Nation Reflects on Inflation Reduction Act, One Year Later
Summary from the AllSides News Team
It has been one year since President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a major Democrat-backed climate, healthcare, and tax law. How has it been implemented?
The Details: Despite its name, the IRA’s direct focus is not reducing inflation. Instead, the law includes about $360 billion in tax credits and investments to reduce carbon emissions. It also includes healthcare changes, like capping monthly co-pays for insulin at $35. To help pay for these changes, the IRA includes funding to modernize the IRS and imposes a minimum corporate tax rate of 15%.
Key Quote: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) — whose resistance to Democrats’ larger “Build Back Better” bill helped pave the way for the IRA — lauded the “historic” and “important” IRA but criticized “some across both parties” for playing “political games” with the law. “Make no mistake, the IRA is exactly the kind of legislation that in normal political times both political parties would proudly embrace,” Manchin added.
How the Media Covered It: Media coverage sometimes reflected a partisan divide but was often more mixed. A New Republic (Left bias) op-ed questioned whether the IRA was “fun enough” to get voters to support progressive climate policy, and a Fox News (Right bias) op-ed said the “disastrous law” added to inflation and the deficit. Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) published a mostly neutral analysis of the IRA’s healthcare changes, and a Bloomberg (Lean Left bias) analysis discussed the law’s “mysterious” price tag, a key criticism from fiscal conservatives.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
The Inflation Reduction Act Took U.S. Climate Action Global. Here's What Needs To Happen Next
When the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed a year ago, some of our international allies greeted it with a level of concern if not consternation given the IRA’s focus on expanding U.S. clean energy markets. But in fact, the IRA was not intended to be, nor is it, protectionist. Its mission, coupled with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act, was to spark private- and public-sector investment across the U.S.—in red and blue states—and beyond, while restoring U.S. leadership on the global stage.
In its first year of implementation, the...
From the Center
Climate winners and losers as the Inflation Reduction Act hits 1-year anniversary
This week marks one year since the Biden White House and congressional Democrats maneuvered the Inflation Reduction Act into law in a narrowly divided Washington.
The IRA is a broad federal spending initiative with a name that gives little clue to what’s inside — pages loaded with climate-minded energy incentives and tax savings for businesses and individuals. Still, its passage, following an infrastructure bill that sent money to widening the electric-vehicle charging network, earned President Biden a reputation as a “climate president” on the global stage, vital for a global issue like climate change.
Even...
From the Right
Like paying for sky-high gas, groceries? Wish Biden's Inflation Reduction Act a happy anniversary
It has been one year since Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats passed their signature Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – a disastrous law that did nothing to address inflation and is now confirmed to have added hundreds of billions to the deficit.
President Biden himself, in a recent, rare moment of candor, even said he wishes he had named the IRA something different since it "has less to do with reducing inflation."
Nevertheless, working families are paying the price for that law while the wealthy and well-connected continue to reap its benefits. As...
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