Tucker Carlson: Inflation Reduction Act may be a classic case of misinformation

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People say the federal government seems big, maybe bigger than ever. Well, it actually is the largest employer in the world. The federal government, nothing else comes close—not Google, not Amazon, not the Communist Party of China, nothing. How many people work for the United States government? Let's put it this way. There are more than 100 countries around the world whose total populations (that is, every man, woman and child) are smaller than our federal workforce—entire countries, many of them.  

The U.S. government, in other words, is astoundingly large, world historically big, scale without precedent, truly gargantuan. So, what do all those people who work there do every day? You may be wondering that. Well, it's a good question. Actually, nobody's really sure, including many of the employees themselves. Fundamentally, the federal government is a mystery. Like the universe, it goes on forever. It makes you feel small thinking about it, which is probably the point. 

The good news is, every once in a while, our government does something you can actually understand. That happened recently when Joe Biden signed a $750 billion piece of legislation called the Inflation Reduction Act. What does the Inflation Reduction Act do? Come on, what are you, slow? The answer is right there in the name. The Inflation Reduction Act is an act that reduces inflation. It's an inflation-reducing act and that's welcome news because inflation is indeed a problem. In fact, voters say it's the problem they worry about most.  

So, Congress has decided to reduce it. That's how things work in Washington. You would identify a crisis, and then you pass a law making it illegal. Crisis solved. It's simple. Getting too hot for you in the summer? No problem, just have Congress write a law banning high temperatures. That's effectively our climate change policy and as we know, it works. The science on that has been settled. Don't deny it. Now, Congress has decided to bring that very same approach to inflation. Just command it to go down.  

TRUDEAU CELEBRATES CANADIAN WINDFALL FROM BIDEN SIGNING INFLATION REDUCTION ACT 

You can imagine how terrified inflation will be when it discovers it's being reduced by our all-powerful Congress. "Wait," it'll say in horror, "You passed an Inflation Reduction Act? Okay, fine. I surrender. Gas is now $1.50 a gallon. Hamburgers, two bucks a pound. Sorry for the high prices." That's the promise of this act anyway, but in real life, a lot of people are still wondering, "How is this going to work?" 

Hilary Vaughn from Fox was wondering that, so yesterday she caught up with Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Manchin is the man, the single man whose vote made this bill possible. "Is the Inflation Reduction Act really going to reduce inflation?" she asked. Here's how Joe Manchin responded:

HILLARY VAUGHN: When it comes to inflation, is it misleading to call this the "Inflation Reduction Act" for Americans when it's not going to make their grocery bill cheaper, it's not going to make every day goods cheaper for them? 

SEN. JOE MANCHIN: Why would it? Why would it? Well, immediately, it's not. We've never seen anything happen immediately, like turn the switch on and off.  

BIDEN SIGNS $739 BILLION INFLATION REDUCTION ACT INTO LAW, SLAMS GOP FOR VOTING AGAINST THE TAX, CLIMATE DEAL 

So, as Hillary Vaughn pointed out correctly the law won't immediately make anything cheaper to buy. In other words, it will not reduce inflation, but Joe Manchin didn't deny this. He didn't seem bothered by it. In fact, his response was, "Why would it?" Well, let's see, because you told us it would, you dishonest little creep, and then you printed another $750 billion of fake money, which is exactly the habit that caused historic inflation in the first place, all this fake money printing.

 So, what's the upside of this bill exactly? Joe Manchin didn't say. Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland couldn't explain it either. Watch this.  

REP. JAMIE RASKIN: I know that those who have been blaming President Biden for the inflation going up are now giving President Biden all the credit for inflation going down, so we're moving things in the right direction already.  

REPORTER: And what parts of the bill do you think will quickly work on that specifically?  

RASKIN: Next question. 

SEN. TOM COTTON’S 2022 MISSION TO ‘PUT THE BRAKES’ ON BIDEN’S AGENDA MAY BE PRELUDE FOR POTENTIAL 2024 RUN 

"I'm Jamie Raskin. I'll say anything." 

"What parts of the Inflation Reduction Act will actually reduce inflation?" 

