Washington, D.C.— U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) released the following statement opposing the Democrats’ latest big government Socialist spending package:
“The partisan Inflation, Recession and IRS Army Act triples down on Biden’s failed economic agenda that plunged our economy into recession. Democrats are enacting historic tax increases on job creators and energy producers that will be passed down to middle- and lower-income families already being crushed by inflation.
“On top of that, Democrats arm the IRS with a slush fund to hire 87,000 new agents that will be weaponized to harass ordinary Americans. The IRS will now have more employees than the DOD, FBI, and Customs and Border Protection combined.
“Furthermore, Democrats are creating a new drug price setting scheme to raid the Medicare Part D drug program to prop up their failed Obamacare experiment. This scheme will destroy medical innovation and jeopardize Medicare Part D, which almost 90% of seniors support.
“Finally, amid sky high energy prices and 66% of our energy grid at risk of power outages, Democrats continue their crusade of diverting investment away from reliable energy producers. Although this package enacts a 15% minimum tax on corporations, they can dodge this tax if they invest enough in green energy. This discriminatory policy will make our energy grid less resilient, stifle investment in energy sources that actually power American homes and fuel transportation, which in turn will increase costs in the long run for consumers.
“For these reasons and so many others, I will vote no on this outrageous and offensive tax, borrow, and spend bill that will set our country back years.”
Fact Checks:
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that Americans making less than $200,000 per year will be hit with a $16.7B increase in costs overall due to this bill next year alone. President Biden repeatedly promised not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 a year.
While Democrats claim their IRS slush fund will crack down on billionaires, recent analysis from Syracuse University shows that low-income Americans are five times more likely to be audited by the IRS.
Earlier this year, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation found that 66% of the nation’s energy grid is at risk for blackouts. Overdependence on unreliable energy such as wind and solar was cited as a risk for blackouts in certain areas. Despite this, Democrats are still advocating an avalanche of financial regulations against fossil fuel businesses and now, tax incentivizes for green energy that will constrain the supply of reliable energy even further. The NAERC report states in-part:
“Some assessment areas depend on substantial electricity imports to meet demand on hot summer evenings and other times when variable energy resource (e.g., wind, solar) output is diminishing. In the event of wide-area extreme heat event, all U.S. assessment areas in the Western Interconnection are at risk of energy emergencies due to the limited supply of electricity available for transfer.”
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