This is a huge win
The thing about legislation is that it is almost impossible to please everyone with one piece of legislation. Some will feel that they are paying too much while others are not paying enough. It all depends on the perspective from which you view these things. The Hill picked what it calls its “winners and losers” under the Inflation Reduction Act, but overall, the American people are the winners, and so is our planet.
Some people don’t believe in global warming, but it has been proven by scientists. Back in 2015-seven years ago-a site called The Climate Reality Project pointed to changes that point to climate change. They looked at air temperature, both over land and over the oceans, the decrease in Arctic Sea ice, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, increased humidity, increases in ocean heat, sea surface temperature increases, a decrease in snow, and an increase in the Earth’s lower atmosphere temperature.
In 2022, the World Meteorological Organization pointed to four record-breaking indicators: greenhouse gas concentrations, rising sea levels, ocean heat, and ocean acidification. All four set new records in 2021. You may have also noticed that your local meteorologists are having a hard time reading the weather because it so frequently changes. These are all indicators that we have abused our planet, and the planet is giving that abuse right back. To pretend nothing is changing is a death knell. Heatwaves, flooding, droughts, and hurricanes are all trying to tell us something, and we need to listen. The Democrats did, and the Inflation Reduction Act addresses that directly.
The Hill is right to call Chuck Schumer one of the “winners” of this legislation. He worked tirelessly on these issues during his nearly two-year term as senate majority leader. He finally convinced Joe Manchin to get on board, who, in turn, convinced Kyrsten Sinema, though Sinema remains overly concerned with the carried interest loophole, and succeeded in getting Schumer to drop the issue. This is the one unfortunate part of the Act. Asset managers, who make ridiculous amounts of money, should not be paying lower income tax than middle-class families. Sinema also, according to the Hill, paved the way for John Thune’s amendment exempting subsidiaries owned by private equity groups from the 15% minimum tax.
Sinema is okay with this because, as reported, her main donors are private equity firms. We can at least be pleased that Amazon, AT&T, FedEx, and other corporate giants will pay a fairer share of taxes on their ridiculously large profits. For example, Amazon paid 6% in federal taxes last year on $35 billion in profits while AT&T received $1.2 billion in rebates while profiting to the tune of $30 billion. This country belongs to all of us, and we should all pay our fair share. Allowing this upside-down tax paying only serves to continue decreasing the middle class, which is the main group that has helped to build this country.
If the average American refuses to see the good in the Act, he or she is simply not paying attention. It is past time for everyone to wake up.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years