The Inflation Reduction Act and a Future-Focused Congress

TOPICS DISCUSSED

• Breonna Taylor, Alex Jones, and other headline stories

• Congress is Doing the Work

• Outside Politics: Summer Reading Recap

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EPISODE RESOURCES

• Breonna Taylor Raid Puts Focus on Officers Who Lie for Search Warrants (The New York Times)

• In Photos: Louisville Marks 1 Year Since Police Killing of Breonna Taylor (Axios)

• How Alex Jones’ Bombastic Behavior Impacts Him in Court (AP News)

• Jurors Award $45.2 Million in Punitive Damages After Lawyer for Sandy Hook Parents Asks Them to ‘Stop Alex Jones.’ (The New York Times)

• FACT SHEET: President Biden to Sign Executive Order Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services (Whitehouse.gov)

• U.S. Kills al Qaeda Leader Zawahiri in Kabul Drone Strike (Reuters)

Congress in July

• PACT Act
  Now That PACT Act Has Passed, How Soon Will Veterans See Their Benefits? (Military Times)

• CHIPS and Science Act

  Can the CHIPS Act Heal the Nation’s Economic Divides? (Brookings.edu)

  Nightly Nuance - May 19, 2021 (on Computer Chip Manufacturing)

• Safer Communities Act

  Biden Signs Gun Safety Bill into Law (NPR)

• NATO Expansion

  Senate Overwhelmingly Backs NATO Membership for Finland, Sweden (Politico)

• Inflation Reduction Act

  Democrats Passed a Major Climate, Health, and Tax Bill. Here’s What’s in It (NPR)

Summer Reading Recap

• Visit Sarah and Beth’s Bookshop.org page to see all the books mentioned on today’s podcast

TRANSCRIPT

Beth [00:00:00] This is a future-focused bill. 

Sarah [00:00:02] Now, look, that's good language.  

Beth [00:00:03] Do you like that?  

Sarah [00:00:04]  That's good! Let's use that. It's going to take a while. This is a future focused bill. I like it.  

[00:00:18] This is Sarah Stewart Holland.  

Beth [00:00:19] And this is Beth Silvers.  

Sarah [00:00:21] Thank you for joining us for Pantsuit Politics.  

Beth [00:00:36] Hello. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Pantsuit Politics, where we take a different approach to the news. We're so glad to be here with you, Sarah, and with all of you who are listening. We have a very long list to get through today. And for what I believe might be the first time in Pantsuit Politics history, it's all related to our three branches of government doing things that seem to serve the public good.  

Sarah [00:00:57] Listen, I just can't wait. I just teared up. Can we take a minute? Can we just take a minute with that? I might cry a lot in this episode. You know I just love it. Do I love anything more than government efficiency besides maybe my family members? I don't know.  

Beth [00:01:10] Well, I think it is important to take a minute with that, and that's why we're doing it today. It is not that there are only good things happening in the world. Certainly a lot deserves our attention and our care and our focus. That is really difficult, but in the midst of all that difficulty, to see and acknowledge the good matters. So we're just going to present you with a real charcuterie board of positive developments today. And then we're going to put some honey and jam on that board outside of politics by talking about the books that we read in July. It's just going to be a good one today.  

Sarah [00:01:41] It's a big government, so when it's functioning properly, there's a lot going on. And you all email and DM us a lot and say, I hope you're going to talk about this. And chances are we are, it might not all make it into the podcast feed. So every morning on our premium podcast subscriptions, I do Good Mornings, I cover the headlines. Every evening, Monday through Thursday, beth does more to say. She does a deep dive on a topic. So chances are we're covering maybe some of the things you want to talk about in those daily podcast Monday through Thursday. So if you're interested in that, go in Patreon or Apple podcast subscription, you can get a free trial on Apple Podcast subscriptions to check it out and see what you think. We would love to have you either in the mornings or in the evenings. And now let's get to some positive developments in the executive and judicial branches.  

Beth [00:02:36] Last Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland, who is constantly encouraged to do his job on Twitter, showed that he does, in fact, behave with a sense of urgency. He does, in fact, have a sense of diligence combined with urgency. He announced that the Justice Department charged four current and former Louisville police officers for their involvement in the raid that led to the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor. This indictment focuses primarily on the acts that led up to the raid of her home. And DOJ says that basically the officers involved in getting this warrant just straight up lied. They submitted an affidavit that they knew contained false and misleading statements, omitted material facts, relied on stale information and was not supported by probable cause. That is as legalese as you get for a liar-liar pants on fire to a court. Specifically, a detective was arguing to a judge that Ms. Taylor had a former boyfriend who was shipping packages to her apartment. And the detective said, "I confirmed this with a postal inspector." It turns out, DOJ says that the detective did not, in fact, confirm it with a postal inspector. And that after Breonna Taylor was shot dead, this detective met up in his garage with another detective to agree on a cover up story to tell investigators who were looking into these circumstances. So there are charges related to those lies. Deprivation of rights, conspiracy, falsification of records. And then there are separate charges against the officer who fired into the neighbors apartment, if you remember the facts here. For depriving people of rights by excessive use of force. Sarah, I think sometimes justice is delayed, but this is a good pursuit of federal oversight to take a second look at this.  

Sarah [00:04:28] I think it's so interesting that the officers who actually shot and killed Breonna Taylor are not in this indictment. And I think it's easy to be discouraged by that. But to me saying, no, this was bigger and more complex and more problematic than just what happened in the shooting itself, speaks to the criticisms that we've all been launching for two years since Breonna Taylor was killed. Which is,  to me, I don't I don't necessarily think charging the officers who shot her perpetuate the bad apple. That's not what I mean. The sort of bad apple argument, I think that they should have been charged. And I would have liked to see that the jury verdicts go another way. But I just think the Justice Department coming in and saying, listen, we're casting the net wider because we understand that the problems, especially with the warrant process, especially with no knock warrants, is bigger and we need to get at that as well. I think it's really important.  

