AMAC Exclusive – By Shane Harris
During an all-night debate session this past weekend over Democrats’ misleadingly titled “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA), Senate Republicans used a procedural move known as a “vote-a-rama” to force votes on dozens of amendments to the bill. While Republicans knew they were powerless to block final passage of the legislation, their amendments offered a rare opportunity for Republicans to force Democrats to vote on the record on critical issues facing the country. In a series of votes that are sure to make a reappearance in attack ads this fall, Democrats killed every Republican amendment – making clear that they have no interest in bipartisanship or moderation, despite what individual members may say to the media.
Here are just a few proposed amendments that Democrats rejected.
1. Amendment to prevent the IRS from targeting taxpayers making less than $400,000
Following passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats touted that the bill would impose “no new taxes” on Americans making less than $400,000 a year. But according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, the bill will result in an increased tax burden of tens of billions of dollars on Americans in every income bracket. The bill allocates some $80 billion dollars for what Democrats are referring to as “closing loopholes” and “enforcing the tax code”- with the end result being that the government will collect hundreds of billions more in taxes next year.
And just who will be “enforcing” the tax code? An army of 87,000 new IRS agents that the bill provides the funds to hire. Democrats have insisted that a massively expanded IRS will only focus on large corporations and very wealthy individuals. But when Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho introduced an amendment that would limit those 87,000 new agents to only auditing companies or individuals worth more than $400,000, every single Senate Democrat voted against it. It seems likely that small businesses and ordinary Americans can expect a new wave of audits starting next year.
2. Amendment to provide funding for continued implementation of Title 42
As millions of illegal aliens continue to cross America’s unsecured southern border, Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma offered an amendment that would have provided more funding for Title 42 to help border patrol agents stem the tide of illegal immigration. Every Senate Democrat voted against the amendment – including vulnerable incumbents like Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire who have attempted to stake out a hardline stance on border security in the media to boost their reelection prospects.
3. Amendment to deport illegal aliens convicted of a crime
In another attempt to help alleviate the border crisis, Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee introduced an amendment to “ensure that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sufficient resources to detain and deport a greater number of illegal aliens who have been convicted of a criminal offense in the United States.” Just one year ago, four Senate Democrats supported the same amendment, and it was adopted by the Senate. But now, with the border crisis even worse, all 50 Democrats voted it down.
4. Amendment to protect access to breakthrough medical treatments
Aside from the more than $300 billion in climate provisions in the IRA, Democrats’ other big “win” in the bill were its healthcare provisions. But as Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas – a licensed physician – warned in a press release, “the Democrat-led bill will leave the U.S. with at least 15% fewer drugs developed and brought to market in the next 17 years. Additionally, it would threaten access to next-generation treatment and care for patients with life-threatening illnesses.”
In response, Senator Marshall introduced an amendment that would exclude certain breakthrough and experimental medications and treatments from the price control schemes outlined in the bill. All 50 Senate Democrats voted down the amendment, ensuring that American medical innovation is likely to take a big hit in the coming years.
5. Amendment to expedite permitting reform and boost domestic energy production and infrastructure development
In a one-page summary of the IRA, Senate Democrats promised that after passing the bill, they would push for “comprehensive Permitting reform legislation to be passed before the end of the fiscal year” – ostensibly to help boost domestic energy production and expedite much-needed infrastructure projects currently bogged down in the unwieldy and overly-complex federal permitting process. But Republicans showed they had good reason to be skeptical that any reforms would actually be considered when every Senate Democrat voted against an amendment from Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia that offered such changes along with the bill.
6. Amendment to restore U.S. energy independence
By now, the devastating effects of the Biden administration’s war on American energy are clear to see, from sky-high gas prices to the threat of blackouts throughout the country. To help alleviate this condition and restore U.S. energy independence, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana offered an amendment that would have required to the Department of the Interior “to authorize two leases per year for five years in the Gulf of Mexico to oil producers” and “one lease in the Cook Inlet” – massively expanding U.S. domestic production capabilities and creating thousands of jobs. Every Senate Democrat voted no.
7. Amendment preventing the export of crude oil from the U.S. strategic petroleum reserves to China
Toward the end of debate over the bill, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas introduced an amendment that would have prevented the exportation of more crude oil from the U.S. strategic reserves to China after it was revealed that the Biden administration sold more than a million barrels of oil to the Communist country last month. This seemingly should have been a slam dunk for both parties to be strong on China and take credit for securing America’s energy supplies. However, Democrats raised what’s known as a “budget point of order” triggering a 60-vote threshold for passage. Though four Democrats voted with Republicans, they did so with full understanding that the amendment would not pass and be included in the bill.
8. Amendment to provide discounted insulin for middle- and low-income Americans
Rising insulin prices have long been an issue both Republicans and Democrats have promised to tackle. Yet when Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana offered an amendment that would redirect misallocated Obamacare funds to community health centers to provide discounted insulin and epinephrine for those in need, all 50 Senate Democrats voted it down.
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As the House speeds toward a vote on the IRA on Friday, the bill looks set to head to President Joe Biden’s desk for final signature. Despite the fact that Republicans control half the seats in the Senate and Democrats hold only a four-seat margin in the House, Republicans will have had no input on the bill. Though Biden and the media are already labeling the legislation a monumental victory, it will come at the cost of exposing just how extreme Democrats have become – something voters are unlikely to take kindly to when they head to the ballot box this November.
