Gas prices remain sky-high, inflation is at record levels, and President Joe Biden is more concerned about the definition of “Recession” than the reality facing West Virginians. With President Biden’s agenda failing, the President was on the hunt for a much-needed victory. Senator Joe Manchin dutifully sided with his Democratic Party.
In my interactions with my constituents, it is clear that West Virginians know that we live in a harsh economic reality and things are not going well. Now Senator Manchin is teaming up with Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer to pass a massive $700 billion climate change bill. The totally misleading name “Inflation Reduction Act 2022” is packed with tax increases for job creation that will raise prices, lower wages and reduce job creation.
The proposal significantly increases taxes on coal production. This new tax imposes a minimum level of tax that must be paid regardless of any credit or deduction on income. According to a study by the Tax Foundation, this tax will disproportionately hit the coal industry and threatens to erode revenue for an already struggling energy sector. The coal industry is the most heavily burdened by this minimum tax and faces a net tax increase of 7.2 percent of its pre-tax income. The bill would also reinvigorate a coal tax that significantly increases taxes on the industry, increasing the per tonne tax for underground mines from 50 cents to $1.10 and for open pit mines from 25 cents to 55 cents. These dramatic tax hikes will threaten the entire coal industry and the thousands of West Virginia jobs and communities that it supports.
Sen. Manchin raises taxes on West Virginia’s coal mines and gives liberals in deep blue states subsidies to power electric vehicles. The proposal allows automakers to offer tax credits of $7,500 for new EV purchases and $4,000 for used EVs for the first time. Additionally, families earning up to $300,000 a year would be eligible for an electric vehicle tax credit costing up to $80,000. Put simply, this proposal prioritizes handouts to wealthy Californian elites in exchange for buying expensive battery-powered vehicles on the backs of hard-working West Virginians.
Liberals in Congress have welcomed Sen. Manchin’s climate protection plan with full approval. They are desperate to win any legislative victory ahead of November’s elections. It’s ridiculous that the people of West Virginia are pawns in Joe Biden’s and Joe Manchin’s plan to override and spend money we don’t have. Sen. Manchin’s plan calls for a massive tax hike with billions of additional dollars for tax enforcement through the Internal Review Service (IRS), which gives the IRS full authority to hire 87,000 additional IRS agents to conduct audits of small businesses and to intensify taxpayers. The IRS would conduct an additional 1.2 million annual audits under the plan. Democrats claim the increased enforcement spending would bring in $124 billion.
Raising taxes on a struggling coal industry as we head full steam ahead into a recession is a dangerous combination. While Democrats claim they only target large, profitable companies, the cost of these tax increases will be borne by working families in higher prices, fewer jobs and lower wages. President Biden and Senator Manchin once destroyed our economy with America’s $1.9 trillion bailout. This bloated legislation has led to the highest rates of inflation in our country since 1981 and pushed our economy into recession. They team up once again for more reckless spending. Make no mistake, Senator Manchin is betraying West Virginia and destroying our economy.
(Mooney, a Republican living in Charles Town, W.Va., is the current Congressman for West Virginia’s Second Circuit.)
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