"Next question," says Raskin. He actually said that out loud, as you just saw. In other words, "You've caught me lying and I don't even care. Go away, peasant." So, as it turns out, we hate to break this to you, the Inflation Reduction Act may be a classic example of misinformation. Imagine buying a bottle labeled "shampoo" and finding out the hard way it was actually drain cleaner. It's like that. So, if there's one thing we can learn from the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, it's that in Washington, words no longer have any meaning at all. 

The empire has officially entered its postmodern phase, where there's no connection whatsoever between the sounds that emerge from the mouths of our leaders and observable physical reality. Congress might as well have called this the Eternal Happiness Act. And why not? That's probably the name of the next bill Joe Biden signs and we hope so, because we are long overdue for Washington to ban sadness. They ought to get on that, not that this bill was even thought about by Joe Biden, not that he even noticed this bill. Biden doesn't get too caught up in the meaning of words these days. Biden is definitively post-literate at this point. Here was the scene as he signed his most recent legislative triumph. 

WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER CLAIMS $739 BILLION INFLATION REDUCTION ACT 'MORE THAN PAYS FOR ITSELF' 

President Biden speaks about inflation and supply chain issues in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

PRESIDENT BIDEN: OK. 

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: It's now law. 

Here we go. They might as well put a sign on his desk saying, "This guy has no idea what he's doing right now" because he didn't and it couldn't have been more obvious. The thousand-yard stare was the giveaway. There were doughboys in Verdun who looked less shell shocked than Biden just did, but the question remained, "What was in the bill?" Well, let's see. You'll be happy to know that this bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, includes $3 billion for the U.S. Postal Service to buy new electric mail trucks.  

So, why would your mailman need an electric mail truck? No one has ever explained that, but your mailman is getting one and China is getting even richer from the electric mail truck batteries, which it makes. So, there's that. Then there's another $3 billion allocated to block grants for something called environmental justice that will be overseen by the EPA, which used to look after the environment, but now it's in the justice business. Environmental justice gets about $60 billion in this legislation, which is great if you're in the environmental justice business, but it leaves the rest of us wondering, "What is environmental justice actually?"  

CHRIS HAYES PROCLAIMS BIDEN SIGNING INFLATION REDUCTION ACT A 'HUGE DAY FOR THE COUNTRY, THE PLANET, EVERYONE' 

Well, according to the bill, it means and we are quoting here, "facilitating engagement of disadvantaged communities in state and federal advisory groups, workshops, rulemaking and other public processes." OK. That sounds confusing, but also expensive. In all, the EPA alone gets more than $40 billion in this bill, including more than $30 billion for so-called disadvantaged communities. What are those? Well, they're not really defined, people who vote for Joe Biden. So, what it really means is the EPA is going to spread more identity politics and race hate. Are you sick of that yet? The Biden White House is not sick of it. They're all in.  

For context, to show you just how all in they are on that, the total annual budget of the EPA currently stands at about $10 billion. So, this is a lot of money flowing to equity and the disadvantaged and of course, everything hangs on definitions. So, who gets to define what disadvantages, a disadvantaged community? Well, that would be the EPA's administrator, a guy called Michael Regan, 

This is a guy who's in his late forties who has never had an actual job in his life, never worked for real business of any kind, but he does have priorities and to give you some sense of what they are, we'll tell you what he told The Daily Show this year and we're quoting, "Everything I do at EPA is through the lens of environmental justice, contracting, procurement, air quality, water quality, land management, starts with 'Are we protecting the least among us, those who have lacked political representation and those who have not been at the table for decades’?" 

So really, this is about spreading race hate as virtually everything they do is. They call it equity. It's not about protecting the environment and if you're wondering how the environment's doing, take a very close look.Is anyone monitoring the chemicals in our water? No. We're busy conducting workshops for billions of dollars with disadvantaged communities. Right. That may not be helping the environment, but it's definitely not reducing inflation.  

Inflation reduction is not the same as protecting people who lack political representation. That's, of course, Joe Biden's base, the 81 million who voted for him. That's what this bill is really about, rewarding his voters. That would include virtually every bureaucrat in Washington. They do very well on this bill, of course, as long as they promise to spend it on equity, however, they want to define that.  

