Sanders Could Tank Biden's Inflation Reduction Act!

The island of misfit senators.

President Joe Biden's headaches:

1. The Karens in the Republican House and Senate.
2. Gun violence and Congress not doing anything to stop it.
3. Inflation.
4. Two Democratic senators and one independent senator who is a democratic socialist.
5. The members of The Squad and Progressive Caucus.
6. The junk food media and their never ending dramatizing of world events.
7. Anti-vaxxers. 
8. Lawmakers and activists who protest the CDC guidelines during the pandemic.
9. The endless culture wars that Republicans and media agitators find outrage in.
10. Washed Up 45 and his minions on Fox, Newsmax, OANN and the internet.
11. Facebook and TikTok along with the idiots who run it plus the idiots who post on it.
12. Fox, The Daily Mail, Newsmax and OANN's relentless talk about conspiracies, Hunter Biden and the president's mental capacity and health.
13. The endless racism towards Biden's allies, Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Barack Obama.
14. The relentless talk about spending despite the former president's reckless spending and policies that driven debt to all time highs.
15. The lack of civility towards fellow Americans.

Vermont senator once again bloviates about how things aren't going far enough. He threatens to tank the Inflation Reduction Act. It has riled up many of the Democrats.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. 

He and Maine's independent senator, Angus King are two key votes to the Democratic majority. Then of course, the two Democrats who act like white nationalists. Sen. Karen Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Karen Sinema (D-AZ) finally got on board with the Democrats in backing Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and his budget and climate change proposals.

It will take 50 senators and Vice President Kamala Harris to pass a reconciliation of the Inflation Reduction Act. Sanders is angry that the Democrats are not going along with riders he wants added to the bill that Schumer worked out to get Manchin and Sinema on board.

Sanders had decided at 4th and goal to complain about the bill. 

He gave Republicans a talking point and a petty excuse to why he decided to say the bill isn't bring inflation down in the long term. Republican will use this talking point every time Democrats want to raise taxes on the wealthy. Sanders gave them the ammunition to fire in their cannon.

"I want to take a moment to say a few words about the so-called Inflation Reduction Act that we are debating this evening," Sanders said just after joining Democrats in advancing debate on the proposal. "I say so-called because according to the CBO and other economic organizations that have studied this bill, it will in fact have a minimal impact on inflation."

For much of the week, Sanders has torn into the $740 billion proposal brokered by Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Manchin, which would invest millions in green energy, lower some prescription drug prices, and impose a 15 percent minimum tax on large corporations.

Schumer managed to pull Manchin in for crucial votel

Sanders' mention of the CBO, or Congressional Budget Office, is a nod to the nonpartisan scorekeeper's finding that the proposal is negligible, at least in the immediate future, NPR previously reported.

The Vermont independent intends to introduce amendments to change the bill, such as one measure that would empower Medicare to pay an amount equal to the Department of Veterans Affairs for prescription drugs. Sanders later stood alone as both Democrats and Republicans rejected his amendment to cap costs for covered prescription drugs under Medicare parts B and D by a 99 to 1 vote. 

Both Georgia Democrats, Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, later joined Sanders on an amendment that would Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing benefits. But once again, the Vermont senator's effort failed via a lopsided vote, this time 3 to 97.

Republicans have used the CBO's findings as fodder to lambaste the Democrats' proposal. Some have previously used Sanders' exact approach of referring to the proposal as "the so-called Inflation Reduction Act."

"I don't find myself saying this very often. But on that point, I agree with Bernie," Sen. Karen Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranked Senate Republican, told Insider.

Sanders has fumed over the elements that were jettisoned from Biden's larger "Build Back Better" agenda to advance the compromise, including universal pre-K, tuition-free community college, and in-home care for the elderly. 

To win over Sinema, Schumer dropped riders.

The Vermont senator and former presidential candidate added that the legislation contains "good features" but also criticized its inclusion of a drug pricing provision that will take years to kick in. He later called it an "incredibly tepid bill." Sanders also ripped the provisions in the bill that would expand some fossil fuel exploration, an addition that helped secure Manchin's support.

Sanders pressed Democratic senators to address "the major crises facing working families" during his floor speech.

"If we cannot do that, not only will people continue to hurt and suffer but to my mind, it is questionable how long we will remain a democracy," he said on Saturday.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) who help write the legislation as chairman of the powerful Finance committee, said he shared Sanders' hope for a bill that went further in many areas. But on drug pricing, in particular, Wyden argued the bill still takes major steps.

"I've said I'd like to do more myself, more quickly — there's no question about that those are my roots," Wyden told reporters, adding that when faced "between inaction and this, for me it's not a close call."