*Note: There were primary elections in Alaska and Wyoming Tuesday. Visit my Facebook and Twitter pages for updates or check the right side of The Western Word home page.
Quote for the Day…
Vampires are real. Every day I meet at least one person who sucks the life out of me. -Unknown
In today’s column, I look at these people/issues:
- Inflation Reduction Act
- Fentanyl
- Tax Rebates
INFLATION REDUCTION ACT:
One of the headlines from the Associated Press (AP) that described the bill signed by President Joe Biden called the Inflation Reduction Act was this:
Inflation Reduction Act may have little impact on inflation
Ouch. That’s tough sledding right out of the gate.
Here are the opening two graphs from the AP:
With inflation raging near its highest level in four decades, President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law his landmark Inflation Reduction Act. Its title raises a tantalizing question: Will the measure actually tame the price spikes that have inflicted hardships on American households?
Economic analyses of the proposal suggest that the likely answer is no — not anytime soon, anyway.
There are some good things the bill does, like lowering insulin and prescription costs for Medicare recipients. It will also allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. There are some significant investments to combat climate change.
There was also funding to add 87,000 IRS agents. I think there is a future plan to place one IRS agent in every home. That last line was a joke, I think.
Now it is up to the Democrats to sell the bill to the American people. Of course, the Republicans will trash the bill. Which side makes the best case may help their party in November.
You can see what’s in the bill by clicking HERE. You can read the debate about inflation reduction by clicking HERE.
FENTANYL:
In taking a break from filing lawsuits against the Biden Administration, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced Tuesday that anti-drug task forces in Montana are on pace to triple last year’s record-shattering fentanyl seizures and have already taken 58 times more fentanyl off the streets this year than in all of 2019,. Fentanyl-linked deaths, opioid overdose 911 calls requiring emergency services, and firearms found alongside illegal drugs are also on the rise this year.
While I have no reason to doubt AG Knudsen’s information, just as I have no reason to doubt the legality of the search of Trump’s home at Mar-A-Lago, politicians like Knudsen always do things for a reason – like publicity.
Maybe Knudsen is planning on being the Montana Republicans’ sacrificial lamb to take on U.S. Senator Jon Tester.
Yes, drugs are a problem and it’s not just since Biden has been President. The Republicans should stop lying about the “open border” and come up with some ideas, instead of attacks.
Read the complete press release from the Montana Department of Justice HERE.
TAX REBATES:
Tuesday’s column brought a great response from readers with their ideas on what the Montana Legislature should do with the surplus – or if they should do anything at all. Great discussion. Thank you!
Check out the comment section HERE.
The Western Word 
The Democratic leadership in Congress missed an effective way to pass the bill with actual bi-partisan support. All they needed to do was name the bill the “Inflation Reduction AND Ninth Taxpayer-funded Clinton Benghazi Memorial Witch Hunt Act.” They would have had the asinine members of the so-called “freedom” caucus lined up in the hallway to sign on for co-sponsorship. ‘Matt the Rat’ would probably have been at the head of the line.
Lol – that may have done it! Thanks, JmB
Speaking of medicaire, I hope people understand what’s happening to it. The following article explains the grift. And it’s vital that medicaire stay intact. It works, and it works very well. Ask anyone who’s on it. And everyone is on it when you hit sixty-five. Even my very wealthy republican friends love it because there is no private alternative. It has literally saved my life without bankrupting me.
But attacks on medicaire are just part of the plan to privatize everything in the country. The billionaires have so much money that they have nothing left to spend it on. They can only steal what’s left from us peons. They are currently buying up real estate at inflated prices as quickly as it comes on the market. Then, they rent it out at exorbitant rates. They have already purchased nearly every trailer court in the country, and raised the rent to intolerable levels. I read a statistic that said every third real estate transaction was a corporate purchase. The entire country is becoming a company town. Once everything is privatized it’s game over. And with foreign ownership of Ag land and Ag industry, we’re gettin’ pretty close. We’ve been sold out.
https://www.rawstory.com/medicare-advantage/