REPORTERS BLASTED FOR ABANDONING INFLATION REDUCTION ACT TITLE WITH BILL SIGNING: 'AREN'T EVEN TRYING ANYMORE' 

There's $25 million for the Government Accountability Office to determine, "whether the economic, social and environmental impacts of the funds described in this paragraph are equitable." The bill also calls for $10 million to be spent on "equity commissions" within the Department of Agriculture to combat racism. In other words, to commit racism. Really, not since the German government 80 years ago has any government ever pay closer attention to people's genetics. That's true and yet no one notices it for some reason. Well, we do.  

There's more than $2 billion for the General Services Administration. Something called the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, that gets $350 million. The Bureau of Indian Affairs gets $220 million. The Office of Native Hawaiian Relations gets $23 million and it's not just bureaucrats who are getting paid. There are billions of dollars in new tax credits. Who do those go to? Joe Biden's donors. Of course, not to you. Are you in private equity? No, you're not, so you don't get anything. Biden described these credits yesterday.  

PRESIDENT BIDEN: The Inflation Reduction Act, invests $369 billion to take the most aggressive action ever, ever, ever, ever, in confronting the climate crisis and strengthening our economic, our energy security. It's going to offer working families thousands of dollars in savings by providing them rebates to buy new and efficient appliances, weatherize their homes, get tax credit for purchasing heat pumps and rooftop solar, electric stoves, ovens, dryers.  

WHITE HOUSE NOT SAYING WHEN THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT WILL BEGIN TO CUT INFLATION 

So, you watch that and you realize maybe they are going to run him again because he doesn't actually exist. He is merely a conduit through which they change America. He has no idea what he's saying. He reads the script. He seems kind of non-threatening and out of it. That may seem embarrassing to you, a problem to you. You wonder, "What does his wife think of all this? It's so demeaning and degrading. It's cruel to do this to a guy, feed him full of drugs and having read someone else's script," but if you're trying to change the country really fast, this is very useful to you, so of course, they're going to run him again.  

So, again to the bill, a nonprofit called Rewiring America, which supports this bill, decided to figure out how much money Americans are eligible to receive from the Inflation Reduction Act based on zip code, household income, tax filing status. So, according to Rewiring America, a married couple with one child in San Francisco earning the median household income there of $120,000 would be eligible for nearly $12,000 in tax credits, but according to that same group, that same family of three making the median income in Youngstown, Ohio, for example, would be eligible for just $81 in tax credits. Oh, that's weird. So, the middle-class kid shafted while people making 120 grand in San Francisco make out. OK.  

So, most Americans who are making middle-class wages will be eligible for more savings only if they're willing to go out and spend thousands of dollars on things like a new heat pump water heater, an electric stove or a heat pump closed dryer. Right, none of which work very well, but the bigger issue is that all these tax credits for Joe Biden's base are going to increase inflation. This is the same thing that happened to college tuition when the government subsidized it. It got much more expensive. Perfect, and that's already started. As The Washington Examiner has reported, electric vehicle manufacturers are now raising the price of their cars now that the so-called Inflation Reduction Act includes a $770,500 tax credit for electric vehicles, "Ahead of the Inflation Reduction Act, extending the tax credit of up to $7,500 for purchases of new electric and hybrid vehicles, Ford and GM announced price increases at similar rates." You following this?  

WILL CAIN: WHY IS JOE BIDEN HIRING ALL OF THESE IRS AGENTS? 

So, the government pays you back your own money to buy a product and then the manufacturer of the product raises the cost of that same product by the same amount. Oh, so it's a subsidy for them, not savings for you. "Last week, Ford announced price hikes between $6,000 and $8,500 for most of its lineup of its F-150 lightning electric vehicles, while General Motors upped its electric Hummer costs by $6,250 last month." 

So, what does that? They don't want to answer the question because the only potentially deflationary aspect of this bill is the tax increase, which is, of course, probably not a good idea when you're in a recession, but our government is not willing to cut spending and stop printing money, so instead their solution is to take money from you. This is classic, right? So, you print all the money you want because you hold the reserve currency and then when inflation goes up, you just try and pull it out of the system through taxation. That's modern monetary theory. Look it up. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this act will cost the middle-class $20 billion a year in new taxes. The Joint Committee on Taxation has concluded that under this bill, 61% of taxpayers make between $40,000 and $50,00 will see a tax increase.  

