Thanks to Democratic policies both past and present, the costs of certain goods and services have declined, providing significant savings for many. I can personally share three examples, resulting from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
First are prescription drug costs under Medicare. My monthly bill for two prescription drugs has gone from $40 to 40 cents. That is not a typo. Under Democratic leadership, for the first time ever, Medicare has been empowered to negotiate the price of prescription drugs (Insulin prices have already been capped.) And what do the Republicans want to do? You guessed it, repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and Medicare’s ability to negotiate, and make sure everyone pays more for their medications.
I am also saving big on Internet and telecommunications. We were paying a combined monthly charge of $270, for cable, high-speed Internet and a separate land-line phone. Thanks to competition from fiber-optic cable, our monthly cost is now $70, plus another $20 for streaming TV. All in, we are saving $180 per month. The Biden-Harris administration and the Democrats pushed to pass the legislation to get broad-band Internet to under-served areas, setting up competition which leads to lower prices. And while the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was passed by members of both parties, a majority of Republican representatives and senators voted against it.
Finally, let’s talk about electric bills. A year and a half ago, we took advantage of very attractive incentives to install solar panels. Over the course of one year, we saved an average of $290 per month. In addition to the dollar savings, we are also burning less fossil fuel. Again, all of the incentives for solar (and renewables more broadly) were passed by Democrats, in the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Republicans talk about high prices. The question is, do they have any credible policies to address them? Their favorite, “Drill, baby, drill!” seeks to boost domestic oil and gas production. They don’t tell you that the domestic production is at an all-time high, and that we produce more than we consume. That’s right, we are producing fossil fuels for other countries to burn.
The Republicans have no solutions. Vote Row A across the ballot.