CNN’s Harwood admits climate bill named ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ as a ‘marketing device’ to get Manchin on board
Harwood told anchors John Berman and Brianna Keilar that the nearly $750 billion government spending bill was dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act as a ploy to get moderate Democrats like Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to support it
On the Tuesday episode of CNN's "New Day," John Harwood told anchors John Berman and Brianna Keilar that the nearly $750 billion government spending bill signed by President Joe Biden on Tuesday was dubbed the "Inflation Reduction Act" as a ploy to get moderate Democrats like Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to support it.
Harwood also emphasized that the "Inflation Reduction Act" will have a "negligible" effect on lowering inflation.
Prior to Harwood’s points, CNN’s Keilar claimed that passage of the bill was a "significant victory for Biden’s agenda and for his party, even if questions remain about whether it will live up to its name.
"New Day" then provided a clip of several Democratic lawmakers and Biden administration officials having trouble explaining how the bill would combat inflation. During the clip, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre struggled to answer how the act would cut inflation, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., asked reporters to move onto a different question when asked about the topic.
ANALYSIS SUGGESTS INFLATION REDUCTION ACT WILL REDUCE ANNUAL INFLATION BY ONLY 0.1 PERCENTAGE POINTS
CNN reporter John Harwood tells CNN's "New Day" that the Inflation Reduction Act will have a 'negligible' impact on inflation.
Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., cited the Congressional Budget Office in affirming that the act "will have a minimal impact on inflation" in the clip as well.
After playing the montage, Keilar winced due to the Democratic Party officials’ cumbersome responses. "Oof," she declared as she introduced Harwood. Keilar prompted the White House correspondent, "This is the trouble — it’s not that this isn’t a big bill, John. It’s not that it doesn’t accomplish things that have not been accomplished before, haven’t been addressed in decades. It’s that it doesn’t live up to its name."
Harwood emphatically agreed with Keilar’s assessment. "No, it doesn’t live up to its name, let’s be real," he admitted.
He then provided his assessment on why it was named the "Inflation Reduction Act." "They call it the Inflation Reduction Act as a marketing device in part to lock down the vote of Joe Manchin. To reassure Joe Manchin that they were focused on his issue," Harwood claimed.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 26: A woman picks food in a fresh market on July 26, 2022 in New York. Food prices in the New York area have jumped more than 9% in the last year, is the steepest in the last 40 years, according to the BLS. Inflation is hitting poor and working-class New Yorkers, immigrants and the food pantries that support them. (Photo by John Smith/VIEWpress)
The White House correspondent openly admitted the bill will do little on the inflation front, continuing, "It is going to have a negligible effect on inflation. If it does anything, it might reduce inflation a tiny, tiny bit. But that’s not what it’s about."
"What it’s about is climate, it’s about health policy, extending Obamacare subsidies, lowering prescription drug costs by letting Medicare negotiate and taxing big corporations. That’s the core element of the plan," the reporter continued.
Harwood added, "If it does anything appreciable to reduce inflation, that’s gravy."
Many economists have claimed that the Inflation Reduction Act will not reduce inflation and will make the current economic strife worse.
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Harwood claimed that the Inflation Reduction Act will barely affect inflation. (istock)