91% of Americans make between $75,000 and $100,000 will see their taxes go up and 97% of Americans make between $100,000 and $200,000 will see their taxes go up. So, if you're making 100 grand in Arlington, Virginia, are you rich? Oh, no. You're barely scraping by. So, it turns out that Biden was lying. Just yesterday, he told us that no one making under $400,000 a year will see their taxes go up. Watch. 

BIDEN SLAMMED FOR SIGNING INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: ‘DARK DAY FOR EVERYDAY AMERICANS’ 

President Joe Biden holds a press conference. (Fox News )

BIDEN: And I'm keeping my campaign commitment. No one, let me emphasize, no one earning less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in federal taxes. Folks.  

Yeah. Not a penny more. I mean, again, you can't blame the guy. He's just a mannequin, but whoever wrote that knew he was lying. There is one group of Americans who will not pay more under that bill and that's Biden's donors, the richest people in the country. Thanks to the Democratic Party's hedge fund support, and they have a lot of that, the private equity world, the final revision of this bill keeps the carried interest loophole in our tax code. That means that people who work in finance, many parts of finance, are able to report their income as interest and pay half the taxes that you do. No one can defend this policy. It is indefensible. Even the people who benefit from it will not defend it. They're embarrassed of it. They take advantage of it, of course, but it's a scam and everybody knows it and yet it remains in our tax code because they paid off the Democratic senator from Arizona and a bunch of others.  

So, just in case the message wasn't clear, the bill gives the IRS another $80 billion to hire 87,000 new auditors. So, what are those new auditors, those armed auditors of the IRS have to do with a tax code this unfair? Well, the truth is, if you have a tax code this unfair and it keeps getting more unfair every year, you have to hire armed goons to make people obey because they won't otherwise. 87,000 new armed IRS agents. How many is that? Well, for perspective, the IRS currently has about 78,000 total. So, this bill will make the IRS larger than the army of the nation of Italy, also the nation of the Philippines, also the U.K.. What? Thanks, Joe Manchin. 

So, what are those agents going to be doing? We're not sure, but we do have an IRS training video for you. Watch.  

UNDERCOVER AGENT: In addition to being accountants, we're also law enforcement officers, which is very interesting because a lot of the special agents that work for the IRS, they don't come from a law enforcement background. We get to do the same things like all the other law enforcement officers do. Things happen. We have to be able to respond, so we have to be ready.  

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IRS SPECIAL AGENT: So, we teach our agents to fire a firearm, to be able to shoot. We teach them defensive tactics and methods of defending themselves and protecting others as well. So, they go through that entire process so that not only can they analyze records, but they also have that law enforcement component.  

So, in an actual democracy, IRS agents should be taught to be polite, but under Joe Biden, IRS agents are taught "to shoot." How is that not war on the population of the country?  

Tucker Carlson currently serves as the host of FOX News Channel’s (FNC) Tucker Carlson Tonight (weekdays 8PM/ET). He joined the network in 2009 as a contributor.

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White House condemns 'reprehensible' attack against Salman Rushdie: 'This act of violence is appalling'

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The White House said Friday that it finds the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie "reprehensible" and Biden administration officials are praying for his recovery.

Rushdie was stabbed multiple times before a speech at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, on Friday. The attacker allegedly rushed onto the stage and stabbed him in the neck. Rushdie is undergoing surgery at a local hospital.

"Today, the country and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack against the writer Salman Rushdie," White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. "This act of violence is appalling. All of us in the Biden-Harris Administration are praying for his speedy recovery."  

NEW YORK POLICE IDENTIFY MAN WHO ALLEGEDLY STABBED SALMAN RUSHDIE

Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times before a speech at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, on Friday. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

"We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr. Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing," he continued.

A State Trooper assigned to the event at the Chautauqua Institution took the suspect, identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar, into custody immediately after the attack, New York State Police said. The event moderator also suffered a minor head injury.

Andrew Wylie, an agent for Rushdie, told The New York Times that the writer is on a ventilator and is unable to speak.

STABBING OF SALMAN RUSHDIE COMES 33 YEARS AFTER FATWA ISSUED ON HIS LIFE BY IRAN

The attacker allegedly rushed onto the stage and stabbed Rushdie in the neck. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

"The news is not good," Wylie said. "Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged."

