Senator Kennedy Says “Inflation Reduction Act” Is An “Inflation Machine” And Massive Tax Increase On Oil And Gas Every American Will Feel

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the narrow passing of the Inflation Reduction Act in the Senate this past Sunday – with the bill then scheduled to go to the House for a vote, where it is expected to pass in the Democrat-dominated chamber – there’s been a great deal of conjecture over what the bill will mean for Americans struggling under the yoke of 40-year high inflation and resulting impact upon skyrocketing costs at the gas pump and retail.

But while Democrats have been touting the Inflation Reduction Act to more than live up to its namesake, others are not quite so confident it will achieve its intended goal. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) is one of the detractors of the bill, and during a recent interview with Fox News he claimed that the Inflation Reduction Act is, in reality, an “inflation machine” that will further burden Americans with more financial hardship.

“Let me say, just as a general proposition, at some point we need to stop asking who needs to pay more taxes and start asking what the hell happened to all the money that we have. But I digress,” he said during the interview. “Because of inflation, which was made in Washington by President Biden, more and more Americans for are getting really good at barely getting by in the wealthiest country in all of human history.”

Kennedy also threw shade at West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin – a Democrat that often sides with Republicans on many issues – who was initially against the inflation reduction act, but at the last minute flipped and sided with it after a series of negotiations with Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

“I don’t hate anybody, but Senator Manchin’s bill is an inflation machine,” he said. “If he passes his bill, it will be called ‘Joeflation,’ – as in Joe Manchin, not Joe Biden – and I’ll give you some examples. Number one, Senator Manchin’s bill is a massive tax increase on oil and gas. When you tax something, you get less of it. And his bill is going to make prices go up.”

“Senator Manchin and the White House say that if you can’t afford gas, you might want to go buy a $75,000 Tesla,” Kennedy continued, referring to the electric vehicle manufacturer owned by Elon Musk. “That doesn’t work in West Virginia, that doesn’t work in Louisiana.”

Kennedy went on to say in his second point that even non-partisan financial analysts have found numerous holes in the Inflation Reduction Act that purportedly will bleed U.S. residents dry.  

“Number two, the Joint Committee on Taxation, which doesn’t take sides, said that unconditionally, unequivocally, that every American is going to feel financial burden of Senator Manchin’s bill,” he said. “I like Joe, he’s very clever… listen to his interviews, he can talk a dog off a meat wagon, but he can’t change the facts of the impartial, nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation.”

In his final point, Kennedy also criticized the Inflation Reduction Act for upping taxes on businesses across the country, saying that doing so will have a financially-negative “trickle-down” effect on the average American.

“Joe’s bill is going to raise taxes on corporations, and corporations don’t pay taxes, people do,” he said. “It is a special kind of stupid to raise taxes on businesses during a recession.”