Inflation Reduction Act Passed In The Senate!

One more road to cross.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is celebrating the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act through a budget reconciliation with 50 senators and Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie. The bill will now head to the U.S. House where it will likely pass and soon head to President Joe Biden for signature.

It took months of secret negotiations with Sen. Karen Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Karen Sinema (D-AZ) to get this legislation passed. Schumer is literally crying tears of joy after over 18 hours of voting of amendments to the $750 billion package.

It is a big win for Democrats and it could motivate their voters. The Republicans will be motivated as well. They will keep the culture wars going and keep screaming how Democrats are responsible for everything in the world.

"It's been a long, tough and winding road but at last, at last, we have arrived," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor as members prepared to vote for final passage. "Today, after more than a year of hard work, the Senate is making history. I am confident the Inflation Reduction Act will endure as one of the defining legislative feats of the 21st century."

This bill will lower inflation, lower drug costs, address climate change and raise taxes on the wealthy.

One thing that did not get through was an insulin cap. The part was rejected because Republicans fumed at the bill. Only 7 Republicans voted to at least address it. The 43 Karens decided that if you have diabetes, you do not deserve affordable insulin.

Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie breaking vote.

Biden praised Senate Democrats for passing the plan and acknowledged it required "many compromises." He urged the House to swiftly approve the bill.

"Today, Senate Democrats sided with American families over special interests, voting to lower the cost of prescription drugs, health insurance, and everyday energy costs and reduce the deficit, while making the wealthiest corporations finally pay their fair share," the president said in a statement. "I ran for president promising to make government work for working families again, and that is what this bill does — period."

The package is the culmination of months of negotiations over Mr. Biden's domestic policy agenda, which at times appeared to be on life support but was revived late last month with the surprise announcement of an agreement between Schumer and Manchin, the moderate Democrat from West Virginia.

While the legislation is much more narrow than the sprawling $3.5 trillion proposal put forth by Biden last year, the tailored package had the backing of Manchin and Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona whose support was crucial. 

Democrats praise the plan as their answer to addressing rising consumer prices and for its nearly $400 billion investment in fighting climate change, the largest ever. The package allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, a key Democratic priority that is expected to save hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 years. It also extends enhanced health insurance subsidies that were set to expire at the end of the year, and imposes a 15% minimum tax on most corporations that make more than $1 billion each year. 

The corporate tax provision emerged as a point of contention as senators neared a final vote on Sunday. Seven Democratic senators — Sinema, Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, Mark Kelly and Jacky Rosen — joined Republicans in backing an amendment put forward by GOP Sen. Karen Thune of South Dakota that exempts some firms with private equity backing from the 15% minimum corporate tax rate. That amendment passed 57 to 43.

To boost clean energy, the measure includes tax credits for buying electric vehicles and manufacturing solar panels and wind turbines. It also provides rebates for consumers who buy energy efficient appliances and provides $4 billion for drought relief.

Schumer lauded the bill as the "boldest climate package" in U.S. history, and called it a "game-changer" and "turning point."

"It's been a long time in coming," he said.

One piece of Democrats' drug-pricing plan — imposing penalties on drug manufacturers that raised prices beyond inflation on private insurers — was removed after it was reviewed by Senate parliamentarian Elizbeth MacDonough. Her approval of the rest of the package, however, cleared the way for the upper chamber to move forward with its consideration of the bill.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation will cut the deficit by $102 billion over the next 10 years. Republicans, though, argued the plan will have little impact on inflation and instead raise taxes while leading to jobs losses.