Rushdie has lived under the threat of a fatwa on his life after Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini condemned his book, "The Satanic Verses," as blasphemy in 1989 and called for the author's death. The book was also banned in Iran. A fatwa is a decree from an Islamic religious leader.

Iran has offered more than $3 million for anyone who kills Rushdie.

Rushdie has lived under the threat of a fatwa on his life after Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini condemned his book, "The Satanic Verses," as blasphemy in 1989 and called for the author's death. ((Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images))

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Iran's government has since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but Rushdie still faced opposition. A semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised a bounty for Rushdie in 2012 from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.

Fox News' Adam Sabes and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

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US House of Representatives passes Inflation Reduction Act in narrow vote

HOUSTON, Texas 

The US House of Representatives passed the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday along party lines.

The legislation that passed in a 220-207 vote secured a huge win for President Joe Biden and the Democratic party months before the midterm elections in November.

"It is a resounding victory for America's families starting at their kitchen table," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House members. "Our Inflation Reduction Act is a robust cost-cutting package that meets the moment, ensuring that our families thrive and that our planet survives."

The Democratic party came together from all sides to praise the bill which addressed a multitude of issues beyond inflation, including taking aggressive action on climate change, lowering medical and prescription drug costs and reducing the national deficit.

The plan includes a record $369 billion in spending on climate change and energy policies projected to slash US carbon emissions by roughly 40% by 2030.

It also allocates $64 billion to reduce health insurance costs by locking in lower premiums under the Affordable Care Act, saving 13 million families an average of $800 per year.

The bill will also cap drug costs at $2,000 and allow the federal government to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs.

It would be funded by imposing a 15% corporate tax on wealthy corporations. The plan also spends $80 billion to boost the Internal Revenue Service's enforcement and compliance divisions which are expected to yield $124 billion in revenue.

While the measure will not immediately affect rising gas and food prices, it does seek to reduce the deficit by $300 billion in the next 10 years, with total provisions of the bill estimated to raise $737 billion, as well as reduce the overall deficit by nearly $2 trillion in the next two decades.

The bill narrowly passed the Senate in a 50-50 vote with the deciding tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Kamala Harris.

It now goes to Biden's desk to be signed into law.

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Sen. Tim Scott: Democrats' spending bill really the 'Inflation Seduction Act'

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Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., laid out why he believes a $750 billion-dollar spending package won't help the economy Monday on "The Five." 

SEN. TIM SCOTT: If you have all four of those departments together, you will still have a bigger IRS and the scariest part for our viewers is there’s 87,000 new employees hunting for taxes from people making less than $200,000. It’s not the billionaires and millionaires. It is middle-income families, low-income families, and entrepreneurs who are trying to figure out how to keep their employees working and invest in their future.

DEMOCRATS' INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IS ‘ECONOMIC MALPRACTICE’: ECONOMIST

I call it the "Inflation Seduction Act." It literally has nothing to do with reducing inflation and when Bernie Sanders, Tim Scott, and Ted Cruz are all on the same side, that tells you that whatever they are selling we are not buying. 

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WATCH THE FULL DISCUSSION HERE: 

This article was written by Fox News staff.

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Senate Democrats pass $740B 'Inflation Reduction Act' package in US

The package aims to confront climate crisis, control health care costs, and tax corporations.

Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she departs the Senate after passage of the Inflation Reduction Act at the U.S. Capitol August 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. (AFP)

Democrats pushed their election-year economic package to Senate passage, a hard-fought compromise less ambitious than President Joe Biden’s original domestic vision but one that still meets deep-rooted party goals of slowing global warming, moderating pharmaceutical costs and taxing immense corporations.

The estimated $740 billion package heads next to the House, where lawmakers are poised to deliver on Biden's priorities, a stunning turnaround of what had seemed a lost and doomed effort that suddenly roared back to political life. Cheers broke out as Senate Democrats held united, 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote after an all-night session.

Senators engaged in a round-the-clock marathon of voting that began on Saturday and stretched late into Sunday afternoon. Democrats swatted down some three dozen Republican amendments designed to torpedo the legislation.

The bill ran into trouble midday over objections to the new 15 percent corporate minimum tax that private equity firms and other industries disliked, forcing last-minute changes.

