Tag Archives: Americans for Tax Reform

Despite What You Are Being Told, The Inflation Reduction Act Is Simply A Tax Bill

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On Monday, Breitbart reported:

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) has listed several taxes in in the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” that passed the Senate on Sunday — which Democrats now hail as a “climate” bill, since the Congressional Budget Offices says it will hardly reduce inflation.

These taxes include taxes on fossil fuel, which will raise energy costs for working-class families, still struggling with high gas prices; taxes on businesses that will affect consumers and entrepreneurs; taxes on medicines; and taxes that affect pensions.

The article lists the taxes:

The full list, as published by ATR, is summarized below.

  • Taxes on fossil fuels: These include a $6.5 billion tax on natural gas production; a “16.4 cents-per-barrel tax on crude oil and imported petroleum products”; and a $1.2 billion coal tax. All of these would likely raise energy costs for typical households.
  • Taxes on corporations: The bill includes a 15% minimum tax on large corporations, which ATR argues will be passed onto consumers, and which will hit the manufacturing industry particularly hard as it is still struggling with supply chain problems.
  • Taxes on medium-sized businesses: ATR says the bill extends a limit on loss deductions for “passthrough” businesses — S corporations and sole proprietorships — for two years, without extending a corresponding 20% deduction on income.
  • Indirect tax on pensions through taxing stock buybacks: The bill taxes companies that buy their own stock back, ignoring the fact that doing so often raises the price of the stock. The tax therefore hurts 401(k) savings, and even union pension funds.
  • Tax on pharmaceuticals unless they accept price caps: The bill imposes a 95% excise tax on pharmaceuticals that do not accept government price controls, which could affect the ability of drug companies to develop new treatments in the future.

As Ronald Reagan used to say, “Here they go again.”

The article concludes:

The Congressional Budget Office has said the bill will likely have a negligible effect on inflation in the near future, despite its name. The bill passed the Senate on Sunday evening, and now heads to the Democrat-controlled House for likely passage.

Why am I not surprised that the bill will not immediately impact inflation? The way to stop inflation is to stop spending and bring back energy independence.

Making A Bad Situation Worse

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During the 2020 presidential campaign, former President Obama warned us about the ability of former Vice-President Biden’s ability to mess things up. I am not posting the actual quote because this blog is family friendly, but you can find it in a search engine if you want to read it. It begins, “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability…” On Tuesday, The Daily Caller posted an article that illustrates that point.

The article reports:

President Joe Biden’s budget proposes to scrap more than $45 billion in fossil fuel subsidies, his administration’s latest attack on the beleaguered industry.

The White House budget will remove more than a dozen fossil fuel industry tax credits, increasing the federal government’s revenue by an estimated $45.2 billion between 2023-2032, according to the proposal published Monday. The administration explained that the proposal was written to prevent further fossil fuel investment.

“These oil, gas, and coal tax preferences distort markets by encouraging more investment in the fossil fuel sector than would occur under a neutral system,” the Department of the Treasury wrote in its general budget explanation.

“This market distortion is detrimental to long-term energy security and is also inconsistent with the Administration’s policy of supporting a clean energy economy, reducing our reliance on oil, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” the department added.

…“This budget is basically a $45 billion tax increase on the oil and gas industry,” Mike Palicz, the federal affairs manager at Americans for Tax Reform, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This is more targeting oil and gas for provisions that are just good tax policy that any industry should be able to take advantage of.”

“This is a clear effort to continue to try and paint (the oil and gas industry) as the villain,” he continued.

The article concludes:

Republicans, who have doubled down on calls for the Biden administration to incentivize domestic energy production in recent months, slammed his tax proposal Monday.

“President Biden wants to spend more taxpayer dollars on his green energy schemes instead of increasing American energy production to solve the energy crisis he created,” Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. “The president’s priorities could not be more out of touch with families in Wyoming and across the country.”

“This budget is dead on arrival. Republicans will focus on what Americans care about most: national security, energy security, and economic security,” he continued. “That means tackling inflation, unleashing American energy production, and keeping Americans safe.”

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.

If by some horrible miracle this budget passes, every Congressman who votes for it should be voted out of office in the midterms. The average middle-class American cannot afford what will happen to gas prices if this passes. The average middle-class American cannot afford to buy an electric car–regardless of the government rebate. This is an attack on the average American.