[ad_1]
Democrats have inserted a provision in the so-called “Reduce Inflation Act” that would cap the price of insulin for consumers at $35 a month, though doing so would violate the rules of the reconciliation process for passing the overall bill.
The goal is to punish Republicans who voted against the overall bill — even though there was already a separate insulin pricing bill makes his way through the Senate.
Specifically, in his first week in office, President Joe Biden rescinded President Donald Trump’s executive order capping prices for insulin and epinephrine. He then spent months attacking Congress for not lowering prescription drug prices. (Ironically, drug prices have fallen anyway, even amid overall high inflation.)
The “Inflation Reduction Act” would not actually reduce inflation, according the Congressional Budget Office. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called the bill a “fraud.” even Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) admitted that inflation was unaffected.
IMPORTANT: Bernie Sanders Just Admitted Biden’s Deflation Act Won’t Reduce Inflation pic.twitter.com/AFBzXfzg3R
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 7, 2022
But Democrats argue — and the CBO agrees — that the bill will reduce deficits slightly, including by raising some taxes.
CNN’s Manu Raju, citing Sen. John Thune (R-SD), said Republicans plan to raise a procedural issue to oppose the insulin provision in the bill, noting that the Senate lawmaker has already said it violates the rules of Senate:
John Thune told me he expects the GOP to try to eliminate the insulin provisions in the bill.
He said he expects a Republican to offer an order point to reach the $35 insulin cap. They will probably get away with it because the MP deemed it in breach of budget rules
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 7, 2022
Thune said they would.
“If you let them do that, you’re basically undermining the MP and it’s undermining the whole reconciliation process,” he said.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 7, 2022
Normally, bills require a 60-vote threshold to end debate and move on to a vote in the Senate, but “reconciliation” bills use a special process, available only twice a year, that allows for a simple majority as long as the bills follow the set rules.
These rules include the approval of amendments by the opposition. Republicans are offering a series of amendments that will embarrass Democrats who vote no, which they must do to maintain the political unity needed to pass the overall bill.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and its host Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday nights from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 US Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is the winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
[ad_2]
Source link
