Welcome back to the Ten Blocks podcast. This is Brian Anderson, the editor of City Journal.

Joining me on the show

today is Brian Reedle. He's a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, works on fiscal and

economic policy. Brian has previously worked as the chief economist to Senator Rob Portman

and as the staff director of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on fiscal responsibility and economic growth.

Brian, thanks again for coming on. Always good to have you.

Thanks a lot, Brian. I appreciate it.

Well, there's a lot going on, as I'm sure you've been following.

You know, a couple of weeks ago, the Democrats faced the prospect of coming into the midterm election cycle with not much to show for their majority in Congress.

The buildback better package was basically dead.

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin was, you know, opposing a slim-down deal on climate change and health care.

But then, you know, surprisingly, last week, Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer

announced that they had reached an agreement on a bill that's since been dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act.

Now, this bill hasn't passed yet.

The Democrats are still working out the details.

You know, it's a far cry from the multi-trillion dollar billback better agenda that had

been initially proposed.

It is meaningful legislation.

Hundreds of billions of dollars are involved in new federal spending.

There's changes in health care, tax hikes, all sorts of things.

So, you know, I guess the first question is, what do you make of this bill?

What should we make of it?

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