Democrats have included a provision in the so-called “Reducing Inflation Act” that would cap the price of insulin for consumers at $35 a month, even though doing so would violate the rules of the settlement process that passed the overall bill.
The goal is to punish Republicans who voted against the overall bill — even though there’s already a separate bill on insulin prices go ahead through the Senate.
Notably, in his first week in office, President Joe Biden rescinded President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting insulin and epinephrine prices. He then spent months attacking Congress for not lowering prescription drug prices. (Ironically, drug prices fall In any case, even with overall high inflation. )
The Lower Inflation Act will not actually lower inflation, according to Congressional Budget Office. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called the bill a “fraud”; even Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) acknowledged that inflation wasn’t affected.
BREAKING: Bernie Sanders just admitted Biden’s inflation-reduction bill won’t lower inflation pic.twitter.com/AFBzXfzg3R
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 7, 2022
However, Democrats claim — and the CBO agrees — that the bill would reduce the deficit slightly, including raising some taxes.
CNN’s Manu Raju quoted Sen. John Thune (R-SD) as saying that Republicans plan to raise procedural issues against the bill’s insulin provision, noting that Senate members have said it violates the bill’s rules. Senate:
John Thune told me he wants the Republicans to try to remove the insulin provision in the bill.
He said he expected Republicans to offer an order point to reach the $35 insulin cap.They are likely to succeed as MPs rule it breaches budget rules
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 7, 2022
Thune said they would.
“If you let them do that, you’re basically vetoing the members and that’s going to derail the whole reconciliation process,” he said.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 7, 2022
Normally, bills require a threshold of 60 votes to close debate and go to a vote in Seante, but “reconciliation” bills use a special procedure, only twice a year, that allows for a simple majority vote, as long as the bill follows the prescribed rules.
Those rules include allowing the opposition to revise. Republicans are introducing a series of amendments that will embarrass Democrats who voted against it, and they must do so to maintain the political unity necessary to pass the entire bill.
Joel B. Pollak is a senior editor at Breitbart News and Breitbart News Sunday Stream Sundays on Sirius XM Patriot from 7-10pm ET (4-7pm PT). He is the author of a recent ebook, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 US Presidential Election. His most recent book, red november, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Nowak Journalism Alumni Scholarship.follow him on twitter @Joel Pollack.