Beth [00:05:29] I put this under the heading of our federal government functioning properly too, because taking this perspective on it gets to that federal oversight component of protecting constitutional rights as states do their police work. The federal government cannot avenge every murder, cannot correct every state jury that renders a verdict that disagrees with or that we as a public disagree with. It was Kentucky's job to take a look at what those officers did and try those officers and reach a decision. I disagree with the decision. I very strongly think our attorney general has done a horrible job in Kentucky dealing with this case.  

Sarah [00:06:10] Yeah.  

Beth [00:06:11] The federal role, though, is to say systemically, what is the problem here. And this case says systemically one of the problems is in the way that warrants are sought out. And we need to expose that and tell police departments across the country you are on constitutionally shaky ground if you are not doing your diligence to seek a warrant. So I feel really good about that.  

Sarah [00:06:35] And especially if you're lying to seek a warrant, I would like the power of the federal government to say we do not lie to seek warrants and we certainly don't cover up our lies after the fact. So I'm here for that.  

Beth [00:06:45] Not lying is a good segueway, because we're going to go now to Austin, Texas, where a jury said sometimes our lies are not protected by free speech.  A jury awarded $4.11 million in compensatory damages and $45.2 million in punitive damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis from Alex Jones and his media company Free Speech Systems.  

Sarah [00:07:10] Free Speech System.  

Beth [00:07:13] These are the parents of Jesse Lewis, who was murdered at six years old in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The compensatory damages were about $2 million for each parent because Alex Jones, as we all know, went around saying for a very long time in very specific terms that what happened at Sandy Hook was a hoax. This trial was super weird. It is not the last time we're going to see Alex Jones in this posture. There's another trial coming up in Austin, a trial in Connecticut where eight families have sued him. But it's difficult for me to not feel good about a civil verdict against Alex Jones for defaming people, calling them crisis actors and pretending that this tragedy is just a piece of a big game he's playing instead of a real instance of human suffering.  

Sarah [00:08:02] Now, super weird. Are you referencing the fact that his lawyers accidentally turned over his entire text messages? Is that the super weird part you're referencing?  

Beth [00:08:11] I mean, that's one component. There was the moment when the judge asked if he was chewing gum and he was, like, let me show you the inside of my mouth. And she said pass. I mean, it was a weird approach that he took to being on the stand. Everything about him and his interaction with systems that he constantly criticizes, the fact that he skipped some of the trial to do his show, it's just bizarre.  

Sarah [00:08:36] I mean, I would not call that moment with a text message as weird. I would call it glorious and karma and wonderful. Apparently, being turned over to the January six committee, can't wait to see where that goes. Because he was lying. He was lying that he was not talking about it in his text messages. He got caught in that lie. And especially in this moment in time in American history, after years of Donald Trump and his media minions lying all the time, for someone to be caught so openly was deeply satisfying. And I said on the News Brief this morning, Alex Jones looks like he's been rode hard and hung up wet, which is an expression we use in the South. I'm sure in other parts of the country where there are lots of horses. But he just looks like it's catching up to him. Like, how could you? How could you behave this way? How could you do this as a job, perpetuate these incredibly harmful and cruel lies about dead children on their families and it not just start to act on you, you know what I mean? Like, the body keeps the score and I don't just mean trauma that you didn't ask for. I mean, evil acts that you perpetuate. And it's just showing up all over him and his behavior in these jury verdicts. And, listen, I'm not saying I'm celebrating it, but maybe just a little I'm celebrating it.  

Beth [00:10:03] Well, this is an instance of bringing an imperfect tool to a situation that required something. Right. There is not a good way in the United States of America to just shut down Alex Jones This verdict will not change what lots of the people who've listened to him for years believe.  

Sarah [00:10:19] Or the suffering of these people.  

Beth [00:10:20] Or the suffering these families have endured. It won't bring these children back. It won't change what they've lived through. But sometimes money in our court system is what we have. And so it's an imperfect tool, an imperfect result. But thank goodness we have some public pronouncement. Just the judge saying the fact that you believe it doesn't make it true. Can we ran some billboards and pop that up everywhere? It's just a moment that feels a little bit sane in a time where everything surrounding this man in particular and his ecosystem does not feel so.  

Sarah [00:10:57] Well, and here's the important thing that I always remember. Every time I post something on Facebook and I have an exchange with somebody, it's always important to remember so many more people are watching. And this isn't just about Alex Jones. This is about all the other people who behave in the world like Alex Jones does. Looking at this verdict and thinking could I be next? This is about media companies who have a lot on the line looking at this increased liability and thinking do we need to do things differently? It does feel like we've entered a new phase with all the news about OANN and not being carried anywhere and the continued suits regarding Dominion voting. I mean, again, it's an imperfect tool and it takes a long time, but it does feel like changes happening with regards to particularly media companies who just perpetuate wild lies on the public.  

Beth [00:11:52] And all of those decisions are about risk assessment. This trial does not set a precedent for other-- like another jury could come to a totally different result in another case on the facts. We will still have individualized, highly scrutinized judicial considerations of anything that involves speech. So I don't worry about the First Amendment because it stays very particularized in those inquiries. But it does I think have-- and I'll just say it-- a chilling effect on organizations that want to disseminate something that is clearly false and extremely harmful.  

Sarah [00:12:29] And the way they're burning through our political environment, I don't mind them being chill just a little bit.  

Beth [00:12:33] Sometimes a little chill is what we're looking for. Okay. The White House has also been really busy getting things done. President Biden signed an executive order to help deal with the fallout of the Dobbs decision. And it has a lot in it. Fundamentally, it is saying to the secretary of Health and Human Services, please do everything that you can to protect abortion access through medication, to ensure that physicians know they're still responsible for saving lives if their patient in front of them is pregnant or going through pregnancy loss. Please do everything you can to protect access to contraception. Please help people who are in legal jams because of the Dobbs decision. It has data protection components. It considers federal workers and military members. But it is the White House saying we are aware of the issues. We're studying what we can do and we're rolling out what we can as it's available to us. And so I think these were good steps. This didn't look like overreach to me at all. Usually I hate executive orders because they feel like the president is trying to be the Congress. This looked like a very pointed statement to an agency already responsible for many of these things to keep on it.  

