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Democrats in Washington have finally flailed their way to a political win, passing the poorly named “Inflation Reduction Act.” Aimed at reducing inflation and slowing climate change, the act will do neither.

Passage will, however, give President Biden and Congressional Democrats the ability to say they did ‘something’… even if that something makes our country’s problems worse.

The bill won’t fight inflation. In fact, it makes it worse.

It also spends billions on tax breaks for wealthy families while making it more expensive for everyone else to pay to heat their homes.

The Penn Wharton Budget Model found that Biden’s plan would have a “statistically indistinguishable from zero” impact on inflation and would slightly increase inflation until 2024.

Moody’s Analytics – a “Wall Street” firm Biden loves to cite – estimates that the bill would have virtually no impact on inflation for years, and only reduce inflation by .33 percent over a decade.

Tax Foundation Vice President of Federal Tax and Economic Policy William McBride says the bill would have “close to zero impact on inflation.”

The National Taxpayers Union has estimated that under more realistic assumptions, Democrats’ bill would add $285 billion to the deficit over the next decade.

Center for a Free Economy President Ryan Ellis says, “a realistic score” on the bill would show it is “likely to increase the budget deficit and the national debt, making inflation worse.”

Former Chief Economist of the House Ways and Means Committee Don Schneider calls one of Democrats’ key savings provisions in the bill a “fake offset.”

The bill is chock-full of tax breaks for the affluent and $385 billion in green energy subsidies, the type of policies that are already making “the electric grid less reliable and energy more expensive.”

With the Consumer Price Index for energy rising 41.6 percent since last year, Biden’s tax-and-spend policy will only make Americans “poorer” and give them “fewer energy choices.”

Biden wants to impose a new natural gas tax, which based on a previous version of the tax could jeopardize 100,000 jobs and lead to a 17 percent increase in monthly natural gas bills, costing the average American family roughly $100 per year.

The bill includes Green New Deal-style policies including $25 million to combat cows releasing body gases.

Biden’s Inflation Act also includes a $7,500 handout to wealthy Americans to purchase electric vehicles, which have an average cost of nearly $67,000 according to Kelly Blue Book.

This EV tax credit benefits the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and poor, as the policy uses less affluent Americans’ money to entice more affluent Americans to buy EVs.

Most individuals who claim the electric vehicle tax credit earn far more income than the national average.

A study from the Fuels Institute found that “the top demographic” for electric vehicle owners was “middle-aged white men earning more than $100,000 annually with a college degree or higher.”

It’s not complicated – the U.S. has gone into a recession as a direct result of President Biden’s unchecked and reckless spending.

While the Biden Administration was cheering for $4/gallon gas prices, the rest of us saw what was coming. Skyrocketing inflation and unchecked spending ultimately lead to this type of economic downturn.

As we enter a recession, it’s more important than ever to take action to make things easier for Virginia families. Voters will remember who fought for higher tax rebates, lower taxes, and tried to provide relief at the pump – and who fought to block relief efforts.

Del. Tommy Wright can be reached via email at DelTWright@House.Virginia.gov or (804) 698-1061.