Nick J. Rahall II: Manchin-backed spending bill won't rein in inflation

As we approach the 2022 midterm elections, there are almost too many issues and controversies to count. Roe v. Wade, Ukraine, gas prices, gun violence, supply chain woes and worker shortages would each qualify as the premiere issue in any normal election cycle. But, this year, none of them holds a candle to the top voter concern: inflation.

We haven’t seen inflation like this in nearly half a century, with prices rising over 9% per year as of June. The reason inflation is so terrifying to American families — even more so than dramatic and painful fluctuations in gas prices — is its unpredictability. How can West Virginia families stick to a budget if they have no idea what prices will be in a week?

Joe Manchin gets it, and he’s been warning our political leaders for a long time. He wrote Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jay Powell almost a year ago, warning that printing so much money would lead to an inflation spike. Now, as Congress is debating an even skinnier version of President Biden’s “Build Back Better” (BBB) spending bill, Sen. Manchin is warning us again. In response to June’s inflation report, he said, “No matter what spending aspirations some in Congress may have, it is clear to anyone who visits a grocery store or gas station that we cannot add any more fuel to this inflation fire.”

Manchin’s early recognition of the inflation threat coupled with his desire (unlike Senate Republicans) to invest in America has positioned him as a leader in the push to get a workable spending package through the Senate. On the “Skinny BBB,” which is rightly skinny to reflect inflation concerns, Manchin is again preaching caution. We should listen.

The bill Sen. Manchin has endorsed creates or expands energy tax credits (including critical clean energy initiatives), gives the IRS more money to do their job and requires the largest corporations in America to pay a minimum amount of income tax.

But what West Virginian seniors should be focused on is how the bill attempts to shore up the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium and control drug prices. This bill would immediately cut over $20 billion from Medicare and divert it to insurance companies to help them cover ACA premiums. Over 442,000 West Virginians are on Medicare — 25% of our population. Why are we cutting their funding and giving it to people earning six figures? These spending provisions are inflationary and are what got us here — it’s the same thing as handing out checks, only you have to turn it over to Big Insurance.

This Medicare diversion to Big Insurance is supposedly temporary, for just three years, but Joe’s smart enough to know that nothing is temporary in Washington — this inflation time bomb will be extended over and over again, costing taxpayers $220 billion in the first decade alone. He’s said before that shell games and budget gimmicks like this shouldn’t be part of the budget, and he’s right.

At the same time, this bill seeks to control prescription drug prices. Unfortunately, it misses the mark in a major way.

First of all, the price setting doesn’t even go into effect until 2025 or 2026. If inflation isn’t under control by then, we have much bigger problems on our hands.

In addition, drug prices are already growing at a pace lower than the rate of inflation. In other words, the bill doesn’t address the only issue keeping West Virginians up at night — the rising cost of things they buy every day.

Sen. Manchin is obviously committed to getting something done here. But what is the rush? To pass a quick package as currently envisioned would do exactly the opposite of what Manchin and other sane elected officials are striving to do.

The problem with Senate Republicans is that they want to do nothing and coast to November. Democrats shouldn’t for our part be in such a hurry to pass something (anything!) just to say that we did, and potentially make things worse.

There is a third way. Let’s get inflation under control and construct a package that works for American families and our seniors without driving inflation even higher. We simply cannot afford it.