Sarah [00:13:44] I like that it was directed to Health and Human Services and not the Department of Justice. Like, we're not just going to use the criminal justice system. We're also going to use this agency that is really charged with protecting people's health because that's what's at risk here. I thought that that was a really positive direction to go in to.  

Beth [00:14:03] The last bit I wanted to cover in the executive branch, Sarah, and I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this, is that President Biden also announced that the U.S. government successfully carried out an operation to kill an al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan. I always feel weird about covering a human being's assassination as good news. I also think it's important to talk about this and to acknowledge that this was the very precise use of a drone missile. That's both good and that no civilians or family members were killed. I also find it somewhat terrifying about the world that we live in. But this was a person who had helped coordinate the 911 attacks, and the White House said, look, we withdrew from Afghanistan, we are not finished seeking justice for September 11th and we are fully capable of doing targeted military work without a presence on the ground in Afghanistan.  

Sarah [00:14:56] Yeah. I mean, Azahari was one of the most hunted terrorist in the world. And had been for decades when you're talking about sort of the brains behind 911, we're talking over 20 years ago that this man has been on the most wanted list. He was dangerous. He was continuing to lead al Qaeda. I think one of the most important fallouts from this, though, is our relationship with Afghanistan. And I don't know if relationship is even the right word for it. Obviously, they were not thrilled. They said that was violating our peace agreements after withdrawal. We said you were harboring him and that was violating our peace agreements after the withdrawal. I mean, Afghanistan just continues to degrade. The situation there is terrible. And I think our willingness to go in there and take out this leader and do this drone strike shows that we don't have a lot of investment in the relationship with the Taliban and the leadership of Afghanistan anymore. And I don't think that that's necessarily unfair. But it also leaves me in a place of continue concern for the people of Afghanistan. And the fact that there's just not a lot of aid or even positive direction when it comes to what's going to be happening in that country, especially between Afghanistan and the United States.  

Beth [00:16:21] I agree with all of that. I think this is also a moment that the White House wanted to assure the American people that America is strong, that we have capabilities, that we are continuing to look at what's going on in the world, that we aren't completely shrinking back because of the situation in Ukraine, because of China's threats regarding Taiwan. So it's a projection of strength just ahead of another anniversary of September 11th. And I think the White House has to call that good on balance.  

Sarah [00:16:50] Well, and I think it's this sense of like, see, we told you we could withdraw and still protect our security. That's what we promised you. And here we are delivering. We no longer have a presence in Afghanistan and we were still able to take out one of the most wanted terrorist in the world. I mean, I think that was a very clear message.  

Beth [00:17:08] So that was a lot. And there's more. We haven't even gotten to Congress. So we're going to check in with Congress, which has had an uncharacteristically productive run next.  

Sarah [00:17:34] I mean, Beth, is it uncharacteristic in these most recent months? Should we change our characterization of Congress's work ethic? I don't know.  

Beth [00:17:43] I'd like to see a little bit more. Just a little touch more. I'd like to run a little bit more. But what I think is so encouraging is that this is all happening at a time when Congress is supposed to be at its least effective because we're coming close to the midterms.  And it seems like the way that everything has been flipped upside down and all around lately, so have the incentives for members of Congress right now. And I like it and I think we should marinate it in it for just a bit.  

Sarah [00:18:09] Do you think they're a bit inspired by the January six committee? It's like these people out here, Liz Cheney out here knowing she's about to lose her primary. I'm not ready to call it yet for the record. But out there, these people who are really risking their political future to do this and I just feel like, how are you going to sit back and be worried about your re-election when you have these opportunities? Also not for nothing. Not for nothing. Most members of Congress, midterm problems are already over because they're focused on primaries, not general elections. So I just want to put that out there for consideration as well.  

Beth [00:18:43] I think all of that's true. And if it isn't inspiration coming from a good sincere place, I do think the Democratic leadership has just gotten a little bit of momentum under it scales. Like, okay, we can do things. We can force Republicans in a difficult position. I mean, we'll talk about Build Back Better in a second. But I think a positive of  Build Back Better kind of falling apart i s that it broke this sense of we have to keep Democrats 100% in line on every issue and take one big shot. So now we have lots of things to talk about, which is good for everybody. The first one we talked about a little bit last Tuesday is the PACT Act, that stands for Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act.  

Sarah [00:19:31] It is an acronym, but that's okay. 

Beth [00:19:32] It is an acronym. So you know what, whatever needs to happen to get this done.  

Sarah [00:19:36] Let it go. That's right.  

Beth [00:19:37] It passed 86 to 11 in the Senate. This is a key expansion of benefits for burn pit victims. There's been really good advocacy around this, especially because of Jon Stewart and all of the veterans he has worked with for years. But the gist of it is that the VA used to require strict scientific evidence for illnesses to show a definitive link between the suffering you're experiencing and your military service. And this will allow the VA to grant presumptive status to more illnesses, especially those associated with being exposed to toxic burn pits, and use a wider set of metrics to evaluate claims. And it will expand medical coverage to 10 years from five years of service through the VA. So not perfect. It's going to take several years to fully implement. There are a lot of details on how do we implement this well. But this is a very important step in the right direction.  

Sarah [00:20:32] Can we take a moment? I am frustrated because I hear this in a lot of coverage. There is so much coverage this morning, well, which we're going to get to in a minute. The Inflation Reduction Act is not perfect. It'll take a while. You guys, of course it'll take a while. We're talking about federal legislation. Would you like it to happen overnight? I would like us to abandon that posture. Oh, well, it's going to take a while to implement. Of course it will. What do you want it to do? It's a country of 330 million people. It takes a while, but there are a lot of veterans. The idea that it's a presumptive status is a huge step in the right direction for the Veterans Administration, because part of the reason it's such a beast to navigate is because you have to deal with proving everything. And so not having to prove this one thing, like that's-- and I'm sure it will shake out into other veteran administrations administrative procedures, hopefully. I just would love to abandon the idea of, like, because something will take a while. How else would that work? Like, it passes in a second? That's the court, not Congress. I would like us to stop talking about it that way.  

