What is the Inflation Reduction Act and will it pass?

Build Back Better once held a lot of promise. President Biden’s signature legislation was offering universal pre-K, free community college, the expansion of Medicaid and Medicare, additional support for child care, 12 weeks paid family leave and more.

Well, that never came to pass, in part, because Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. V.) did not support it. But Manchin recently came to the table with a different bill: the Inflation Reduction Act. If passed, it would allow the most spending this country has ever put forward to specifically tackle climate change. It would also allow Medicare to negotiate the prices of some prescription drugs. And it would increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service — something that has been needed for years. But it may not pass.

“In the long term, in particular, there’s real reason to believe that [the bill will lower inflation] by sort of inaugurating an enormous paradigm shift in how we use energy, getting us away from the dependence on authoritarian petro states and the oil they produce.” — Jeff Stein, White House economics reporter for The Washington Post

Listen: How the Inflation Reduction Act would slow climate change, invest in the Internal Revenue Service and expand health care access.

Guest

Jeff Stein is a White House economics reporter for The Washington Post. He says in the long term, if it passes, the Inflation Reduction Act will push the United States to switch to renewable energy sources and ultimately lower our dependence on oil-rich nations.

“In the long term, in particular, there’s real reason to believe that [the bill will lower inflation] by sort of inaugurating an enormous paradigm shift in how we use energy, getting us away from the dependence on authoritarian petro states and the oil they produce,” says Stein.