Larry Kudlow on the Inflation Reduction Act: There isn't a whit of economic growth incentives in this

Larry Kudlow shreds the new tax and spend bill

President Joe Biden is gleefully signing this monstrosity of a tax and spend bill, but he's not fooling anybody. 

The Economist/YouGov poll shows that just 12% think the bill will reduce inflation, 40% think it will increase inflation, and 23% believe it will do nothing. 

Twelve percent, Joe. That's got to be a new low... even for you. There is not one single iota, scintilla, whit, shred or morsel of economic growth incentives in this bill. Not a single comma, semicolon, dotted "i" or crossed "t" of growth. Nothing.

After two-quarters of negative GDP, with nearly 10% inflation, this is what the radical Democrats have come up with? This is the best they can do? Really? The 40% of that YouGov poll showing that think this goofy bill will increase inflation understand full well that the massive $400 billion-plus Green New Deal spending will make energy and electricity more expensive. 

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Joe Biden gas prices

President Joe Biden speaks on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, July 4, 2022, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci / AP Newsroom)

Just check out gas and electricity prices in greenie states like California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and others. Even worse, our friend Bjorn Lomborg, using the U.N. climate model, calculates that the $400 billion climate spending will reduce global warming — get this, best case — by 28 thousandths of a degree Fahrenheit or, worst case, by only nine 10-thousandths of 1 degree Fahrenheit. In other words, no global climate impact. 

Biden's radical greenie pals are trying to sell us a very phony bill of goods, but that bill is going to cost at least $750 billion in new spending overall. That includes about $600 billion of tax hikes and high-cost gimmicks, and did you know that inside all this greenie spending, we now have ourselves a $27 billion brand spanking new national climate bank administered by the EPA? 

Did you know that your Energy Department will have a $250 billion slush fund? Think Solyndra to the 100th power. Isn't this fun? And that's only part of the story. Of course, we have a new IRS. Why do I say that? Well, we already had one IRS, but now, it’s been doubled with a $80 billion budget increase, and we have a brand spanking new IRS agent army because, although we already had an army, it got doubled, too. This one may be armed. 

Remember the old chewing gum ad, double your flavor, double your fun? Well, here we are. Get ready and, in spite of the economic slump, small business pass-throughs get a $53 billion last-minute tax hike. American corporations get a $222 billion tax hike. Seniors, retirements, government pensioners and all the rest of us with 401Ks or IRAs get a $74 billion tax hike. 

Everyone is going to get a $250 billion cost increase thanks to prescription drug price controls and the CBO and Joint Tax Committee, the government scorekeepers, have shown that not only is there no inflation reduction, but the bulk of these tax hikes and the IRS army will fall on middle- and lower-income taxpayers. And you know those greenie EV tax credits?

Well, Ford just jacked up its price for the F-150 Lightning Pro by $7,000, but none of them will probably be available because the lithium, nickel and other commodities necessary for the batteries are all made in China. 

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Since the greenies won't let America mine for its own natural resources, we're going to be out of luck. The net-net of this net-zero nonsense is that Americans will be poorer and far less competitive in world markets. Is that really what we want? 

Oh, and finally, all these budget numbers I've just given you may prove to be somewhat wrong because the CBO never even scored the cost of this monstrosity. That's right. 

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This bill had to be passed for us to find out what's in it, but it turns out the bill was passed and is now being signed, but we still don't know what's in it. Call it radical Democrat scoring. 

So, you know me, ever the optimist. The cavalry is coming. Save America. Repeal this bill. 

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow's opening commentary on the August 16, 2022, edition of "Kudlow."