Beth [00:21:32] I think it's important to talk about it that way, to set expectations appropriately. It's not a criticism. But if you are sitting, waiting for health coverage and you hear this passes and you think it immediately means you're going to get the services that you've been waiting for, it's important to say some of the provisions don't go into effect until like 2026. And time matters a ton when you're sick. Time matters a ton when you're waiting for money to flow to you. So I don't say that as a criticism, but to make sure we are all on the same page that this is progress, it does not mean overnight that you're going to get everything you're looking for from it. And I think that's especially important because if those expectations are set wrongly, the instant someone is disappointed, that becomes a Fox News story about this single person in this single community who's been so failed. I was promised this and I wasn't delivered. And so I think that being really honest about how long it takes to implement some of these things matters a lot.  

Sarah [00:22:36] I wish we just could work on the language around this because I think the media takes the posture that's a criticism. Well, it's not going to help everybody immediately. Well, no shit, Sherlock! I mean, I just think that that-- but I think you're right. I mean, I do think we have to set expectations. And I think it's hard in an election cycle. And I think maybe it's the winning side, in this case the Democrats, that have to work on the language around this. That we all know that the government is a big vehicle to move. We have put all our effort into moving it. But it will take a while for all this to start showing up because when we move quickly, like we did with pandemic stimulus, there's a lot of fraud and there's a lot of mistakes. And so we have to move slowly. And  I know that that's a nuanced argument to make, and it is hard to find language around that. And I'm not even really mad. Definitely not mad at you. I'm not mad at Democrats. I'm mad a little bit at the media coverage because it's like they have to find something. They can't just say this is great and historic and it's going to change America. They have to find something. So it's always like, well, it's going to take a while. And it just drives me crazy.  

Beth [00:23:43] Maybe there are more neutral ways to describe it. Like, if you're doing a profile on this legislation, you just say this piece goes into effect in 2023. Until then, here's what you do. And it is frustrating that some of those pieces take so long to implement because there are folks who will die in the interim that this act would have helped. I want to say something about our senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, who does not support this legislation.  

Sarah [00:24:09] Is it positive?.  

Beth [00:24:11] It's not. But I want to say something about his posture on this, because I think it is important to consider where he's coming from. He is saying that he's worried this will just open up the floodgates to conditions that have no link to military service. And that makes me feel like he is more thinking of claims against the government, like tort claims. That sounds to me like a posture where you're assuming that veterans are coming to the government to get health care to which they are not otherwise entitled. And I think our posture needs to be more if you served the United States, especially in combat, that you just are entitled to health care. You just are. It is that service is going to permeate the needs of your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual body forever. And we owe it to you to meet those needs from now on.  

Sarah [00:25:09] To me, it's just silly. When you're in service, it's your whole life. How are you going to compartmentalize something now that was caused by something different when you're in the military, when you're overseas, when you're on a base? It's not a 9 to 5 job. Like, I don't understand. And it's particularly offensive from somebody in health care that understands in health care, it's hard to compartmentalize stuff out. It's hard to track a single cause, even a single symptom to a single condition.  I mean, what am I supposed to say about him at this point, honestly?  

Beth [00:25:46] Well, I would just like to say, especially given that he is up for re-election, we should consider how it is that he seems to be thinking about members of our military, not just his budget hawkishness here. Okay. Well, let's move on back to the good stuff.  The Chips and Science Act has already been signed into law.  

Sarah [00:26:03] He's not going to detour us with his negativity.  

Beth [00:26:05] That's right. Chips and Science passed the Senate 64 to 33.  

Sarah [00:26:10] So excited about this one.  

Beth [00:26:12] Two hunred and eighty billion dollars. Fifty two billion for making semiconductor chips in the United States, hence the name. There's lots of money for research and supply chains and STEM education and trying to increase the number and kinds of people who are doing innovative work in the United States. I love-- and I haven't heard much about this-- the focus on ensuring that we don't just have the current tech hubs in America getting bigger and bigger, but that we are trying for a better geographic distribution of tech throughout the country. This thing has $10 billion in it over five years to create 20 tech and innovation hubs in areas that are not currently leading tech centers. That's huge. Think of what that will do for communities across the United States.  

Sarah [00:27:00] Well, and you didn't even touch on the national security issues that all our chips are made in Taiwan. I don't know if you've heard recently, but there's been some dust up between us and China over Taiwan.  Listen, we sat during the pandemic and we said over and over again, what has happened is that we have exposed all these problems. We've seen these real weaknesses in our country, in our manufacturing, in our economy, in our national security. And the best possible outcome is that after all this suffering, that these weaknesses that we've exposed, we will address. And this is what we have done when it comes to the chips. I don't know anything more positive to say than that. We saw it. It was a problem. It is a problem that affected so many aspects of American life and now we're addressing it. Well, again with our [Inaudible] some tears right there.  

Beth [00:28:03] Well, also, the story of this legislation tells you a lot about how things actually get done. They have been working on this for a long while. I did a more to say episode, I don't know, a year ago about what was then called the Endless Frontier Act. It's had a bunch of different names because they keep working on it.  

Sarah [00:28:24] It took the accronym to get it done, Beth.   

Beth [00:28:27] I guess so, whatever. Senator Todd Young of Indiana, a Republican, and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, a Democrat, hung out in the gym kicking this thing back and forth for a very, very, long time. And then it gets pushed through the committees and then it gets negotiated and turned around. It has been, in my view, no brainer legislation since they first started chatting about it at the gym. But it just took a while to get here and hopefully it was made better in the process and probably some things were made worse in the process because that's how processes go. But I'm so glad to see this getting done.  

