… And if they don’t, they are Russian sympathizers.
Delivering remarks from the stage built next to the White House, earlier today Joe Biden demanded that congress and states suspend gasoline taxes for 90-days in order to offset the massive price increases his energy policy has created. {Transcript Here} Additionally, Biden says any political opposition to his demand means his opponents support Russia:
“for all those Republicans in Congress criticizing me today for high gas prices in America, are you now saying we were wrong to support Ukraine? Are you saying we were wrong to stand up to Putin? Are you saying that we would rather have lower gas prices in America and Putin’s iron fist in Europe? I don’t believe that.” {Direct Rumble Link}
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It will be worth watching how California Governor Gavin Newsom responds to this instruction. California has the largest gasoline taxes in the nation and uses them to fund the majority of their left-wing policies.
Full video and transcript below.
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[Transcript] – “Good afternoon, everyone. I’d like to talk to you about the actions I’m announcing to bring down gas prices.
First, today I’m calling on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for the next 90 days, through the busy summer season — busy travel season.
Here’s what that means: Every time you go to the gas station to fill your tank, the federal government charges an 18-cent tax per gallon of gas that you purchase and a 24-cent tax per gallon of diesel you purchase. It’s a tax that’s been around for 90 years.
It’s important because we use it for the Highway Trust Fund to keep our highways going. But what I’m proposing is suspending the federal gas tax without affecting the Highway Trust Fund.
And here’s how we do that: With the tax revenues up this year and our deficit down over $1.6 trillion this year alone, we’ll still be able to fix our highways and bring down prices of gas. We can do both at the same time.
By suspending the 18-cent gas tax — federal gas tax for the next 90 days, we can bring down the price of gas and give families just a little bit of relief.
I call on the companies to pass this along — every penny of this 18-cents reduction — to the consumers. This is — there’s no time now for profiteering.
There are a number of other proposals by Democrats in the House and the Senate, and I hope my call for action can help move those proposals forward as well. But we can also cut gas prices even more in another way.
That’s why the second action I’m taking is calling on states to either suspend the state gas tax as well or find other ways to deliver some relief.
State gas taxes average [another] 30 cents per gallon. Already, some states have acted.
In Connecticut and New York, the governors have temporarily suspended their gas tax as well.
In Illinois and Colorado, governors delayed theirs to give families a bit more breathing room as well.
In Minnesota, Governor Walz proposes using state budget surpluses to give households a rebate that will help them pay for gas at the pump or other essential needs.
I’m calling on more states and local governments to take actions like these.
Thanks to our historic economic recovery, which fortified state budgets that had been hurt in the pandemic, states are now in a strong position to be able to afford to take some of these actions.
Now, I fully understand that a gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem, but it will provide families some immediate relief — just a little bit of breathing room — as we continue working to bring down prices for the long haul.
Third, I’m calling on the industry to refine more oil into gasoline and to bring down gas prices.
Let me explain. I know my Republican friends claim we’re not producing enough oil and I’m limiting oil production. Quite frankly, that’s nonsense.
Here’s the truth: Just this month, America produced 12 million barrels of oil per day. That’s the highest — that’s higher than average under my predecessor. And I’m — we’re on track to set a new record for production next year.
Plus, I’ve added to that supply of oil by releasing a record 1 million barrels of oil per day from what’s called the Strategic Petro- — Petroleum Reserve.
In fact, I just led the world to coordinate the largest release of global oil reserves in history, including from other countries. In total, that’s 240 million barrels to boost global supply.
And Republicans falsely claim that I’m blocking production on federal lands. But again, that’s nonsense.
The industry has more approved permits for production on federal lands than they can possibly use. That’s a fact.
My administration also directed the sale of gasoline using homegrown biofuels — ethanol, E15 — this summer, which will boost gasoline supplies and lower the price at thousands of gas stations across America.
And I welcome the recent announcement from what’s known as the OPEC+, a group of nearly two dozen oil-producing nations, to increase global oil supply.
The bottom line is: We are setting records in terms of American energy production. We’re supplementing that supply with a release from our oil reserves. So the issue isn’t oil production alone; the problem is the refining of that oil into gas at the pump.
During the pandemic, some oil and gas companies shut down refining facilities.
Last week, I sent a letter to the CEOs of the largest oil-refining companies asking them to work with my administration to bring refineries back online to get more gas to the pump at lower prices.
The Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, and members of my team will be meeting with many of these refining companies tomorrow. And I hope they’ll come up to the table with some real ideas and practical steps in the near term.
And I’m prepared to act quickly and decisively on their recommendations if they make sense to address the immediate challenge in front of us and the American people.
Finally, when the cost of oil does come down, we need the price at the gas stations — that they — what they charge at the pump — to come down as well.
For example, in the last two weeks, the price of oil has fallen by more than $10.00 a barrel. Normally, this would reduce the cost at the pump about 25 cents a gallon. Yet, so far, gas stations have only reduced prices by a few cents a gallon. Some haven’t reduced prices at all.
I’ve heard plenty of explanations from companies and economists about why it normally takes time for these price reductions to reach the consumer. I might note that when the price of a barrel of oil goes up, it doesn’t make — ta- — take much time for the price at the pump to go up.
