:30 p.m.: Last House votes. 
• 3:10 p.m.: Harris meets with commercial space companies during a tour at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, Calif.
• 5:40 p.m.: Harris leaves Oakland and flies to Los Angeles. 

All times Eastern.

📺What to watch 

4:35 p.m.: Harris delivers remarks in Oakland, Calif., on the commercial space sector. Livestream

🍟 In lighter news 

Today is National Julienne Fries Day.

And to leave you on a mystical note, watch this baby cow disappear.

Source: TEST FEED1

FBI pushes back against attacks over Trump search amid worries about violence

Law enforcement is pushing back against largely Republican-led attacks on the FBI related to Monday’s search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate after an Ohio man sought to breach the entrance to the bureau’s Cincinnati field office days later. 

Ricky Shiffer, 42, was shot and killed by officers on Thursday following an hours-long standoff after Shiffer raised a weapon. 

Authorities have not released any details that would indicate Shiffer’s motivations, but the timing of the breach has contributed to growing worries that the rhetoric about the FBI could lead to violence. NBC News has reported that Shiffer posted on the Truth Social social media platform about people needing to be “ready for combat” after the FBI search of Trump’s estate. 

“The threats made recently contribute to an atmosphere where some have, or will, accept violence against law enforcement as appropriate. It is not,” Brian O’Hare, president of the FBI Agents Association, said in a statement shortly after Shiffer’s death. 

“This is not a partisan or political issue. It is a matter of public safety and basic decency. Calls for violence against law enforcement are unacceptable, and should be condemned by all leaders.” 

Leadership at the Justice Department forcefully pushed back against attacks on the bureau, with Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray issuing statements condemning such rhetoric just hours apart on Thursday. 

Wray made clear Thursday that he sees the attacks as undermining not just the bureau, but the role law enforcement plays in a democracy.  

“Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others. Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans,” Wray said in a statement. 

Garland announced from Justice Department headquarters on Thursday that DOJ would be seeking to unseal the warrant allowing them to search Trump’s home. 

“Let me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors. I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” he said. “The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants.” 

Trump has repeatedly referred to the FBI’s search as a raise and suggested multiple times, without evidence, that agents may have been “planting information.” 

GOP lawmakers struck a more muted tone at Friday’s event, seeking to draw a distinction between criticizing leadership of the FBI and rank-and-file agents.  

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.), himself a former FBI agent, walked a careful line Friday, warning of the need to maintain trust in such institutions, but stressing that the bureau has its own role to play in that effort. 

“We have too much distrust in too many of our institutions that are at the fabric of our democracy and our country simply cannot survive a perpetuation of that distrust. We got to fix it across the board, it’s incumbent upon all of us to do that,” he said. 

“I’m a former agent, obviously, we cannot do our job without the support of the public. That’s the core necessity,” he said. “But when we have a growing matter of distrust, we have to get to the bottom of it and fix it.” 

Some GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee suggested that lawmakers, as part of their oversight efforts, simply needed more information on the FBI’s decision, questioning the use of a warrant at all, but stopping short of suggesting such a move was baseless. 

“They will be releasing, apparently, the warrant and the inventory. But it will still leave many unanswered questions. That’s why our request remains that the director of the FBI and the attorney general disclosed to this committee the imminent national security threat upon which they based their decision to order a raid upon the president’s home, again, underscoring that there were many other options available to them,” Ranking Member Mike Turner (R-Ohio) told reporters during the press conference. 

While Turner repeatedly suggested there were other options available to the Justice Department, he did not mention reporting indicating that the Justice Department subpoenaed Trump earlier this year for documents he was keeping on his premises. That followed a January visit by law enforcement to retrieve several boxes of documents Trump had taken to Mar-a-Lago, a possible violation of the Presidential Records Act. 

But other members shifted their focus, pivoting from critiques of the FBI to more direct criticism of its leadership. 

“The rank-and-file members of the FBI and our Department of Justice, they are brave men and women who do their job every single day. I think they’re doing an incredible job. However, the seventh floor, the leadership of the FBI, and the Department of Justice, have been politicized in the eyes of most Americans. And I want to say that perception is reality,” Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), another House Intelligence Committee member. 

Still, many Republicans continued in lashing out strongly against the FBI, arguing it abused its power with the search.  

“The FBI raid of President Trump was a complete abuse and overreach of its authority,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), the House GOP Conference chair, said at the press conference on Friday where Fitzpatrick also spoke.

Truth Social posts that appear to be Shiffer’s refer to violence in the hours before he breached the FBI office in Cincinnati.

“People this is it. I hope a call to arms comes from someone better qualified, but if not, this is your call to arms from me….We must not tolerate this one. They have been conditioning us to accept tyranny and think we can’t do anything for two years. This time we must respond with force,” one of the posts said.

Shiffer’s actions Thursday come after the Ohio man was spotted in the Capitol on Jan. 6 of last year, according to reporting from NBC News.

Denver Riggleman, a former Republican congressman and one-time advisor to the House Jan. 6 panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack, made clear he saw GOP messaging as a motivating factor for Shiffer. 

“Ricky Walter Shiffer was radicalized. Weaponized,” Riggleman tweeted Thursday.  

“Addled by conspiracies and fantasies—much of that insanity pushed by GOP elected officials and far right media.” 

Source: TEST FEED1