Stephen Colbert hosted former Obama staffers and current hosts of "Pod Save America" Jon Lovett, Jon Favreau, and Tommy Vietor on CBS's "The Late Show" Tuesday to lavish praise on the Inflation Reduction Act, which was agreed to last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
During the segment, Favreau praised the bill and some Democrats' efforts to convince Manchin to support the bill despite his initial opposition. "I think that he was persuaded that this is the - might be the last chance - literally the last chance to save the planet," Favreau said.
"And that he can help do that with a bill that was also good for the economy, good for West Virginia, and also good for his own politics," Favreau continued.
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"It's a good lesson to like never give up on voting, never give up on organizing, never giving up on persuasion because like 40,000-50,000 votes go the other way in Georgia and we're not talking about this climate bill anymore and now we are because Joe Manchin is there and we didn't give up on persuading him and fellow Democrats didn't give up on persuading him," he continued.
Favreau also criticized Democrats who wanted to kick Manchin out of the party, strip him of his committee assignments, and impose other punitive measures because "if that happened we wouldn't be talking about a climate bill right now."
"How good is this bill?" asked Colbert.
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Lovett answered Colbert's question, "So, I know we've been hurt by politics, we're wounded bird. So, when I went to look at the details I really expected to find bull----, you know?"
"It's surprisingly good, it's a really surprisingly forward-looking and really positive step on climate change," he said.
Lovett conceded that "the estimates from experts say that this will get us 31-44%" of the carbon emission reductions they say is needed to combat climate change.
He added that the bill will cut "a bunch of terrible stuff that makes life worse and shorter for a lot of people."
"That's obviously anathema to the Republicans, that's their midterm slogan: We'll make life worse and shorter," Lovett added.
"End of thought," he concluded.
The University of Pennsylvania Wharton Budget Model projects the Manchin-Schumer spending bill will actually raise inflation slightly until 2024.