Shane Harris is a writer and political consultant from Southwest Ohio. You can follow him on Twitter @Shane_Harris_
The Democrats rejected virtually all the amendments put forward by the Republicans over the weekend, as most Republican politicians in Congress knew they would. This was simply a raw exercise of power by the Democrats to make permanent changes into the fabric of American society and the economy before the midterms. They succeeded and champaign corks were popping in Beijing, China. Now the Democrats have largely accomplished most of the major objectives needed to ensure this nation will join the ranks of the other failed and bankrupt socialist democracies of the world. We are moving quickly towards fully embracing the socialist democracy the Democrats have envisioned for the United States since the early 20th century.
Once enacted, none of the socialist policies in this bill will ever be repealed, no matter who controls Congress after the midterms. Any politcian in Congress telling you otherwise is lying. Simply look at the success rate of any Republican controlled Congress in history of ever repealing any Democrat enacted socialist legislation. It’s not pretty. So cementing America’s future is what the Democrats were focused on. Permanent, socialistic change to America.
It seriously won’t matter since they gave all the illegal aliens voter registration cards and for what purpose? Obviously, so they can vote! They sent so many of them to red states it wasn’t funny either.
Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC. Dems are the #1 enemy of America.
Make Government Fear Citizens Again!
Stop blathering start doing
Rule or (so help us) ruin. The tantrum began very early. The people they despise so much, conservatives, are about to chuck them out of office, again, and they are determined to disrupt and destroy everything legislatively in sight. Conservatives must insist upon revenge and retribution for the damage these people are doing and have done. The only “holding accountable” acceptable result is public trials by juries of MY peers, convictions and jailing for life….in solitary confinement—in basements, even.
The Democrats will have an easy time passing this BBB Friday. There are 5 votes missing but 4 of them are Republicans missing. Since any Democrat who wants to vote electronically will be welcome to, there is no way they don’t get this bad bill passed.
I do hope Democrats know that these measures they are getting passed BEFORE they are voted out of office are sealing their doom only because the majority of voters are currently aged US Citizens; however, BOTH Democrats and Republicans need to take heed, their numbers are destined to decline, as MILLIONS of illegals are transported to any particular state they will eventually realize they can, becoming the most populated clientele in their state, place their candidates on the ballots and add the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Party to our Congress, and just as only one State started the Pandemic which became a national crisis so could our nation be ruled by one man’s dream of having a second term turn into a socialist nightmare that THEY are already familiar with. Let us hope and pray that our States take extra care in recording the names and addresses of these illegals so immigration officials can round them up and send them back to where they came from when the time comes!!!
People, I fear if Republicans don’t win the next Presidential Election then We the People have 3 extreme choices: 1. We become servants to a Communist regime, 2. We have another civil war or 3. We, the Red States, decide to secede from the Union. . . . Yes, they’re all extreme but what are the People’s options?
Are Democrats confident because they know something which most people think is too radical to consider is in fact true, that mainstream media has been so effective at hoodwinking gullible Americans into thinking it is difficult to get away with programming election computers and stealing elections? Look closely what happened in Colorado, Georgia, Washington State, Wisconsin, and elsewhere during recent primaries. Fact is that people are not allowed to challenge dubious results, and nobody is allowed to examine software running on election computers. Democrats control election apparatus in most swing states, some of which have been tightly controlled by Democrats for so long that people no longer recognize them as swing states, such as Colorado, New Mexico, Washington State, and Oregon.
Load your guns and get ready to use them. A civil war is on the horizon if these communist aren’t voted out of office come November!
Can’t we understand yet that the socialist/democrats will not support ANYTHING that might be good for America that a republican stands for? These evil Marxists are destroying our country right before our eyes and there are still citizens that don’t see it or at least think that it will be good for America. We are in BIG trouble if we can’t turn this ship around in November.
What does the Republican Party stand for that is good America? It and its leader organized an attempted coup. You may disagree with Democrats on policy, but you don’t have to worry about a coup. Republicans are railing about the legal search of Trump’s home. What false story will they spout when it turns out Trump broke the law?
By the way, calling people who disagree with you is not productive. What communist policy are Democrats espousing?
umm, they are willing to burn down the country to get what they want.
All of the Republican amendments were offered to help Americans with the knowledge that this bill is a democrat bill, not an American bill, and none would be accepted. The minority did go on the record with good amendments and specific objections. It is so important to do our best one day at a time.
The left hates America. They want to turn it into North Venezuela.
The demorats need to be strung up from the nearest tree along with the 19 Rhinos that got us into the mess.
defeat dems and rinos in november and strike the bill.
Remember when you vote Democrat you vote anti-american with every Satan worshipping Democrat working to destroy America and put every American under the Marxist control of an ungodly world government. Democrats hate freedom and believe you should be under the iron fisted control of they/them who know better than you.
I agree with Rich as we have abandoned God and reaping the consequences of doing so. People would not listen and take to heart what President Trump stated: If you put Biden in office, China will wind up owning America. Hello? What do you see happening today? Our so called politicians have sold us out to China for their personal gain and ‘we the people’ are left holding an empty sugar sack. America that we loved is gone. How does it feel to you to have ‘China’s Man’ in the White house?
Democrats are having a temper tantrum! They are voting down even common sense amendments that are clearly for the good of all! They are pissed at the American people for not supporting their radical agenda. They have betrayed their country because their woke agenda is not liked and supported by the voters and they are about to lose power. I think the next few years is a wonderful opportunity to marginalize the democrat party!
Why do the Democrats want the United States destroyed? Their families, relatives and friends live here too.
‘Blue’ thinking is simply hate America and Americans. We, the Blue, know what YOU need. Regardless of what this government says, or what you think their purpose, the truth, by their actions, is to bankrupt America and inslave the people into a one rule, single power government, no options, no opinion, no freedom. The Blue’s intent is to steal every American freedom and right. If they control your capability to earn a living and live your life the way you want, they control your life and the life of your family. Stay free, maintain the freedoms insured with the American dream, RED, VOTE RED!