Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), one of the longest-serving members of Congress, voted against the Inflation Reduction Act which includes $728 billion in inflationary spending and tax increases totaling $614 billion.
“You don’t need to be an economist to know it’s a terrible idea to spend an additional $728 billion when we’re experiencing the highest inflation rates in 40 years and to raise taxes on Americans while we’re in a recession,” Calvert said in an Aug. 12 press release. “Tax and spend policies from Democrats have caused our economic problems, and now they’re dangerously doubling down on those same failed policies. Nonpartisan analysis of this bill has found it will cause inflation to rise in the near future and raise taxes on Americans in virtually every tax bracket.”
The House passed the legislation on Aug. 12 with a vote of 220-207, as reported by CNBC. The Inflation Reduction Act is part of the Biden administration’s “Build Back Better” plan aimed at helping the national economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic through addressing tax, health and climate-related issues.
In addition to calling out the bill for causing more inflation, Calvert expressed concerns about the IRS hiring 87,000 new agents.
“These new IRS agents will automatically become union employees, with a portion of their salary going to funding union campaign contributions that overwhelmingly benefit Democrats,” Calvert said in the release. “It’s outrageous that Democrats would put their political gain before the needs of Americans who are suffering from high inflation and in a recession.”
Calvert is running for re-election in California’s 41st congressional district against Sen. Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore), who joined the election run early March, as well as three Democrats, according to Desert Sun.