Sarah [00:29:00] And before we move on to the NATO expansion, which I think is key and related to this, can we just throw in-- because I just think when we're listing things, it's important to keep like a really good listener head, which is the gun control legislation. And the reason I bring this up is Ezra Klein had a podcast recently about mental health. And the expert was like the mental health czar of California. And he said, look, I don't know what it'll do for gun control legislation, but it's going to change mental health. Same with the infrastructure bill. When you hear people that have done this policy work for decades and they say everything is different now, you got to sit up and listen. You got to take notice when mental health people who have every reason to be jaded and discouraged about the state of our system. And I think this is another place where we saw all these problems during the pandemic and we said, okay, we have to start working on this. And, look, I think it's almost like we need to find another way to start talking about the gun control legislation. It's like we need to say every time gun control and mental health legislation, because it is a once in a generation investment in our mental health system in combination with I know you covered on More To Say the 988 hotline. I just think that that is going to change and save so many lives separate from the gun control police, which I also believe will change and save lives. I want that to be on every list we start making about all these positive changes that have come from Congress.  

Beth [00:30:30] So Congress has voted to admit Finland and Sweden tornado. Now, obviously, that takes more than just the United States Senate. But an important step for us in America to ratifying the treaty is having Senate the Senate vote. All 30 NATO members are expected to complete their ratification process by the end of the year. 95 senators voted yes on this. Only one voted no, that was Josh Hawley.  

Sarah [00:30:55] I don't want to talk about him.  

Beth [00:30:56] Rand Paul voted present, but 95 people said yes. Ninety Five people said yes on this. Ninety five people in 2022 said yes to something.  

Sarah [00:31:06] There's nothing not to love about Finland and Sweden. That's just the truth.  

Beth [00:31:09] Two of my favorite places on Earth. That's true. Okay. The Inflation Reduction Act we should get to, because that is the big news of the week.  

Sarah [00:31:17] We have spent so much time and we haven't even gotten to the biggest thing yet.  

Beth [00:31:21] This is 755 pages of legislation and $750 billion. I would like to stop there and propose a test as we go to vote in the midterms. I think we should look at the people on the ballot for federal office and say would I trust you to spend $1,000,000,000 a page? Do you sound like someone who should be able to spend $1,000,000,000 a page? If no, then let's think differently.  

Sarah [00:31:44] So Marjorie Taylor Greene praying in the fake jail at CPAC would be a no.  

Beth [00:31:48] Would be a no for me. That would be a no, I'd pass on that. 

Sarah [00:31:50] Okay. That's a good idea. I like that.  

Beth [00:31:53] This is a future focused Bill.  

Sarah [00:31:55] Now, look, that's good language. 

Beth [00:31:57] Do you like that?  

Sarah [00:31:58] That's good! Let's use that. It's going to take a while. This is a future focused bill. I like it.  

Beth [00:32:04] Well, I think it is important to say that because I think inflation is like a ghost word right now. To some of us, it means gas. To some of us, it means back to school supplies were really expensive this year. Some people are talking about jobs. Like we're all over the place on what inflation means.  

Sarah [00:32:19] The jobs report was sizzling. So some economists are, like, I don't know what inflation means.  

Beth [00:32:23] I don't know what inflation means. I don't know what a recession is. I don't know what's happening with the economy I don't know how to fix it. 

Sarah [00:32:28]  The economy has decided to also enter a new phase after the pandemic, just bs.  

Beth [00:32:33] As you were saying, we need new language. I thought that is evergreen for everything right now. New language. But anyway, whatever your personal definition of inflation is, it is probably not going to be reduced right this minute by this legislation. But over time, this is another game changer. Three hundred billion dollars invested in energy and climate. That means investments in solar and wind, tax credits on electric vehicles and energy efficient homes. It is expected to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 40% at the end of the decade.  

Sarah [00:33:05] Oh my god, stop. Forty percent. And can I just say I am concerned about inflation. You know what I'm even more concerned about? Climate change. And you know what is not disconnected from each other? Inflation and climate change. If you don't think that addressing climate change and reducing our dependance on fossil fuels will address the cost of things as we deal with incredible and increasing fallout from our changing climate with regards to weather events, then I don't know what to tell you. They're interconnected.  

Beth [00:33:40] And climate change is just a piece of what happens here. We also have huge health care changes. We talked on Tuesday about allowing the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs for Medicare. That will be 10 drugs by 2026, 20 drugs by 2029.  

Sarah [00:34:00] But not like just random drugs, the most popular drugs.  

Beth [00:34:02] Right. Really important ones. Who knows what the effect of that will be? That will reverberate throughout the entire economy. A $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for people on Medicare beginning in 2025. An extension on health care subsidies in the Affordable Care Act to try to keep costs down. And then we get to the taxing side of it. Fifteen Percent minimum tax for corporations making 1 billion with a B dollars or more in income.  

Sarah [00:34:29] I mean, I don't know about you, Beth, but I pay more than 15%. So I would like them to pay that minimally. 

Beth [00:34:33] Quite a lot more than 15%. A 1% excise tax on stock buybacks. I'm going to go in to this excise tax versus capital gains carried interest situation on More To Say next week so that we really know what we're talking about there. This is the Senator Sinema universe. But the bottom line is a lot of revenue coming in from places that the vast majority of Americans believe are not paying enough today to fund all the initiatives in this act. And there's also deficit reduction in this act. So this is not just spend, spend, spend, tax, tax, tax. It is also let's get our fiscal house in order as we do some new initiatives.  

Sarah [00:35:15] I mean, I even felt just like the Republican criticism was so half hearted. Even Mitch McConnell, it just was like they're doing what they always do. But I didn't feel like he felt it. I feel like deep down even some of the Republicans-- even though not a single damn one of them voted for it-- were like this is probably going to help some things.  

