John Thune Blasts Biden-Harris Admin's Efforts To 'Impose Their Green New Deal Fantasies'

1 year ago

During remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) slammed Democrats over the Inflation Reduction Act.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. President.

00:02Mr. President, in a couple of weeks, we will mark the second anniversary of one of President Biden's signature measures, the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.

00:10I'm sure the White House will be celebrating, but Americans shouldn't be.

00:15Because Democrats did the country no favors with this legislation.

00:19In fact, the bill reads like a roster of bad Democrat policies.

00:23It's hard to know where to even begin.

00:27Perhaps with the bill's misleading, really outright deceptive title.

00:34Democrats called the bill the Inflation Reduction Act, yet even before the bill had been signed into law,

00:39the nonpartisan Penn-Wharton budget model was noting that the bill's impact on inflation was, quote,

00:44statistically indistinguishable from zero, end quote.

00:51In other words, the Inflation Reduction Act would do nothing, nothing to reduce inflation.

00:59And President Biden confirmed this fact a year later when he noted, and I quote, this is President Biden speaking,

01:05well, we've put ourselves in a position where we pass the most comprehensive environmental piece of,

01:10it's called the Inflation Reduction Act, it has nothing to do with inflation, end quote.

01:18That's President Biden. Let me just repeat that, Mr. President.

01:23It's called the Inflation Reduction Act, it has nothing to do with inflation.

01:30President Biden's own words.

01:33Why Democrats chose to name it that, when it had nothing to do with reducing inflation, is a good question.

01:39Perhaps it was to try to convince the American people falsely that Democrats were doing something to stem

01:46the historic inflation crisis they'd created.

01:49Or perhaps it was to disguise the substance of what Democrats thought might be otherwise an unpopular bill.

01:56But moving on, Mr. President, another Democrat selling point for the bill was its claim that it would reduce the deficit.

02:04But that claim has proved to be just as hollow as the bill's title.

02:09The cost of the bill's Green New Deal provisions has grown to such an extent

02:14that the bill will not only not reduce the deficit, it's now on track to add to it.

02:20That's right. A bill Democrats touted for its deficit reduction is now predicted to actually add to the deficit.

02:32And speaking of the bill's Green New Deal provisions,

02:36as the President himself admitted last year, the so-called Inflation Reduction Act

02:40was really a chance for Democrats to impose their Green New Deal fantasies.

02:45And so the bill contains things like $1.5 billion.

02:49Billion, I might add, for a grant program to plant trees.

02:55$1 billion for zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles like garbage trucks.

03:02$3 billion. $3 billion for the U.S. Postal Service for zero-emission delivery vehicles.

03:10$1.9 billion for things like road equity, whatever that is.

03:15And identifying gaps in tree canopy coverage.

03:22And at least $30 billion in climate slush funds, part of which was allocated for, among other things,

03:27climate-related political activity.

03:31Yes, Mr. President, climate-related political activity.

03:38Because clearly families struggling with high grocery prices and high energy prices in the Biden-Harris economy

03:43are eager to see their tax dollars going to Green New Deal activism.

03:50Then, of course, there are the tax credits the bill provides for well-off Americans to purchase new electric vehicles.

03:57And there's much, much more.

03:59All told, the climate and energy-related provisions of the bill are now projected to cost American taxpayers

04:06in excess of $1 trillion.

04:12Mr. President, I mentioned tax credits for electric vehicles.

04:17Perhaps the Biden administration's signature environmental measure

04:22has been attempting to force the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.

04:27The Inflation Reduction Act tax credits are one part of this crusade.

04:34Others include the final emissions rules the Biden administration released this spring

04:39that will have the practical effect of forcing car and truck companies

04:42to electrify a huge portion of their sales lots.

04:47And the big problem here, Mr. President,

04:50is that the President is attempting to force the adoption of his electric vehicle fantasy

04:55at a time when our electric grid is barely keeping up with current demand.

05:00An article in the Washington Post this March entitled

05:03Amid Explosive Demand, America is Running Out of Power

05:07noted, and I quote,

05:09vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power

05:13as electricity-hungry data centers and clean technology factories

05:17proliferate around the country,

05:19leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans

05:23to expand the nation's creaking power grid, end quote.

05:31And that's our situation right now as we speak.

05:36This present without the incredible burden that would be added to our grid

05:41by a vast increase in the number of electric cars and trucks on the road.

05:47If the President is successful in imposing a rapid and widespread increase

05:52in the number of electric vehicles, we're likely to be facing a situation

05:56where there is simply not enough power available to keep up with demand

06:01with higher prices, electricity rationing, blackouts and brownouts

06:06as the inevitable result.

06:10Mr. President, I could go on for a while here about the strain

06:13the President is attempting to place on our electric grid,

06:15even as he seeks to weaken the already creaky grid even further

06:20with burdensome new regulations.

06:23And I could go on about the Inflation Reduction Act.

06:27I haven't even talked about the incredible amount of money

06:29Democrats funneled to the IRS through this legislation.

06:31The majority of it earmarked for increased audits and enforcement

06:35to help fund Democrats' Green New Deal fantasies.

06:38Nor have I talked about the tax hikes the bill levies on conventional energy,

06:41which are doing no favors for Americans already beset

06:45by high-energy bills in the Biden-Harris economy.

06:50And then there are the bill's price controls for prescription drugs,

06:54which will curtail medical innovation and the development of new medications.

07:00When the Biden Administration originally proposed this policy,

07:04research from the University of Chicago projected that price controls

07:08on prescription drugs and Medicare would result in 135 fewer new drugs

07:13available to patients.

07:17And we've already seen those projections beginning to come to fruition

07:22as multiple drug companies have halted research into new treatments

07:26as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act.

07:31I'll stop here, Mr. President.

07:34Suffice it to say that Democrats' so-called Inflation Reduction Act

07:39is a catalog of bad Democrat policies,

07:43from unrealistic Green New Deal measures to costly tax hikes

07:47to irresponsible spending.

07:51Unfortunately, if we end up with a President Harris next year,

07:55this legislation is likely a grim preview of more bad bills to come.

08:01Mr. President, I yield the floor.

John Thune Blasts Biden-Harris Admin's Efforts To 'Impose Their Green New Deal Fantasies'

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended