HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) was at the Pennsylvania Capitol on Thursday lauding the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act and what it could mean for Pennsylvanians.
Democrats are very proud of their Inflation Reduction Act, which passed the Senate in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and want to show their pride across the country, including in Harrisburg.
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Casey and other Democrats took to the Capitol steps Thursday morning to tout the plan that they say prioritizes attacking climate change, lowering prescription drug costs — especially for seniors — and making sure that corporations — especially wealthy ones — “pay their fair share.”
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in a statement called it reckless spending that will only exacerbate existing inflation.
Casey disagrees. “Big companies have been getting away with not paying their fair share for too long a time, most of the last 40 years. And very wealthy Americans have also gotten away with a lot. No group of Americans in the history of the country have had a better tax policy than rich people and corporations have had for 40 years,” he said.
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On the other hand, Nate Benefield with the Commonwealth Foundation said, “Doubling the size of the IRS — we’re adding 87,000 more IRS employees. That’s more employees than we have in state government added to the IRS to enforce tax laws. That’s not what the people want in the country. That’s not going to help deal with higher prices. It’s just more of the same.”
The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to pass the House, as well. It has the added political component of Democrats wanting to accomplish something to show constituents ahead of the Midterm elections.