Beth [00:35:34] I have a theory about this. I was reading Mitt Romney's statement carefully on this, which I did feel like that half heartedness leaping through the page.  

Sarah [00:35:42] Yeah. You're not even trying to convince me.  

Beth [00:35:46] And I realized because we're so close to the midterms, if you are a Republican who is not on board with Donald Trump and does not believe any of the Josh Hawley MAGA ecosystem stuff and you are definitely wanting to vote for the burn pit legislation, you definitely would like to codify Roe versus Wade, you definitely would like to vote for marriage equality down the line here--  

Sarah [00:36:15] So like Susan Collins.  

Beth [00:36:16] Where am I finding my reason for being a Republican when this is the legislation Democrats are putting up? So I see how they decided. I just can't vote for this, too, because then how do I say to people, no, I'm actually a Republican. I feel like this is the one place where they go, well, let me get the old song and dance out about not spending too much money because where else do I go right now?  

Sarah [00:36:38] And I feel that for voters too. I know that our current political environment is driven by emotion, not policy. I get that. I understand where we are. I'm not in denial. But for the people who do, like, for the people who aren't driven by party identity-- and there a lot of them in America-- how do you not look at the massive tax cuts that ballooned our deficit as the major achievement coming out of the Trump administration and look at this? Not even counting the rest of the list and go, yep, no mistake there. I'm struggling. I'm well. And, listen, I'm a Democrat since I'm 18. It's not that I'm not biased. I get it. But just on paper, how do you not say this is a step in the right direction? Because I think for the majority of Americans, who doesn't think we really need to get to the cost of drugs. It's a very popular poll. We do need to start addressing climate change. We need to invest in renewable energies. I just struggle. I struggle.  

Beth [00:37:37]  I really like this legislation and everything we've talked about because I think they all look like compromises. They look like places where there was a big, bold vision, some real resistance and hesitation about that vision. Because as we've seen from the COVID bills, every action by the federal government has dramatic consequences. Some we can anticipate and some we cannot. And so this to me feels like let's try some things and see how they go. And we can build on this and we can continue to work with it and we can get some successes without stretching the government too far and it failing in some of these good ideas. I just like how much this became an exercise of what gets the most people behind it?  

Sarah [00:38:24] Yes.  

Beth [00:38:26] That's what we're supposed to do, right? We're supposed to get the most people behind a thing.  

Sarah [00:38:29] And I just remember where we were not a month ago. Biden has lost. Everything's a failure.  I mean, it's just a friendly reminder to never fall for those stories. Just don't fall for them, guys. Pay attention to what gets passed and what impacts people's lives and all the ideas about where the American people are and approval ratings are of limited, limited impact. You know what I'm saying? Like, they fill the pages, but I'm not sure they matter.  

Beth [00:39:02] And if you are disappointed by what got left out, lesson number one to strategist, I think is to stop acting like you already have something because someone wrote it down on a piece of paper as a proposal. Because seeing people say, like, well, we would have gotten 850 billion if we had done it at this point in time. Well, you didn't and you haven't lost anything because you never had that. It was an idea, but it didn't come to fruition. But also, a lot of the ideas embedded in this legislation, which now sounds like common sense legislation that could have been easily passed on a bipartisan basis in another environment, have been for years socialized by people who sounded like fringe candidates when they started socializing them. It took Al Gore a very long time to convince everybody that climate change is a real thing. There are Bernie Sanders ideas embedded in pretty much everybody being like, yeah, 15% minimum tax on corporations. That sounds that's right. It just takes a long time to get these things into the public stream. I too am disappointed that there isn't family caregiving infrastructure here. And also I think we're not far from that. I really think we're not far from that because we keep saying this is important, we need to do it, we need to do it. And eventually there will be the proposal that hits at the right time and it will happen.  

Sarah [00:40:26] Because here's how I feel. Look, we just made this amazing list. We didn't even get to the infrastructure, but we didn't put that unless we even talk about that. It's still real. It's still going to be impacting communities across the United States. And I think how this feels to me is in this terrible, intense political environment that things can get done and that this pace of change we all feel in our lives is starting to impact Congress, this increased pace of change that we have all felt such whiplash from over the last few years, it's hitting Congress. Things are changing. They're changing faster. Ideas are coming to fruition faster than I have ever seen in my history of both working on the Hill and following Capitol legislation closely. Like, it matters. It's happening. It's changing. You have new leadership there. And actually on that new leadership point, can I just say a quick thing? I just said that we shouldn't pay attention to political stories about approval ratings and politics and all that. And I mean it. And also, there's been so much coverage about Joe Biden and whether he's going to run again, which he says he is. And whether he's too old. Which I believe he will be too old to run again. Just to say that on the record. I just think, man, look at this list, dude. Like, look at this list. Do you feel like you need to? Do you feel like there's stones left unturned? Do you feel like there's so many more important things you need to do? This is one of the most productive single terms. Be so proud of what you've done. Be so proud of what you did. And use that momentum to pass the torch. It's just I love him. I'm so proud of him. I think this list is incredible and I think it is due in large part to the leadership of a man who understood the United States Senate so incredibly well and his team and the administration and the leadership in the Senate. Absolutely. He knew when to step in and he knew when to get out of the way. He deserves a lot of credit. So does Chuck Schumer. But I kind of feel like, man, look at this list and be proud and and use the energy from this incredible list of accomplishments to pass the torch.  

Beth [00:42:43] I have a lot of thoughts about that. I feel like it's a whole other episode.  

Sarah [00:42:45] It is. It's not fair for me to throw this in at the end. I know.  

Beth [00:42:48] What I want to interject, though, is a note of appreciation for the president. Our listener, Kate, sent us this, that Chris Coons told MSNBC that President Biden called to thank the Senate cloakroom staff who worked all night over the weekend to get this legislation through.  

Sarah [00:43:04] Stop.  

