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| Economy |
| As Gas Prices Continue to Soar, Congress and States Should Provide Gas Tax ‘Holiday' |
| 2022-06-02 |
| [Red State] For months, President Biden and scores of federal lawmakers have been paying lip service about Americans’ struggles to keep up with inflation, especially when it comes to rapidly rising prices at the pump. For instance, in a recent op-ed he wrote for The Wall Street Journal, Biden said he has taken "every practical step to make things more affordable for families during this moment of economic uncertainty—and to boost the productive capacity of our economy over time." He added that when it comes to record-high prices at the pump, he has specifically "led the largest release from global oil reserves in history." Yet, despite his draining of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and whatever he was referring to when he said he has taken "every practical step" to reduce inflation, Americans are still facing the fact that gas prices continue to rise and inflation is getting worse, not better. So, aside from the rhetorical gestures and hollow policies, what can Biden and Congress actually do to reduce the exorbitant price of a gallon of gasoline, which now costs an average of $4.67 per gallon? For starters, it would certainly behoove the Biden administration and Congress to strongly consider a national gas tax "holiday." As of now, the current federal tax on a gallon of gasoline stands at 18-cents-per-gallon for regular gasoline and 24-cents-per-gallon for diesel fuel. If Biden and Congress wanted to make an immediate and meaningful difference when it comes to gas prices, they would work in tandem to put these federal tax levies on hold, at least for the foreseeable future. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #19 Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound. Fix the underlying causes. |
| Posted by: magpie 2022-06-02 18:25 |
| #18 Reminder: Besides our Food & GAS being delivered by Diesel powered Semi's, needing DEF. It is also used in our Fire dept Trucks and without it, they only barely roll down the street. |
| Posted by: NN2N1 2022-06-02 18:12 |
| #17 "Bureaucrats have become like teenage males lacking a both a sense of morality and mortality." |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2022-06-02 16:43 |
| #16 Gas at high prices isn’t nearly as bad as no gas at low prices. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2022-06-02 15:37 |
| #15 The hazard of DEF shortage has the same cause as the current shortage of infant formula in the USA: government regulations and idiocy on stilts courtesy of our Top. Men. |
| Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 2022-06-02 13:46 |
| #14 bureaucrat just waiting to drop the hammer Bureaucrats have become like teenage males lacking a sense of mortality. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2022-06-02 11:31 |
| #13 Farm diesel storage - the red diesel is changing |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-06-02 11:25 |
| #12 ...On the one hand, it seems like it would be pretty easy - on the other, there's probably some bureaucrat just waiting to drop the hammer on somebody with enough balls to challenge the monopoly. Mike |
| Posted by: MikeKozlowski 2022-06-02 11:08 |
| #11 Per #5 query The collapse of DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) supply will devastate the trucking industry, which supplies everything else: food, consumer goods, auto parts and more |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-06-02 10:59 |
| #10 Urea serves an important role in the metabolism of nitrogen-containing compounds by animals and is the main nitrogen-containing substance in the urine of mammals. Perhaps someone can create the formula for truckers to create their own DEF? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2022-06-02 10:39 |
| #9 I've been converting beer into water and urea for years. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2022-06-02 10:03 |
| #8 ^ So possibly your truck may have another source of horsepower? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2022-06-02 09:49 |
| #7 DEF is urea and water, I know another fluid with those components... |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2022-06-02 09:45 |
| #6 But food comes from grocery stores, and electricity comes from wall sockets. So what are we worried about? |
| Posted by: Matt 2022-06-02 09:45 |
| #5 Seems like there was a posting about DEF here, a while back, but I can't find it. However, Urea is widely used in fertilizers as a source of nitrogen, so another component of the supply-chain issue. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2022-06-02 09:39 |
| #4 For starters, it would certainly behoove the Biden administration and Congress to strongly consider a national gas tax "holiday." As of now, the current federal tax on a gallon of gasoline stands at 18-cents-per-gallon for regular gasoline and 24-cents-per-gallon for diesel fuel. ...As far as the gas tax goes, the politicians of course understand that it's unlikely that the price will actually drop more than a few cents - if at all, where this might be approved. And if it's approved, imagine the fun when the Feds decide that enough's enough....a few months down the road when we're looking at $6-7 a gallon without the tax. And BTW, diesel prices may be irrelevant in the very near future because of a shortage of Diesel Exhaust Fluid, or DEF. It's mandatory in engines built since 2010, and is essentially urea and water, sprayed into the exhaust stream to lower emissions. What happens in DEF engines if you just say the hell with it? Glad you asked: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires vehicle manufacturers to put measures in place to ensure that vehicles cannot run without Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF). Before a truck's DEF tank runs empty the driver is given a series of alerts on their dashboard displays (much the same way as if they were running low on diesel). Generally speaking, when the DEF tank level drops below 10% an amber warning lamp will come on, at 5% this lamp starts flashing and below 2.5% a solid amber warning light is displayed. If the truck is allowed to run out of DEF the engine's power is reduced, a solid red warning will be displayed and the vehicle speed will be limited to 5 mph until the DEF tank is refilled." It hasn't gotten interesting yet. Sleep tight. Mike |
| Posted by: MikeKozlowski 2022-06-02 06:25 |
| #3 SO WE HAVE: 1. Another country 1/2 away around the world drill for it. 2. Pump it out & pipeline it over their leaky pipeline to a leaky tanker ship. 3. Transport it across 7,000+ miles of Ocean, leaking along the way. 4. Dock here, unload it into a US Pipeline. 5. Use the same existing pipelines to a US Refineries. 6. Have the oil refined by the same refineries. 7. Produce GAS/DIESEL and then pipe it across the USA the same way. So how is this better than DRILL HERE - DRILL NOW ? Wouldn't doing it HERE be safer for the environment? So how about tossing the Earth 1st for votes BS. |
| Posted by: NN2N1 2022-06-02 05:45 |
| #2 No way. The crippling of the ordinary American by high gas prices is all part of the plan. They will never release the knee from our necks. People keep assuming they want to make our lives better. This is a tragically mistaken assumption. Begin assuming that their actions are motivated by malice and that they wish to harm us. Then things will start making sense and you will be able to make hypotheses that will be confirmed by evidence. |
| Posted by: Bertie Lumumba1577 2022-06-02 04:01 |
| #1 Taxes are not likely to go away. The problem is the fossil fuel consumer. Controls on purchasing should be implemented immediately. Demand for this evil substance must be reduced. Increased costs (to include taxes) are obviously the key. [sarc off] |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2022-06-02 01:41 |