Despite the momentary setback, the “Inflation Reduction Act” gives Democrats a campaign-season showcase for action on coveted goals. It includes the largest-ever federal effort on climate change — close to $400 billion — caps out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare to $2,000 a year and extends expiring subsidies that help 13 million people afford health insurance. By raising corporate taxes and reaping savings from the long-sought goal of allowing the government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare, the whole package is paid for, with some $300 billion extra revenue for deficit reduction.

Barely more than one-tenth the size of Biden’s initial 10-year, $3.5 trillion Build Back Better initiative, the new package abandons earlier proposals for universal preschool, paid family leave and expanded child care aid. That plan collapsed after conservative Sen. Joe. Manchin, D-W.Va., opposed it, saying it was too costly and would fuel inflation.

Inflation Reduction Act

Nonpartisan analysts have said the 755-page “Inflation Reduction Act” would have a minor effect on surging consumer prices.

Republicans said the new measure would undermine an economy that policymakers are struggling to keep from plummeting into recession. They said the bill's business taxes would hurt job creation and force prices skyward, making it harder for people to cope with the nation's worst inflation since the 1980s.

In an ordeal imposed on most budget bills like this one, the Senate had to endure an overnight “vote-a-rama” of rapid-fire amendments. 

It was the bill's chief protection for the 180 million people with private health coverage they get through work or purchase themselves. Under special procedures that will let Democrats pass their bill by simple majority without the usual 60-vote margin, its provisions must be focused more on dollar-and-cents budget numbers than policy changes.

But the thrust of Democrats' pharmaceutical price language remained. That included letting Medicare negotiate what it pays for drugs for its 64 million elderly recipients, penalizing manufacturers for exceeding inflation for pharmaceuticals sold to Medicare and limiting beneficiaries out-of-pocket drug costs to $2,000 annually.

The bill also caps Medicare patients' costs for insulin, the expensive diabetes medication, at $35 monthly. Democrats wanted to extend the $35 cap to private insurers but it ran afoul of Senate rules. Most Republicans voted to strip it from the package, though in a sign of the political potency of health costs seven GOP senators joined Democrats trying to preserve it.

The measure's final costs were being recalculated to reflect late changes, but overall it would raise more than $700 billion over a decade. 

The money would come from a 15 percent minimum tax on a handful of corporations with yearly profits above $1 billion, a 1 percent tax on companies that repurchase their own stock, bolstered IRS tax collections and government savings from lower drug costs.

Source: AP

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Democrats advance the Inflation Reduction Act, setting up Senate 'vote-a-rama'

Senate Democrats passed their first procedural vote on the Inflation Reduction Act on Saturday.

The motion to proceed on the $739 billion climate, tax and health care bill passed in a 51 to 50 vote. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote.

Now, Republicans and Democrats have up to 10 hours each to debate the spending bill, though it's not yet clear how much of the allotted debate time each side will use. After that, they'll move ahead to the consideration of amendments in a marathon session dubbed the "vote-a-rama."

Senators can offer an unlimited amount of amendments, and Republicans have already pledged to bring up several on issues like immigration, the border, energy and crime.

"What will vote-a-rama be like? It'll be like hell," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters on Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on Saturday the amendments won't discourage Democrats.

"These efforts will not deter us," he said during remarks on the Senate floor. "No matter how long it takes, the Senate is going to stay in session to finish this bill."

"We are not leaving until the job is done," he added.

Democrats are fast-tracking the legislation through a process known as reconciliation, which allows them to pass the bill through a simple majority vote. All 50 members of their caucus need to back the bill in order for it to pass, with Vice President Harris acting as a tiebreaker.

A general view of the U.S. Capitol Dome, in Washington, D.C., July 6, 2022.

Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP, FILE

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., cleared the way for the Inflation Reduction Act to move forward when she announced her support on Thursday after tax provisions targeting wealthy hedge fund managers and private equity executives she opposed were removed from the bill.

Sinema, who was the last Democratic holdout, said she'd sign on "subject to the parliamentarian's review."

On Saturday, the parliamentarian gave the green light to most of the drug pricing provisions in the bill, except for a provision that aimed to penalize drug companies that raise the prices of some prescription drugs faster than inflation for patients with private insurance.

