President Joe Biden is expected to call on Congress on Wednesday to suspend federal gas taxes through September in an effort to bring some relief to Americans struggling to deal with record-high gas prices.
While still pushing the overly-ambitious “Putin price hike” line, senior administration officials said Biden will ask for legislation to suspend both the roughly 18-cents-per-gallon tax on unleaded gasoline and the roughly 24-cents-per-gallon diesel tax for three months, according to Roll Call.
“I want to be very clear, the president is calling on Congress to take this step to help American families without harming the Highway Trust Fund, which is funded by these taxes,” a senior official said Tuesday night. “With the deficit already down by a historic $1.6 trillion this year, the president believes we can afford to suspend the gas tax and help consumers while using other revenues to make the trust fund whole for the roughly $10 billion cost.”
Biden told reporters Tuesday that the gas tax holiday, which former President Barack Obama has previously denounced as a “gimmick,” would not be “impacting major road construction and major repairs.”
Reporter on gas tax holiday: "How would you feel about the fact that those funds are used for […] repair of roads and infrastructure?"
President Biden: "It will have some impact, but it's not going to impact major road construction and major repairs." https://t.co/RDcj1w03rT pic.twitter.com/JiE7ZqC8ve
— The Hill (@thehill) June 22, 2022
The president is also looking for states, oil companies, and retailers to pause gas taxes to help offset sky-high prices brought on in part by his green energy, and anti-fossil fuel policies. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would only exacerbate already climbing gas prices.
“[Biden] believes that states, oil companies and retailers have a responsibility in this unique moment – to do their part to ameliorate Putin’s price hike,” the official said. “He’s calling on states to suspend their gas taxes or else find other ways to deliver the same relief, such as consumer rebates or relief payments.”
The Dems' so-called gas tax "holiday" is a gimmick worth 18 cents a gallon, or about 6% of the increase in gas since Biden took office.
It's meant to cover up the fact that Dem policies have restricted supply & raised costs.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) June 21, 2022
The gas industry and oil retailers are also being leaned on to cut the price of gas, Fox Business reported — while being slammed for making a profit.
(Biden sent a letter last week to seven refinery operators, including Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP, accusing the companies of driving up gas prices.)
“He is also calling on the industry to put its record profits to work and step up with more supply and more refining capacity to bring down gas prices and specifically calling for major oil refineries to come to the table with concrete solutions when the secretary of energy convenes them later this week,” an official said, according to the network.
“And when the cost of oil does come down as it has over the last couple of weeks, the president is calling on retailers to properly lower their prices and pass the savings on to consumers,” the official continued.
Seems the White House is pursuing every angle — except pushing to expand domestic drilling.
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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