Fellow Conservative

On Sunday, the Senate passed the “Inflation Reduction Act,” which will RAISE taxes on hard working Americans during a recession! This is exactly why Heritage Action issued a key vote against the bill.

The vote was simple, though: all 50 Democrats voted for the bill, and all 50 Republicans voted against it, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of the bill. Yesterday, the House passed the bill by a vote of 220 to 207.

This bill doubles down on the failed policies from Biden's first year as President.

Even though this bill was titled the “Inflation Reduction Act,” anyone familiar with basic economics knows this is a lie: spending massive amounts of money and raising taxes is the exact opposite of what is needed to lower inflation and end a recession.

Considering how President Biden and the Democrats have refused to acknowledge the current recession, it makes sense that their “solution” would completely miss the point.

What's in the "Inflation Reduction Act?"

More Inflationary Spending

Despite the current recession, Democrats spent an extra $580 billion, with most of it going towards funding Green New Deal initiatives, doubling the size of the IRS, and propping up Obamacare to hide the true costs from Americans.

Raises Taxes

Despite assurances from Biden, Manchin, and others that there will be no new taxes for Americans making less than $400,000, a report from the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the bill will raise $16.7 billion in taxes for Americans making less than $200,000, plus $14.1 billion for Americans making between $200,000 and $500,000.

To recap: in the middle of a recession, with inflation at 40-year highs and real wages down, Democrats want to further squeeze working Americans’ paychecks by raising taxes!

IRS Audits

It gets worse. We all saw the news about the inexplicable raid on President Trump’s home on Monday.

Democrats have repeatedly demonstrated that they are willing to weaponize any three-letter agency to go after their political enemies:

1. Representative Scott Perry’s cell phone was seized by the FBI this week.
2. Earlier this year, DHS created a “Ministry of Truth.”
3. In 2013, it was a massive scandal when Lois Lerner admitted the IRS had targeted tea party-related groups.

The Inflation Reduction Act gives $80 billion in funding to the Internal Revenue Service, including clearance to hire 87,000 additional employees. This doubles the size of the IRS!

Conservatives have every right to question the Democrats' intention to hire 87,000 new IRS agents. While Democrats may claim the resulting additional audits are meant to target high-income tax evaders, analysis shows that middle-class Americans would receive most of the audits.

AND when Democrats had a chance to back up their claims, they voted against Senator Crapo’s amendment that would have ensured that individuals and small businesses making less than $400,000 would not be targeted by the additional audits:

>>> Read more: The Washington Examiner published an op-ed by Jessica Anderson, Executive Director of Heritage Action, and Steve Moore, Distinguished Fellow in Economics at The Heritage Foundation.

There is a lot in this bill to be angry about.

But conservative activists should also feel proud of what they kept out of the final bill—about $3 trillion worth of spending.

At Heritage Action, we feel privileged to work alongside so many committed Americans who have been fighting against Biden’s agenda since Day 1.

When Biden first asked for this bill, it had a price tag of $3.5 trillion. Your activism killed that version of the bill.

So Biden tried to pass a narrower (but still massive) $1.75 trillion bill. Your activism killed that version of the bill too.

The final price tag is still hefty. But because of you, Biden’s bill is smaller. Your efforts deserve to be recognized—thank you.

Grassroots Events

While it’s frustrating seeing so many members of Congress vote against Americans’ best interests, there are some members working hard to protect Americans.

This week, Representatives Ben Cline and Bob Good of Virginia met with Heritage Action Sentinels in Lynchburg.

Representative Yvette Herrell joined Garrett Bess and Janae Stracke for the weekly Sentinel Strategy Call, live from New Mexico.

And Representative Ted Budd of North Carolina also took time to meet with Heritage Action and activists.

If you would like to become more involved with grassroots events, we encourage you to join our Sentinel program. It’s FREE—you just need to sign up here.

We continue to hold grassroots events. The next one is on the calendar for this Thursday, August 18. If you are in the Virginia area, come join us at our Parental Rights Summit.

Jessica and the Heritage Action team

Join the fight to advance the conservative agenda.