Beth [00:43:04] And I love that. And I cosign it and appreciate it. Okay, Sarah, I have one question for you as we wrap up. So we've said good job, Congress. You got some momentum. You're doing all the things. What is your before the midterms wish list from this Congress? What else would you like to see them get done right quick? As my grandmother would have said.  

Sarah [00:43:24] I don't know. I mean, I would like legislation protecting the right to an abortion, obviously. I think asking any more of them at this point is talking against what I just said, which I was just so grateful for what you guys have done. I mean, I don't think it has to be massive. I think there's probably a lot of worthy legislation that's not going to make a headline that they can make progress on and get through honestly. What about you?  

Beth [00:43:50] I want the Electoral Count Act reform done.  

Sarah [00:43:53] Oh, yes. I agree with that.  

Beth [00:43:54] That's my top priority. 

Sarah [00:43:55] Yes, I don't think they will.  

Beth [00:43:56] And I agree with you about some codification of Roe versus Wade. I would like federal protection for marriage equality to get done. My out there dream that is too much of an ask is I would like marijuana to be legalized at a federal level. That is probably mostly personal. Having spent some time with my mom who's suffering deeply in a state where medical marijuana is not available, and I think it's a travesty and unforgivable really. But I think it would go a long way in states like ours toward legalization to have it not be a crime at the federal level anymore. I just feel like that is the majority position, too. That's a majority position.  

Sarah [00:44:37] Right. And it's not figuratively a crime at the federal level. It's just literally it's not like they're out there prosecuting it.  

Beth [00:44:45] Right. But it causes problems with money and banking.  I mean, there are issues around it. So just clear that path is what I would like.  

Sarah [00:44:53] That's a good list.  

Beth [00:44:54] I think that's a good list. Next up, we'll talk about the books that we read over the summer. We always end with something outside of politics because life contains multitudes and we both set off into July planning to do some reading. I would love to hear about what you read, Sarah, and what you most enjoyed.  

Sarah [00:45:20] What should we break it up into? Fiction and nonfiction?  

Beth [00:45:23] Sure.  

Sarah [00:45:23] What do you want to do first?  

Beth [00:45:25] Let's do nonfiction first.  

Sarah [00:45:26] Okay. I didn't read a lot of nonfiction over the summer because I was like, I'ma take a break. I am working my way slowly right now through What Happened To You. The book Oprah put out with a doctor about trauma and it is incredible. I think that's a subject matter that I thought I knew. And I'm learning a lot in that book. So I really, really love that. I did read Traveling Mercies from Anne Lamott. I know you love Anne Lamott, and I do, too. I have to take her in small doses. And I think this book might have been too big of a dose. It's an older one of her books. And man, her language on weight is terrible.  

Beth [00:46:01] Yeah.  

Sarah [00:46:02] It's too heated and terrible and hard to read. But I did also read Help, Thanks, Wow and I loved it. I didn't read a ton of nonfiction. What about you?  

Beth [00:46:10] I am deep in the Trump Retrospectives.  

Sarah [00:46:14]  You're going to read them all?  

Beth [00:46:16] Because I learned something new with each of them. I feel like I get a deeper, richer characterization. It just all of these issues still feel so live to me that I want the most perspective I can get on them.  

Sarah [00:46:28] Yeah, that's fine.  

Beth [00:46:28] And I also feel like it's a service to our listeners because if everybody reads all of these, that's really depressing.  

Sarah [00:46:33] I will be reading Maggie's. Maggie Haberman. A hundred percent. 

Beth [00:46:38] So I finally finished This Will Not Pass. I read I Alone Can Fix -- well, I'm still in I Alone Can Fix It. I read Thank You For Your Servitude. That is Mark Leibovich's book. He kind of planted himself in the Trump Hotel during the Trump years and observed all the comings and goings there. It's kind of gossipy, but it gave me a lot of texture that some of the other books did not. I read Tim Miller's Why We Did It. We're going to have Tim on to talk about that relatively soon. And then I read Anne and Lamott. I read Almost everything, which is I think one of her more recent writings. The idea is this is almost everything I know for sure, and they're just little essays and they're beautiful. That was a lovely book. And that was a nice palate cleanser to all of these Trump year books.  

Sarah [00:47:26] Love it. Now, which fiction did you read?  

Beth [00:47:29] I went very easy on myself with fiction. I had planned to read People You Meet on Vacation from Emily Henry. And several of our listeners, after I said I planned to read it, reached out and said don't read that one. That's not her best work.  

Sarah [00:47:42] That's my least favorite of hers. I agree.  

Beth [00:47:45] So, instead, I picked a book off the library recommended shelf called Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews. It's just a fun woman who wants to have a cooking show and her rival who also wants a cooking show on this network, fall in love, whatever. It was a delight. It was like a day read. I read Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner. I have feelings about weight conversation in that book. Also, it is a book I would like to sit down and discuss with a highly curated book club because the main character is a plus size influencer. And I just felt some kind of way about all of that.  

Sarah [00:48:25] Yeah, I read that. I read Big Summer last summer. And it's weird. There's like a true kind component.   

Beth [00:48:32] Yeah. 

Sarah [00:48:33] I read her books really fast, so they don't have a lot of impact. My memory of them is not strong. I like her. I've never liked any book as much as I liked her first book Good and Bad. But I do think she can write a summer read like nobody's business.  

Beth [00:48:48] Yeah. The storyline was fun and interesting. I just had a lot of feelings about the way that the main character was described. And then I read One Last Stop by Casey Mcquiston. Casey Mcquiston wrote Red, White and Royal Blue, which I loved.  

Sarah [00:49:03] Oh, yeah, I remember you talking about that one. 

Beth [00:49:05] It was so fun and just romantic and interesting and great. And One Last Stop was wild and out there and the whole time you're, like, I don't understand why I like this, but I really like it. It made me feel very uncool because it's about a bunch of like 20 somethings living in New York. But it is a wonderful love story about two women from different times and the way that they fall for each other and the community of people that get built around their love. It's a really lovely book. Casey Mcquiston can write just fantastic work. So that was my fiction. What about you?  

