Senate votes 51-50 to start debate on anti-inflation bill

Saturday, Vote Breaks Down in SenateBegins Debate on Democratic Election Year Economy Billto End President Joe Biden's Sprawling Collection of Priorities on Climate, Energy, Health and Taxes

In a preview of the expected vote on the pile of amendments, united Democrats were evenly split 51 to 50. Pushing the bill through the House, Vice President Kamala Harris ended in a draw, overcoming unanimous Republican opposition. The package is a scaled-back version of previous multi-trillion-dollar measures that have failed Democrats to move forward, and polls show voters are moving partisanship over inflation, gas prices, and other issues. has become a battlefield for

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives could give final approval next Friday. Congressman is due to return to Washington.

votes came aftersenators voted in favor of most of the Democratic amendment 755 . page invoice. But Elizabeth McDonough, the House's bipartisan rules mediator, said Democrats would have to drop a significant portion of their plans to keep drug prices down.

McDonough said Democrats violated Senate budget rules and used language to impose hefty penalties on pharmaceutical companies that pushed prices above inflation in the private insurance market. These were the bill's primary price protections, with about 180 million people having health insurance through their jobs or from private insurance they purchased themselves.

Other regulatory provisions were left intact, such as giving Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices for its 64 million elderly beneficiaries, a long-standing Democratic desire. Drugs sold to Medicare are subject to penalties for over-inflation manufacturers, and there is a $2,000 annual co-payment cap on drug costs and free vaccines for Medicare beneficiaries.

"Now is the time to push for a big and bold package for the American people," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “This historic bill will keep inflation down, lower costs, and fight climate change. It’s time to move this country forward.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Democrats "are misinterpreting the outrage of the American people as reckless taxation and an order to further increase spending." He said Democrats "had already robbed American families with inflation and now their solution is to rob American families a second time."

Saturday's vote capped an astonishing 10-day period that saw the Democrats revive the top building blocks of Biden's agenda that seemed dead. In a rapid-fire deal with two possible senators — first conservative Joe Manchin from West Virginia and then centrist Kirsten Cinema from Arizona — Schumer is poised to join the party against the backdrop of this fall's congressional elections. We have pieced together a package that delivers results.

According to a White House statement, the bill "will help address today's most pressing economic challenges, strengthen the economy for decades to come, and make America a global leader in clean energy." helpful,” he said.

Assuming the Democrats fight off the constant "vote llamas" of amendments, many of which were devised by the Republican Party to derail bills that would be impossible to push through the Senate. You should be able to.

South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said of the impending Republican amendment: He said that Manchin and Cinema's backing of Democratic bills would "make life more difficult for the average person" by raising energy costs with higher taxes and making it harder for businesses to hire workers.

The bill would provide spending and tax incentives favored by progressives who buy electric vehicles and make their buildings more energy efficient. doing. But there is also funding to reduce the carbon footprint of the coal mills, as the state pays tribute to the state of Manchin, a major fossil fuel producer, allowing the government to use more federal land and waters for oil drilling. There is also language that requires opening up to

A three-year extension to subsidies to help millions pay for private insurance will provide $4 billion to help Western countries combat drought. Starting next year, the new rule will cap insulin, an expensive diabetes drug, at $35 a month for Medicare and private insurance patients. It seemed to me that language could be weakened or even removed during the debate.

Reflecting Democrat demands for tax equity, some companies that generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue but pay far lower rates than the current 21% corporate tax rate. Businesses will be subject to a new minimum tax rate of 15%. Companies that buy back their own shares will be subject to his 1% tax on those transactions, but this means that Cinema will privately endorse higher taxes on executives of her equity firm and her managers of hedge funds. was replaced after refusing. The IRS budget will be increased to strengthen tax collection. The final cost of the

bill is yet to be determined, but overall it will cost him nearly $400 billion over a decade to slow climate change. Analysts say this is the country's largest investment in that effort, with billions more dollars spent on health. Care. He has raised more than $700 billion from tax and government drug savings, leaving about $300 billion for deficit reduction over the next decade.

Democrats use a special procedure that allows legislation to pass without reaching the 60-vote majority that bills often require in the Senate.

Legislators have taken part in legislation to violate these rules, including the requirement that the provision is primarily intended to affect the federal budget and not to impose new policies. Decide if the should be removed.

In:
• US Congress
• Economy
• Kamala Harris
• Inflation