Biden undermines the Inflation Reduction Act

Sen. Joe Manchin accused the Biden administration of failing to implement the Anti-Inflation Act as intended, arguing that it “ignores” the provisions of the Fossil Fuel Expansion Act for purely partisan purposes and is undermining its ability to reduce federal debt.

“Rather than implementing the law as intended, unelected ideologues, bureaucrats and commissioners appear determined to violate and subvert the law in order to advance a partisan agenda that ignores both energy and tax security,” the West Virginia Democrat wrote in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

“Specifically, they are ignoring the bill’s intent to support and expand fossil fuel energy, and are redefining “household energy” to push clean energy spending to potentially deficit-breaking levels. The government is trying at every turn to implement the law they want, not the law actually passed by Congress,” he said.

Turning a blind eye to the “deficit implications of these measures” while the White House and Congress debate raising the debt ceiling is “politics and political misconduct,” he wrote.

Manchin, who spent many months negotiating the anti-inflation bill with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last year, said he and Biden agree the legislation is designed to unlock $738 billion in new revenue generate to reduce the $31.5 trillion national debt and shore up the nation’s energy security.

But he said the goal has been undermined, and he urged the president to “curb that extremism.”

Manchin laid out two steps the President should take immediately.

Biden should sit down with “fiscal-minded” Democrats and Republicans to negotiate “reasonable reforms for runaway fiscal policies.”

“While we can all recognize that raising the debt ceiling is an absolute necessity and Republicans shouldn’t be threatening otherwise, should we seriously believe there is no room for negotiation?” Manchin asked in the article.

Does the federal government operate so efficiently and effectively that there really isn’t a dollar in waste, fraud, or abuse? Let’s get serious,” he added.

Next, the President should direct members of his administration to implement the Anti-Inflation Act as written and “stop redefining its lending and other subsidies.”

“Unless sensible action is taken now, not only will America’s energy security be at risk, but we will soon be approaching a debt ceiling that is entirely avoidable,” Manchin wrote.

The Mountaineer State legislature — who could be challenged by a slew of Republicans including Gov. Jim Justice if he runs for re-election in 2024 — urged both political sides to end their bickering because “the American people are sick of these games. “

He urged the President to take a leading role in the negotiations.

“Mr. Biden was elected to lead us all to solve problems. We cannot allow them to get worse by ignoring them. The President today has the power to direct his administration to obey the law, himself sit down with leaders in Congress and negotiate meaningful, serious federal budget reforms,” Manchin wrote.

“If we don’t do this, we may gain political points from partisan leftists, but generations of Americans will ultimately pay the price.” We have to do better, and it starts with us all working together and doing what’s right for our nation,” the senator said.

President and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is at an impasse over raising the nation’s debt limit as the June deadline nears.

The Republican leader said Biden was “absent” from his talks and urged the president to get involved in negotiations, while the White House said it was waiting for House Republicans to reveal their budget.

Republicans are pushing for a slew of spending cuts, including recovering unspent COVID stimulus funds and welfare entitlement reform.

The Biden administration has taken the stance that the debt ceiling needs to be raised and believes Republicans should come on board and says any spending cuts can be discussed after that.

The country has already reached its debt limit, but the Treasury Department has taken “extraordinary” measures to keep paying the government’s bills.

These emergency maneuvers are expected to expire by June.

Failure to raise the debt ceiling would be economically catastrophic, triggering a deep recession and disrupting financial markets worldwide.