"Democrats have received extremely good news: for the first time, Medicare will finally be allowed to negotiate prescription drug prices, seniors will have free vaccines and their costs capped, and much more. This is a major victory for the American people," Schumer said.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the parliamentarian also signed off on his committee's clean energy tax package, which includes consumer credits for Americans to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes and for those who purchase electric vehicles.

President Joe Biden celebrated the movement on the bill, which encompasses key portions of his agenda. It's a "game changer for working families and our economy," he said on Friday.

The White House said Saturday it was "heartened to see the Senate make progress" on the Inflation Reduction Act.

Republicans are expected to be unanimous in their opposition to the Inflation Reduction Act, and have heavily criticized Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., for striking up the deal with Schumer.

On the floor on Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., slammed the bill's climate provisions and drug pricing plans.

"American families don't want Democrats policing what kinds of clothes and clothes driers they can put in their homes. What they want is for Democrats to start actually policing our city streets," said McConnell.

- ABC News' Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.

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'Balancing Act': Erdogan to Sound Out Putin on Ukraine and Syria

Ending the war in Ukraine and starting a new one in Syria are expected to dominate talks on Friday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Erdogan will be riding high from the diplomatic success of helping orchestrate the resumption of Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea when he visits Sochi for his second talks with Putin in just over two weeks.

But there are tensions. The Turkish leader was told by Putin in Tehran last month that Russia remains opposed to any new offensive that Turkey might be planning against Kurdish militants in northern Syria.

Analysts believe these strains form part of the "competitive cooperation" that has defined the two leaders' relation over the past 20 years.

"Russia's war on Ukraine has restored Turkey's self image as a key geopolitical player and given Erdogan more visibility than at any time in the last few years," European Council of Foreign Relations fellow Asli Aydintasbas wrote in a report last week.

"Most Turks support their country's balancing act and quasi-neutral position between the West and Russia."

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Truce talks

Attempts by NATO member Turkey to remain neutral in the face of Moscow's historic standoff with the West over Ukraine are starting to pay off.

Months of Turkish efforts saw Moscow and Kyiv sign a UN-backed agreement in Istanbul last month to resume grain deliveries from Ukrainian ports.

The first ship from Ukraine crossed Istanbul on Wednesday. Three more are expected to to set sail Friday under a landmark deal designed to relieve a global food crisis caused by the war.

Turkey wants to translate this success into truce talks in Istanbul between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"We discussed if the grain agreement could be an occasion for a sustainable ceasefire," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Asia on Wednesday.

Complicating these efforts are repeated threats by Erdogan to launch a new military operation in Syria — a country where Russian and Turkish interests clash.

Russia's army helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad survive a decade-long rebellion by groups backed by Turkey.

But Erdogan is threatening to invade northern Syria to establish a buffer zone that pushes out Kurdish groups he links to "terrorists" waging an insurgency against the Turkish state.

Putin told Russian media in Tehran he still has "certain disagreements, obviously" with Erdogan about Syria.

"In most likelihood, [Friday's] meeting has something do with a possible incursion into Syria, for which Turkey did not get a green light from Russia — or from Iran, for that matter," said foreign affairs analyst Soli Ozel of Istanbul's Has University.

"Russia would have to get something in return," Ozel added.

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Waiting game

Some Turkish media speculate that what Putin really wants is drones.

Turkey has been supplying Kyiv with lethal Bayraktar aerial vehicles that have proved effective in destroying Russian armored columns across the Ukrainian war zone.

U.S. officials say a Russian team has visited Iran to scope out the purchase of hundreds of drones for its own forces in Ukraine.

Erdogan has added to the intrigue by telling his cabinet that Putin asked him in Tehran to start selling the Bayraktars to Russia.

A senior Turkish official later said that Erdogan interpreted the suggestion as a joke. 

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to lend credence to the idea.

"Military and technological cooperation are always on the two countries' agenda," Peskov told reporters.

One unlikely source of tension is how the two leaders — renowned for being chronically late — will actually meet.

Erdogan made Putin stand in place for nearly 50 seconds before walking out to greet him in Tehran.

A Turkish state news agency camera zeroed in on Putin's fidgeting face the entire time.

Many interpreted this as payback for the time Putin made Erdogan wait for nearly two minutes at a meeting in 2020.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/balancing-act-erdogan-to-sound-out-putin-on-ukraine-and-syria/?feed_id=6805&_unique_id=62ec99f959c3a