Inflation Reduction Bill a ‘Disaster’ for Americans, Think Tank Says

FIRST IN DAILY SIGNAL — Two years later, the Biden-Harris administration’s so-called inflation-reduction bill has proven “devastating” for Americans who rely on the pharmaceutical industry, according to a memo from a think tank founded by former Vice President Mike Pence.

“The American people have been forced to live with the disaster of the Inflation Reduction Act for the last two years, and the burden of that legislation has only deepened over time,” Tim Chapman, president of Advancing American Freedom, told The Daily Signal.

“The Inflation Reduction Law Failed, Its Costs Tripled; It Gave Green Tax Breaks to Those Affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party” companies, and devastated the pharmaceutical industry by raising drug prices,” Chapman wrote in an email, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

“Repealing the Inflation Reduction Act should be Congress’ highest priority. The American people do not deserve to foot the bill for this progressive wish list,” he added.

Democrats in the House and Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022 without a single Republican vote. President Joe Biden said the measure would lower inflation and also combat climate change, but it did the opposite, according to Advancing American Freedom.

Founded by Pence in 2021, Advancing American Freedom is a conservative think tank that aims to promote the policies of the Trump-Pence administration, according to the organization’s website.

Pence, who withdrew from this year’s Republican presidential primary, has said he will not support Donald Trump in his bid for a second term because of their well-known differences following the pair’s election loss in 2020. However, he has continued to tout the successful policies of the Trump-Pence administration from 2017 to 2021.

Advancing American Freedom argues that the Inflation Reduction Act benefits the Chinese Communist Party more than the American people. For example, the act provides subsidies through green tax credits to companies affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, such as Gotion Inc.

The cost of the Inflation Reduction Act has nearly tripled from the original Congressional Budget Office projections, Pence’s think tank says. The CBO had predicted the bill would cost $391 billion over 10 years; investment banking firm Goldman Sachs now predicts it will cost closer to $1 trillion over 10 years.

Medicare premiums for Part D prescription drug plans have risen more than 20% because of the new law, according to Advancing American Freedom. And for Medicare’s 8 million users, premiums have risen more than 25% this year, it said.

The Chapman Organization reports that the law also reduced the number of insurance plans available to older Americans.

The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, allows the government to set prices for certain drugs. If drug companies refuse to meet government prices, they can be required to pay a tax of up to 95% on gross sales of new drugs, according to Advancing American Freedom.

“The Biden-Harris IRA is undermining the American way of life and should be repealed by the next united conservative government,” the organization says. “If spending money we don’t have tamed inflation and fixed the supposed climate crisis, perhaps the Biden-Harris IRA would have a chance at success.”

John Podesta, Biden’s senior adviser for clean energy innovation, gave a speech Tuesday defending the inflation-reduction bill on the second anniversary of its passage.

“This legislation represents the single largest investment in climate and clean energy not only in American history… but in the history of the world,” Podesta said.