Sarah [00:49:43] I read a lot of fiction. That's primarily what I've read through July. The best novel I read was Lessons in Chemistry, which was a high recommendation from Anne Bogle on her summer reading guide and it is fantastic. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it because I was like chem is all like science. It is really, really good. It has great momentum. The characters are fabulous. I love it. I highly recommend it. If you like novels at all, you will like this book. It is really, really great, but also has important things to say. It's not just fluff. I can't say enough about it. I really loved it. I read Book Lovers, which I think might be my new favorite Emily Henry. I agree that people you meet on vacation is my least favorite.  Did you read Beach Read?  

Beth [00:50:30] I did.  

Sarah [00:50:31] Okay. I actually think I might like Book Lovers more than Beach Read. 

Beth [00:50:34] Really? I'll have to [Inaudible] that. I loved Beach Read.I thought it was really fun. 

Sarah [00:50:37] I loved Beach Read. Listen, this woman can write and open door like nobody's business. So good. Loved it, thought it was great. Read it really quickly. I also read Olympus Texas. I like a sprawling family narrative.  I guess because I'm an only child, I don't know. But I like a lot of siblings. I like a lot of drama between the siblings. This one is great. It has these Greek undercurrents to it. It's about this family in a small town in Texas. Loved it. Loved Olympus Texas. I read Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. I kind of wish I had not read it before the movie, if I'm being honest, because I think it took away from the movie, which I think I would have enjoyed. Otherwise, I know this from our friend Holly, my [Inaudible] used to always say you see the movie first so you can enjoy the movie. But then I have sometimes get in trouble through the book when I know what's going to happen. It's really a catch 22. But I actually really think the book is better. It's very short. It's like a novella, it's like 120 pages, but I really liked it. Then I read Groundskeeper Bailey Cole, which is he is from my hometown of Paducah, Kentucky. Fun fact, his father was the first police officer to ever pull me over. He was friends with my parents, and he said, "I told your mom, I'd pull you over the first time."   

Beth [00:51:47] I  do not like that small town feature. No, thank you. 

Sarah [00:51:49] It was it was kind of good. It was, like, I told your mom I'd pull you over because I'm watching you. Like, everybody's watching you, so don't be speeding. Don't be doing that. I didn't take it that. It wasn't creepy, I promise. I also didn't have my lights on and it was like 5:30 at night. He was, like, you got to turn your lights on when it gets dark. I was like, I forgot, but I remember now. Anyway, it was weird to read a book so predominantly about a place and have a very different experience of that place. It was kind of an intense experience. I'm not mad at his [Inaudible]. It's his experience of our home. But mine was different. And even like knowing his dad and reading-- like it's fiction in theory, but it is heavily influenced by his life. In a way that it was so heavily influenced I felt a little bit like he was creating a new genre. That's how intense the overlap is. It was picked by Jenna for her book club on the Today Show, so it was very exciting for people around here and I wish him all the best. But it was kind of an intense read just because of my personal experience. I read Black Cake, which was on Obama's list. I did not love it, to be honest. I thought it had too many characters and it got a little way down. And then I listened to the remains of the day on audio, which I had never listened to before, and it was just really beautiful. I mean, it's a classic for a reason. So I'm glad I snuck in a classic over the summer. But, yeah, I read a lot of fiction. I like fiction in the summer. I need a break on more than one level. So I read a lot of fiction.  

Beth [00:53:10] It helped me in July to only read one book at a time and to tell myself I'm going to read the nonfiction, reward myself with a fiction.That's a good pattern. I'm going to see if I can keep that up. Because usually when we're working, I have a bunch of things going at once and they just linger forever and I kind of lose interest. So I'm hoping if I focus in with that pattern that I can keep up my reading time.  

Sarah [00:53:32] Yeah, I never read one book at a time. That's just not a thing I do. I get books from the library, so I have a deadline that helps me. I've noticed I just need a deadline for like the first third. I need to know like I'm reading this many pages and then once I get to a certain point, especially with fiction, the plot propels me and I just want to finish it. I never use my pages a day framework through the rest of the book, but I do need it for like the first third pretty often.  

Beth [00:53:58] Well, we'll make sure that all of these are linked and you can find them easily. Go to the show notes, Maggie and Alise will be sure that you have access to these lists so that you don't have to take notes in your car while you're listening or wherever you are. Thank you so much for spending time with us today. Please do not forget to check out Sarah's Good Morning. In about 10 minutes, she'll have you laughing, sometimes tearing up a little bit, staying up to date on what's happening in the world. We'll be back with you on Friday. We're going to catch up on more news. And we'll think some deep thoughts about social media. It's been a minute. We just need to check in with what's going on on social media. Until then, have the best week available to you.  

[00:54:39] Pantsuit Politics is produced by Studio D Podcast production. Alise Napp is our managing director.  

Sarah [00:54:44] Maggie Penton is our community engagement manager. Dante Lima is the composer and performer of our theme music.  

Beth [00:54:50] Our show is listener-supported. Special thanks to our executive producers.  

Executive Producers (Read their own names) [00:54:54] Martha Bronitsky. Linda Daniel. Ali Edwards. Janice Elliott. Sarah Greenup. Julie Haller. Helen Handley. Tiffany Hasler. Emily Holladay. Katie Johnson. Katina Zugenalis Kasling. Barry Kaufman. Molly Kohrs.  

[00:55:11] The Kriebs. Laurie LaDow. Lilly McClure. Emily Neesley. The Pentons. Tawni Peterson. Tracy Puthoff. Sarah Ralph. Jeremy Sequoia. Katie Stigers. Karin True. Onica Ulveling. Nick and Alysa Villeli. Katherine Vollmer. Amy Whited.  

Beth [00:55:30] Jeff Davis. Melinda Johnston. Ashley Thompson. Michelle Wood. Joshua Allen. Morgan McHugh. Nichole Berklas. Paula Bremer and Tim Miller.