Gateway Pundit – by Michael Robison
On Wednesday, a fact sheet released by the White House revealed the plan of President Biden to call on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax through September.
As gas prices nationwide continued to rest near $5 per gallon, a jump of roughly $2 per gallon more than one year ago and more than double the price when Biden took office, Americans have felt the surge of inflation. The White House is just now taking a small action that may provide temporary and minuscule relief for the American people.
The fact sheet begins by blaming Putin and the war in Ukraine as the reason for the most recent surge in gas prices. It says, “The price of gas is up dramatically around the world, and by almost $2 per gallon in America, since Putin began amassing troops on the border of Ukraine.”
The memo from the White House says that on Wednesday, Biden will be “calling on Congress and states to take additional legislative action to provide direct relief to American consumers who have been hit with Putin’s Price Hike. Specifically, he is calling on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for three months.”
Worth noting in the memo is that Biden will be asking Congress to simply print an additional $10 billion to offset the gas tax holiday to keep the “Highway Trust Fund whole.” If Congress does not approve the additional billions in spending, it leaves a deficit in the infrastructure bill passed under Biden at the beginning of his administration.
This gas tax holiday will amount to a savings of 18 cents per gallon on gas and about 24 cents per gallon on diesel. For the average American, this will provide about $2 in saving per fill-up and about $10-12 per month in financial relief.
It is a poor excuse for financial relief amid soaring inflation when food prices are up 38%, housing costs are up as much as 100%, and buying a vehicle has risen more than 48% in the last two years.
The plan doesn’t stop at the federal level; the memo goes on to state that Biden will also call “on state and local governments to provide additional consumer relief.” The memo outlines that relief as a suspension of state gas taxes and additional “relief payments” or another form of stimulus payments.
The memo is filled with the propaganda we have come to expect. Blaming Putin by saying things like “the war in Ukraine is imposing costs on American families” and touting record productions of oil and gas.
In the fact sheet, the White House continues to claim his administration has been “encouraging oil companies and refiners to boost capacity and output.” The claim is far from the truth.
When Biden first took office, he signed an executive order to suspend federal oil and gas leases. Then in May, the administration canceled millions of more acres of oil and gas drilling.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States produced oil and gas in record amounts before Biden enacted his climate change initiatives. They stated that the U.S. sold more than 25% of our daily oil production abroad.
In May, Biden proposed ending tax benefits for oil and gas production. He intended to create roughly $35 billion in tax revenues and created caution for producers to continue the rate of production.
Biden also canceled the Keystone XL’s cross-border permit, ending construction on the pipeline after a 12-year battle to construct the energy superhighway.
However, on Wednesday, Biden will call on Congress and state governments to shoulder the burden of his actions while continuing to blame Putin for the impact.
Americans can be sure this is only temporary relief because the White House memo wraps up by reaffirming Biden’s position as an enemy of fossil fuels. It states that he is committed to the “long-term efforts to transition our economy away from fossil fuels produced by autocrats and to clean energy.”