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President Biden on Tuesday triumphantly signed his centerpiece $740 billion climate-and-tax legislation, a Democrats-only measure whose title purports to reduce inflation but won’t lower prices quickly, if at all.
At a bill-signing ceremony at the White House, the president touted the legislation’s provisions to lower the costs of prescription drugs and to lock in health-insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act. He also made clear that he views the package as the best hope for his party to stave off disaster in the November midterms.
“In this historic moment, Democrats sided with the American people, and every single Republican in the Congress sided with the special interests,” Mr. Biden said. “Remember, every single Republican in Congress voted against this bill. Every single one voted against tackling the climate crisis. That’s the choice we face.”
He then signed the measure into law and handed the pen to Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, whose support made Mr. Biden’s win possible.
The bill signing caps more than a year of negotiations to secure support from moderate Democrats in the Senate and seals a significant legislative victory for Democrats’ climate and healthcare agenda.
But the first problem with Democrats’ claim of reducing inflation, many economists say, is that there are economic forces beyond the reach of the White House and Congress.
SEE ALSO: Biden signs Democrats’ $740 billion spending bill into law
For example, the new law includes electric-vehicle tax credits of up to $7,500 to address climate change, but automakers just announced price hikes for new electric vehicles of roughly the same amount.
Ford is raising the sticker price between $6,000 and $8,500 for its electric vehicles — the F-150 Lightning Pro will sell for $46,974, a $7,000 increase from last year’s model. GM last month raised the price of its electric Hummer by $6,250.
Global energy prices, too, are out of the hands of Washington.
Another problem is the likelihood of the administration, and Congress, making spending decisions over the next few months or years that would change the current forecasts of the law’s impact on inflation.
