Obama labeled stimulus checks and gas tax breaks on gasoline a “gimmick” even during the 2008 election campaign. In particular, he said they failed to alleviate customers’ financial burden caused by rising petrol costs.
The Washington Post reports that Biden is lobbying Congress to temporarily eliminate federal taxes on gasoline and diesel for three months.
Prices for the former are 18.4 cents a gallon, while those for the latter are 24 cents per gallon. At the current national average price of gas, which is roughly $5 per gallon, this would save drivers an estimated 3.6 percent each time they load up.
Stimulus Checks And Gas Tax Holidays
This helps explain just why Obama has previously downplayed this policy proposal. Nonetheless, President Biden urged Congress to back this course of action on Wednesday. Also, this is happening at a time of record-high inflation and skyrocketing gas costs.
Take, for example, the price of a tank of gas at the pump: $100. Getting a discount of 3.6% would save you… $3.60! Oil corporations may react to the tax break by increasing prices if they so want.
It is hardly surprising that Obama had the same opinion in 2008. To quote one proponent: “We are fighting over a gimmick that will save about half a tank of gasoline throughout the whole summertime so that everybody in Washington can take credit for doing something.”
When it comes to discussing the price of gas and the GDP, the Biden government has had a rather clumsy communications approach for months. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, for example, came across as flippant even before he settled on the concept of a gas tax holiday by suggesting that customers could purchase an electric car as one method to circumvent the growing costs.
