What Happened To The Inflation Reduction Act?

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The Senate Climate Bill

You'll notice that everyone in the media who talks about the extraordinary bill passed by the Senate along party lines this weekend is talking about the "climate bill" or "climate and health" bill. They are not calling it by its actual name, the Inflation Reduction Act. But is it any wonder? Even Bernie Sanders admitted that it doesn't actually reduce inflation.

Everyone is in on the act. No one really believes that it will reduce inflation, but they're all still pretending it won't raise taxes and won't hurt the economy further. Hiring 87,000 new IRS agents isn't something you do just to harass the 1000 or so billionaires in the country. The lower and middle class will be hurt.

The Electric Vehicle Subsidies That Weren't

How do you promise a ton of subsidies for electric vehicles and never have to deliver? Easy. You make it so no one actually qualifies for the subsidy. That's what the Democrats inadvertently did with their tax and spend reconciliation bill.

Passing this provision of the climate bill only makes sense if you have no knowledge of what the electric vehicle industry is currently going through – which is about par for the course when it comes to Congress taking action on just about anything. One of the best ideas in the EV provision is the focus on buying “America first,” so we aren’t propping up problematic regimes when we are buying the vehicles and components of said vehicles.
Just one problem, though: None of the cars on the market seem to fall into that category.

In other words, we are supposed to be cheering a bill that is giving massive subsidies to Americans in the midst of an inflation crisis, hoping to convert a ton of Americans to electric vehicles when we’re struggling with our power grid as is, and thus avoiding a climate crisis using materials that we have to pollute the earth to collect.

But we can’t achieve any of that because the parts needed in this adventure aren’t produced here and the bill requires them to be.

LSU Misses Preseason Coaches Poll

We're getting on to my favorite time of year. No, not election season. College football season. The preseason coaches poll Top 25 is out and for the first time in a long time, the LSU Tigers aren't on it.

The poll, which uses a panel of 65 head coaches from Football Bowl Subdivision schools, had Alabama ranked No. 1 in the country. The Crimson Tide were followed by Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson and Notre Dame.
LSU received votes for the poll, but after going 11-12 over the last two years, the Tigers missed the top 25 as they enter their first season under head coach Brian Kelly.
The last time LSU didn't make the poll during the preseason was Nick Saban's first year.

I wouldn't make too much of the preseason poll, though. The Tigers are definitely rebuilding, but it's not a big rebuild. The elements are there and while I think Brian Kelly is an interesting pick for head coach at best, he's no slouch and the word is things aren't as bad as one might think.

Geaux Tigete.

Headlines Of The Day

China extends invasion rehearsal drills to intimidate Taiwan (Washington Examiner)
Vanity Fair Is Still Really Mad Brett Kavanaugh Exists (RedState)
The market’s biggest winners and losers in the Inflation Reduction Act (CNBC)
Manchin’s Donors Include Pipeline Giants That Win in His Climate Deal - (New York Times)
Strong jobs report has Larry Summers ‘more worried’ about inflation (NY Post)

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