Last week, Congress passed the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” which President Joe Biden signed into law on Tuesday. The bill was barely passed before every Republican voted against it and every Democrat voted for it, including vulnerable Democrats running for re-election or even higher office.
One such Democrat, Republican Tim Ryan, is challenging JD Vance for the vacant Senate seat currently held by Senator Rob Portman, a Republican who is retiring at the end of this term.
As Mia pointed out during her fact-check Wednesday, the president claimed at the signing ceremony that “the American people won,” even though the misnamed bill would actually raise taxes on middle-class Americans. Biden, who also repeated false claims that “no one making less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in federal taxes,” is not the only one who broke the promise, however.
The congressman’s vote came despite several ads and media appearances by Ryan talking about cutting taxes, Houston Keene said highlighted for Fox News on Tuesday.
Overall, there were at least six examples of Senate candidates calling for tax cuts, including:
There were also six examples in print media, including:
- Fox Newsfrom June 2, 2022
- Vanity fairfrom July 13, 2022
- Statehouse Information Deskfrom July 18, 2022
- Bloombergfrom July 23, 2022
- Edgefrom July 25, 2022
- NBC Newsfrom July 28, 2022
The congressman posted on Twitter about the tax cut, which has been even larger in recent months personal AND clerk accounts.
Representative Ryan addressed his vote on the issue in detail press release from his office last Friday.
In his statement, the congressman said, “Every day I hear from Ohioans who are impacted by inflation, which is why I’m fighting fiercely in Congress to get immediate relief out the door.” He went on to say that the misnamed bill “is a historic opportunity to lower prices, reform our health care system, reduce the deficit, and make historic investments in domestic energy production and generation that will put our nation on a path to domination in the neat energy industry – all of which without raising a dime of taxes on middle-class Americans.”
This claim was found to be false by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, which said the legislation would raise taxes on low- and moderate-income American households by about $17 billion.
Rep. Ryan doubled down on the false claim that the bill would support the middle class. “Most importantly, this bill allows us to rebuild the great American middle class and finally create a level playing field for our workers to compete with China. By lowering the costs of prescription drugs and health care, creating good-paying jobs and ensuring a better future for our children, this legislation is a great benefit to working people in Ohio and across the country,” he said.
That Ryan has so much in common with the president on his tax cut promises is somewhat ironic, given that the congressman has tried to portray himself as an independent in many of his ads, especially “Neighborhood.”
Vance responded at length to Ryan’s vote on the bill Friday: I’m calling “error” from his Twitter account and a warning that it would “put thousands of Ohio auto workers out of work.” His press account also featured a statement warning voters that Rep. Ryan is not a “moderate” or “working class” at all, but rather a “total fraud.”
Tax Hike Tim: Tim Ryan votes to raise taxes on the working class and American manufacturers
“Tim’s vote today on a tax increase is a stab in the back to every Ohioan… There is nothing ‘moderate’ or ‘working class’ about Tim Ryan. He’s a total fraud.” – @JDVance1 #OHSsen pic.twitter.com/FSCGVockMh
— JD Vance for the U.S. Senate Press (@JDVancePress) August 12, 2022
Vance also criticized Rep. Ryan and President Biden for other concerns about the bill: calling it the so-called “Act on tax and expenditure on green energy”. In a tweet from his account, Vance made a similar reference to the bill, calling it a “Green New Deal” that would be “little more than a payoff to Chinese companies at the expense of Ohio workers.” The Republican candidate also joked, “I wish he would change the names of the post offices.”
Tim Ryan’s modern green deal is little more than a handout to Chinese companies at the expense of Ohio workers. It’s stupid, does nothing for the environment and will make us all poorer. I would like him to stick to changing the names of post offices. https://t.co/H35YVdMciY
— JD Vance (@JDVance1) August 12, 2022
Ryan’s statement on the bill also said it would “finally create a level playing field for our workers to compete with China.”
On Monday, Vance cited Ryan’s pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class, which Democrats turned into a campaign proposal.
The only proposal in Tim Ryan’s campaign is a tax cut for the middle class. He voted against it when Pelosi told him to. https://t.co/e48NW2kyb5
— JD Vance (@JDVance1) August 15, 2022
As for Vance’s chances against Ryan, forecasters continue to favor the Republican. The Cook Political Report calls it a “lean Republican” seat, while Sabato’s Crystal Ball calls it “likely Republican.” Inside Elections even rates this race as “solidly Republican.”
In one of his Townhall columns last week, Kurt Schlichter assured readers: “Don’t believe the Media Senate screw-ups – we’ll win big.” He specifically mentions that “J.D. Vance has it right in his hand” and that we should “let the Democrats throw money at this pipe dream. They might as well set her on fire. We are keeping space in Ohio.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Guy also wrote that he did NO it’s time to panic about whether Republicans will regain control of the US Senate. Predictions range from “resignation” to “lean Republican,” with some Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media getting ahead of themselves in hopes that Democrats will be favored to maintain control of the chamber.
