Biden Betrayed By One Of His Own As Presidency Continues To Crumble
(LibertySociety.com) – With inflation and gas prices on the rise and showing no signs of slowing down, some American families are looking to the government for some much-needed financial relief. While President Joe Biden called for Congress to legislate a gas tax holiday to help at the pump, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) appeared to be against the measure. His sentiment was joined by several others from both the Republican and Democratic parties.
What Is a Tax Holiday?
Biden suggested lawmakers pass a bill that would suspend the federal gas tax from now until the end of September. Normally, the tax on regular fuel amounts to about 18.4 cents a gallon. Eliminating the tax should immediately bring down gas prices by around the same amount for drivers. However, because the move is a temporary fix, many worry the move would make gas prices worse over the long haul.
Arguments for the Holiday
Proponents of the move simply want to give citizens a financial break. Lower gas prices may not only save families some money, but it could also encourage more driving, traveling, and spending — all good things for the economy. Some states have already enacted their own tax holidays, as Governor Kathy Hochul did for New York. While a savings of 0.16 per gallon in the Big Apple only represents about a 3.2% reduction in price for drivers, every little bit of savings helps.
Biden believes the small relief could help tide families over financially while the government works on a more permanent solution.
Those Against the Move
One potential negative associated with a gas tax holiday is it could potentially play havoc with the supply and demand system in the future. Increasing demand while supply is still low and artificially keeping prices down could backfire. That’s because when the holiday expires, and the demand is still up, prices could explode even higher due to short supplies, hurting consumers.
The second negative is the lack of funding for road maintenance. The government uses gas taxes to fund federal highway and road work, via the Highway Trust Fund. Without the income, the very roads people drive on could fall victim to more wear and tear if it affects the maintenance funds. Manchin said he’s particularly concerned about that potential hole in the budget.
The West Virginia lawmaker has another problem with the gas tax holiday — politics. He asked the question: what politician is going to vote to increase the tax again right before the midterm elections?
Senator John Thune (R-SD) called it a gimmick that won’t give Americans the break they need.
What do you think of a federal tax holiday? Do you think it would do more harm than good?
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