It took less than a day for the political Left and most of the media to forget the name of the Inflation Reduction Act. That is, after pushing said act for weeks and after it was rebranded as a shell of Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.
There were no main headlines jumping off the front page of D.C. and New York newspapers about a historic bill to address the No. 1 current concern of the public, which is inflation. There were, however, several media outlets running with the bill’s pet spending issues right up until its passage. These were issues that the Democratic Party tried to minimize or ignore altogether.
NPR reported the legislative victory for Biden as “Democrats pull off climate, health and tax bill in weekend,” not realizing why the bill wasn’t titled the climate, health, and tax bill three months out from a midterm election. ABC News declared the passing of the “climate and tax bill.” CBS News ran with the same framing in a headline, stating, “Senate passes Democrats’ sweeping climate, health and tax bill, delivering a win for Biden.” CNN cribbed the same headline, calling it a “sweeping health care and climate bill.”
This sleight of hand gives the entire game away. It illustrates the legislation’s massive new spending at a moment of the highest inflation levels seen in 40 years. It’s about what the media and the Biden administration want people to focus on. The bill is not projected to reduce inflation. It’s also highly unlikely that this bill is going to save Democrats from a massive red wave in the November midterm elections.
However, by framing this as a climate and healthcare fix bill, Democrats gain at least some red meat to toss to a disenchanted base.
But look no further than the New York Times’s Paul Krugman to give things away. On Monday, Krugman pondered, “Did Democrats Just Save Civilization?” Never short on his taste for the theatrical, Krugman pontificated that this is “mainly a climate change bill with a side helping of health reform.” Apparently, Krugman thinks that the hiring of 80,000 new IRS agents to enforce audit laws are actually being sent out to install solar panels. It’s odd that a supposedly reputable and recognizable economist with Krugman’s platform isn’t actually cheering inflation reduction, the title of the bill, but rather praising unaffordable electric vehicle subsidies for the wealthy.
The reason for this rhetorical magic trick is that Democrats and their media allies know that this legislation will likely add to inflation shortly before an election. But simply changing the language of the bill and praising the things the media like isn’t going to fool anyone. At least not when they look inside their wallet!
Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) has written for National Review, the New York Post, and Fox News and hosts the Versus Media podcast.
