Tipsheet

Biden Reveals What the Woefully Misnamed Inflation Reduction Act Is Really About

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  September 06, 2024 1:00 PM

With his term ending in a matter of months, President Joe Biden is still trotted out on occasion to give remarks. As he continues to be less and less with it, Biden has also made some curious admissions, including when it comes to the woefully misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), over two years after he signed it into law.

Speaking in Westby, Wisconsin on Thursday, Biden made quite the declaration. "I'm proud to announce that my--my investments--that through my investments, the most significant climate change law ever," accurately pointing out how the IRA is more so about climate alarmism. He also reminded that the bill came with a $369 billion price tag.

"It’s called the--we--we should have named it what it was, but it--but any rate," Biden trailed off to laughter from the audience. 

It's not only telling that Biden said the quiet part out loud about the IRA, which is that it didn't even have the proper name, but that he couldn't bring himself to say the actual name of the bill. He started to do so, but was ultimately unable to complete the thought. Is it because the president doesn't even know the name of a supposedly signature piece of legislation? Even if he did, it's still concerning that he couldn't get the words out. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, in her interview from CNN last Thursday, spoke about the IRA in terms of prioritizing climate change, as Monica Crawley reminded when sharing a clip of Biden's remarks from this week. 

Recommended

Could This Be the Real Reason Why Trump Nominated Matt Gaetz As Attorney General? Matt Vespa
This NYT Post-Election Focus Group of Young Voters Is Brutal for the Media...and Incredible for JD Vance Guy Benson

Prices have certainly gone up during the Biden-Harris administration, which Harris is currently a part of as the sitting vice president, yet she still talks about how she'll handle inflation if she's elected president. Inflation rates are particularly high compared not only to the Trump administration, but the past several presidential administrations going back to Lyndon B. Johnson.

As Harris herself acknowledged in that CNN interview, she also cast the tiebreaking vote for the IRA back in August 2022, making her pledge to combat inflation even more nonsensical.