A significant share of battleground-state voters are not convinced the Biden administration’s signature climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, is benefiting the U.S. economy, according to a new poll shared exclusively with National Review.
Likely voters in battleground states were surveyed on the state of the economy, the Inflation Reduction Act, and what they believe to be the cause of inflation, a major issue this election cycle. Less than one-third, 30 percent, said the Inflation Reduction Act has been helpful to the economy, compared to 42 percent who said it harmed the economy and 20 percent who do not believe it made any impact.
The survey — conducted by CRC Research on behalf of the 85 Fund, a conservative nonprofit — asked voters how their opinion on the Inflation Reduction Act would change if they were aware of a provision in the legislation that shifts $230 million from Medicare to subsidize electric vehicles. When presented with this question, 73 percent of respondents were either much less or somewhat less likely to support the legislation, and 17 percent were somewhat more likely or much more likely to support it.
“The IRA, as President Biden himself admitted, was never about reducing inflation, which it actually increased, but about funding Democrat pet projects like EV subsidies that disproportionately go to the well off. To pay for it, they fabricated a price setting scheme for Medicare drugs, but the plan was so thoroughly botched that drug prices have risen, as has the cost of Part D coverage, and now the Biden-Harris team is raiding the Treasury again to cover their mistakes,” said Joe Grogan, a former domestic policy official in the Trump administration.
A slight majority, 54 percent of respondents, somewhat or strongly agreed with the statement that drug prices have gone up since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed in 2022, and 29 percent of those surveyed either somewhat or strongly disagreed with the statement. Prescription drug prices have increased nearly 40 percent over the past decade, a total much greater than the overall rate of inflation.
A whopping 95 percent of the likely voters surveyed said prices are noticeably higher than they were four years ago. Over two-thirds, 68 percent of respondents, said grocery prices were the biggest economic challenge they and their families are dealing with.
“Despite its promise to reduce inflation and lower drug prices, the IRA did the opposite, pouring gas on the inflationary bonfire and creating chaos in the market for seniors’ prescription drug coverage. The question for this November is whether voters will see through the spin and deception and vote to restore sanity to our economic policy,” said former Ohio state treasurer Ken Blackwell.
Critics of the Inflation Reduction Act have singled out the Biden administration for its “premium stabilization” policy to mask a surge in Medicare Part D costs caused by the Inflation Reduction Act’s changes to the program.
“In addition to price-fixing the cost of Medicare prescription drugs, we’re beginning to see the effect the Inflation Reduction Act has on Part D with increases in premiums, fewer plan choices, and higher out-of-pocket expenses. It’s a myth to believe that this bad law reduces inflation because AMAC members are telling us that they’re still struggling to pay for groceries and medications for their chronic conditions,” said Bob Carlstrom, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens Action, the organization’s advocacy arm.
Cost estimates for the Inflation Reduction Act have increased significantly since the law was passed along partisan lines two years ago, because its climate subsidies have shown to cost more than expected. The legislation does not appear to have made any impact on inflation.
Poll respondents attributed inflation to a variety of causes, with 22 percent blaming spending for high prices and 21 percent finding government regulations responsible for the increases. Another 18 percent said the coronavirus pandemic was the cause of inflation and 16 percent cited growing budget deficits. Eight percent of the sample said foreign conflicts were the reason for inflation and six percent blamed tax cuts, with 10 percent being unsure of the cause of inflation.
The online poll was conducted from July 31 to August 5 and featured 2,800 respondents from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The sample was controlled to ensure it accounts for various demographic groups and its margin of error is 1.85 percent plus or minus. Republicans made up 36 percent of the sample and Democrats were 38 percent of the sample, with the rest being independents.