On Sunday, Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema voted in favor of a bill that is expected to raise taxes on the middle-class and expand the Internal Revenue Service. Proponents of the bill claim that it will protect the earth from climate change.
Statement on Senate passage of the Inflation Reduction Act: pic.twitter.com/uvLXRpvNJ2
— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) August 7, 2022
Despite the fact that Senator Bernie Sanders revealed earlier this weekend that it will not reduce inflation, Sinema claimed the bill will “help Arizonans build better lives for themselves and their families by lowering prices, making health care more affordable and accessible.”
Take it from Bernie Sanders: the “so-called Inflation Reduction Act” will have a “minimal impact on inflation” pic.twitter.com/yBvWgoO0MK
— Philip Letsou (@philipletsou) August 6, 2022
Kelly claimed the bill “lowers prescription drug costs, combats the impacts of drought, and tackles climate change without raising taxes on small businesses and middle-class Arizonans.” He also claims that will all happen “while reducing the deficit, by closing tax loopholes on the most profitable corporations.”
This afternoon, after voting through the night, we have finally passed the Inflation Reduction Act. Here’s what this will mean for Arizonans:
— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) August 7, 2022
However, Sinema came to the wealthy’s rescue this week when she announced that she would back the legislation only on the condition that the carried interest tax provision was dropped for the benefit of hedge funds.
According to CNBC, “Carried interest refers to compensation that hedge fund managers and private equity executives receive from their firms’ investment gains. After three years, that money is taxed at a long-term capital gains rate of 20%, instead of a short-term capital gains rate, which tops out at 37%.”
Arizona’s Democrat House members were largely silent while Republican members reacted quickly to the news of the bill’s passage:
The Biden Administration and House Democrats keep deflecting blame, but the numbers don’t lie. Their own failed economic policies and out-of-control spending are responsible for this rampant inflation crisis! pic.twitter.com/z7OVdriuei
— Debbie Lesko (@DebbieLesko) August 8, 2022
Senate Democrats just voted to hire 87,000 IRS agents to spy on and harass American families.
These Senate Democrats didn’t add a single Border Patrol agent in their bill to help address the nation’s border crisis.
These folks have their priorities completely wrong.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) August 7, 2022
Low-income households are 5x more likely to be audited by the IRS than anyone else.
Now, Democrats want to raise your taxes to hire 87,000 new employees at the IRS — during a recession.
— Rep. David Schweikert (@RepDavid) August 7, 2022
“Hitting businesses with a complicated and onerous new ‘book tax’ and imposing government drug price controls that limit access to new cures and therapies will only harm patients and undermine U.S. competitiveness,” said Danny Seiden, CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, in an usual break for the group which usually acts as a cheerleader for Sinema.