FPI / August 21, 2022
The so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which according to the Congressional Budget Office will raise taxes on the middle class to the tune of $20 billion and will also unleash an army of 87,000 additional IRS agents on working class Americans, was made possible in large part by globalist billionaire Bill Gates, an analysis noted.
Zero Hedge on Aug. 18 pointed to an Aug. 16 Bloomberg article which highlighted Gates's relationship with West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin. The legislation would not have passed without Manchin's support.
The Bloomberg article, which "reads more like a newsletter for the Gates fan club," notes how the billionaire Microsoft co-founder "tapped into a relationship with Manchin that he'd been cultivating since at least 2019," Zero Hedge noted.
The article gushes that Gates "looks back at the new law with satisfaction. He achieved what he set out to do."
Gates is quoted as saying: "I will say that it's one of the happier moments of my climate work. I have two things that excite me about climate work. One is when policy gets done well, and this is by far the biggest moment like that."
"I don’t want to take credit for what went on," added Gates — in the Bloomberg article which gives him major credit for the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Some of the credit also goes to Clinton administration Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, who also turned the screws on Manchin in hopes he would reverse his opposition to the legislation.
The Bloomberg article states: "Gates was banking on more than just his trademark optimism about addressing climate change and other seemingly intractable problems that have been his focus since stepping down as Microsoft’s chief executive two decades ago. As he revealed to Bloomberg Green, he has quietly lobbied Manchin and other senators," (which began before Joe Biden was installed in the White House), "in anticipation of a rare moment in which heavy federal spending might be secured for the clean-energy transition."
Those discussions with Manchin gave Gates "reason to believe the senator from West Virginia would come through for the climate — and he was willing to continue pressing the case himself until the very end," the Bloomberg article adds.
Gates is quoted in the article as saying: “The last month people felt like, OK, we tried, we're done, it failed. I believed it was a unique opportunity. We were able to talk even at a time when he felt people weren’t listening.”
Zero Hedge wrote: "We know, gag us with a spoon. Apparently Gates and Manchin's bromance began when the billionaire wooed the West Virgina Senator at a 2019 meal in Seattle, in an effort to garner support for clean-energy policy. Manchin at the time was the senior-most Democrat on the energy committee."
In December of 2021, Manchin had balked at supporting the legislation, voicing concerns that it would add to the national debt and increase inflation.
At that point, Zero Hedge noted, "Gates jumped into action."
Gates met with Manchin and his wife, Gayle Conelly Manchin, at a D.C. restaurant, where they talked about what West Virginia needed.
"Manchin understandably wanted to preserve jobs at the center of the U.S. coal industry, while Gates suggested that coal plant workers could simply swap over to nuclear plants — such as those from Gates's TerraPower," Zero Hedge continued.
Manchin apparently wasn't convinced, announcing on Feb. 1 that "Build Back Better" (the Inflation Reduction Act's previous iteration) was "dead."
"In an effort to convince him otherwise, Democrats pulled together a cadre of economists and other Manchin influencers — including Summers, who convinced Manchin that the bill wouldn't raise taxes on the middle class, or add to the deficit," Zero Hedge noted.
Gates kept the pressure on Manchin on July 7, when both were in attendance at the Sun Valley media conference in Idaho.
"We had a talk about what was missing, what needed to be done," Gates said. "And then after that it was a lot of phone calls."
Free Press International
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