The Inflation Reduction Act would be a win for seniors, small business owners, Stabenow says

Quinn Klinefelter

In a difficult political environment for the party, Democrats are hoping for a much-needed victory.

The Inflation Reduction Act may be the most important piece of legislation passed by the Biden administration. Among other things, it aims to make prescription drugs more affordable and limit climate change.

Republicans argue that the act would raise inflation rather than reduce it, forcing companies to raise prices and cut jobs. In fact, the GOP plans to use it as a rallying cry for candidates in the upcoming midterm elections.

But Democrats like U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan are calling the measure a win for seniors and small business owners.

Stabenow said the bill ensures that all Democrats in the Senate can collaborate on an agenda.

Listen: Stabenow explains the positives — and what’s taken away — from the Anti-Inflation Act.

Read Stabenow’s interview with WDET’s Quinn Klinefelter, published below for clarification.

US Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan): We pay the highest price in the world [for medications]About three times more than other countries. All you have to do is cross the bridge to Canada and the price of prescription drugs will drop by about 40%. However, pharmaceutical companies have the highest profits in the world. And we’re seeing them put much, much more — 10 times as much — into stock buybacks than into research. This bill allows Medicare to negotiate the best price for the first time. Although they are the largest rulers in the country, they are forbidden by law to negotiate. Medicare can negotiate the best price, which lowers prices. Plus, if you have diabetes, it limits your monthly out-of-pocket costs to $35 a month, which is great. One in three people on Medicare are diabetic. So this is a very big issue. And then keeping costs up will rise to inflation or less. Otherwise, the drug companies will be punished. So overall this will reduce costs. And the time has come.

QUINN KLINEFELTER, WDET NEWS: It’s called the Inflationary Reduction Act. Some Republicans argue that the new business tax in the law will cause companies to raise prices and possibly cut jobs or limit the creation of new ones. How do you answer?

This bill would not raise taxes on small businesses or anyone making less than $400,000 a year, which is not exactly a small amount of money. But if you’re a multi-billionaire, you should pay your fair share while avoiding paying any taxes. This is very important. We are basically solving costs for people in prescription drugs and electricity bills and other areas. And then we focus on climate change, which is hitting us all in the face. One of the things that inspires me is that we now know that the Great Lakes are warming faster than the oceans. And we’re seeing all the effects in the Michigan area. In fact, Lake Superior is one of the five fastest warming lakes in the world, which is pretty scary. This bill is going to encourage Key. [environmentally-friendly] Bringing manufacturing, more electric vehicles, more solar and wind, battery production to America, which is a lot of jobs. It supports farmers to take actions that reduce carbon pollution and keep carbon in the soil for healthy soil. Keep methane emissions from the atmosphere, which are the most dangerous form of greenhouse gas. Over the next eight years, we expect this bill to reduce pollution, carbon emissions by 14 percent. Which is huge. So we all have to rely on this. And this is the first major step in doing so.

I’ve heard some automakers say they fear the tax credit, especially for electric vehicles, may not be as effective as some have thought because it depends on buying vehicles with batteries and so many components made in the US. They are not currently built here. And this may limit how much credit a customer can get. Is that a legitimate concern?

I used to work very closely with automobiles. So my real disappointment is the way this is presented. And this is actually US Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) who was the driver on this bill. He was not a fan of electric vehicles. And basically, he designed a credit that, when fully implemented, would make it very difficult for auto companies to be able to offer customers for at least five years or more. So, we all want these batteries to be manufactured in the United States. We want to get out of any materials from China. That’s what the manufacturing tax credit provides. But for consumers, we see a window next year where the consumer credit will be fully available, up to $7,500 to purchase an all-electric vehicle. But then after these very limited provisions come in, the credit will be unavailable for a few years.

That seems to be a catchphrase lately, especially among Democrats. “We could have done this without Sean Manchin,” or maybe [because of] Sen. Kirsten Sinema (D-Arizona)

right. In a 50-50 Senate where it’s basically tied and we had no Republicans in this area. [the Inflation Reduction Act]. So we should have every Democrat. But we made it.

The new law not only provides a variety of services to Medicare, but also helps people with disabilities. But I’ve had some disability advocates questioning why housing and community services, which were originally part of the Build Better plan, were excluded from the inflation-reduction law. Can you say why this happened?

Well, I strongly support home and community care provision. I have been an associate for years and now lead efforts in home health care. This is a situation where we can’t get Senel Manchi’s support. We need 50 votes and he did not support putting it in this package. So this is a work in progress. It should definitely be done. And it is a possible art in management and politics. And so we are doing what we can. This is really important. For anyone on Medicare, including people with disabilities, lowering the cost of prescription drugs is really important. Other care provisions are also important. We’ll have to go back and do those later.

Who opposes home-based disability community services?

He did not want to include in this law.

Photo credit: Elise Amendola/AP