So, let’s be honest with one another. My message is simple. To the companies running gas stations and setting those prices at the pump: This is a time of war, global peril, Ukraine. These are not normal times.
Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you are paying for the product. Do it now. Do it today. Your customers, the American people, they need relief now.
So, let me summarize:
Today, I’m calling for a federal gas tax holiday, state gas tax holiday for [or] the equivalent relief to consumers; oil companies to use their profits to increase refining capacity rather than buy back their own stock; gas stations to pass along the decree — excuse me, not the decree, but the decrease in oil prices to lower prices at the pump.
And together, these actions could help drop the price at the pump by up to $1.00 a gallon or more. It doesn’t reduce all of the pain, but it would be a big help.
I’m doing my part. I want the Congress, the states, and the industry to do their part as well.
And let’s remember how we got here: Putin invaded Ukraine. Putin invaded Ukraine with 100,000 forces.
Just look at the facts: Since the start of the war in Ukraine this year, gas prices have risen by almost $2.00 a gallon in the United States, and sometimes more, around the world.
But it wasn’t just Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. It was the refusal of the United States and the rest of the free world to let Putin get away with something we haven’t seen since World War Two.
I said at the time: Siding with Ukraine during the most serious aggression in Europe since World War Two — defending freedom, defending democracy — was not going to go without cost for the American people and the rest of the free world. We were going to have to pay a price as well — in the cost of military equipment, economic assistance, humanitarian relief. And sanctioned Russian banking industries.
Russia is also the largest oi- — one of the largest oil producers in the world. We cut off Russian oil into the United States, and our partners in Europe did the same, knowing that we would see higher gas prices.
We could have turned a blind eye to Putin’s murderous ways, and the price of gas wouldn’t have spiked the way it has.
I believe that would have been wrong. I believed it then — I believed then and I believe now: The free world had no choice.
America could not stand by and the West could not have stood by — although some suggested at the time — and just watch Putin’s tanks roll into Ukraine and seize a sovereign country.
If we did stand by, Putin wouldn’t have stopped. Putin would’ve kept going, and we’d face an even steeper price.
And it wasn’t just me. The American people understood. The American people rose to the moment. The American people did what they always have done: defend freedom around the world. They chose to stand with the people of Ukraine.
We had near unanimous support in the Congress — Democrats, Republicans, and independents — for supporting Ukraine, knowing full well the cost.
So, for all those Republicans in Congress criticizing me today for high gas prices in America, are you now saying we were wrong to support Ukraine? Are you saying we were wrong to stand up to Putin? Are you saying that we would rather have lower gas prices in America and Putin’s iron fist in Europe? I don’t believe that.
Look, I get the easy politics of the attack. I get that. But the simple truth is gas prices are up almost $2.00 a gallon because of Vladimir Putin’s ruthless attack on Ukraine, and we wouldn’t let him get away with it. And we’re doing everything we can to reduce this pain at the pump now.
And if those experiences has shown us anything, it’s that we need to grow and harness more energy here at home.
Let’s lower the price of electric vehicles so we never have to pay at the pump in the first place.
Major auto companies are preparing for 50 percent of future sales to be electric vehicles by 2030, 100 percent by 2035. We’re already building secure supply chains to build these electric vehicles here in America.
And we’re investing almost $100 billion in public transit and rail, for all the studies show that it will take millions of cars off the road and significantly reduce pollution if there’s a serious transportation system available.
Let’s keep accelerating our deployment of homegrown resources — sources of energy like solar and wind and nuclear and hydrogen and carbon capture and storage — and keep developing battery technologies so we can store that power we need when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow.
Folks, let’s make sure we’re never again forced to pay the price of a menacing dictator halfway around the world.
We can deal with the imme- — this immediate crisis of high gas prices and still seize the clean energy future.
We’re Americans. We can do both. We have the most qualified people in the world.
Let me close with this: Even as we lead the world in defending democracy and standing up to a brutal autocrat, there are actions we can take to help American families now. We have taken them. We are taking them. The federal gas tax holiday, state gas tax holiday. Bringing back refineries, putting them back online.
We just have to keep going. I promise you I’m doing everything possible — everything possible to bring the price of energy down, gas prices down. And I want to make sure we all work on this together.” (LINK)
Be more efficient with the enormous gas taxes when used by Departments of Transportation, so that taxes can come down, YES! Cancel the taxes temporarily in the hope gas prices make less of an impact in the elections, all while doing nothing to increase supply, will only increase demand (oil goes up more) AND an alternative source of taxation needs to be found for infrastructure? NO! Borrowing is not an option now, and letting the infrastructure crumble goes against everything they claim that we need to do for their Green (green like money) New (old neo-Marxist) Deal (terrible deal for us, great for China and India).
Basically price fixing and we know that never works out well, prices will rise!
The only reason why he is making this demand, is NOT to help Americans, but to keep his agenda (obliterate the fossil fuel industry) alive for an additional 90 days, doing evermore harm while the damage is somewhat ameliorated as it is hidden under the deception of a short-lived reduction in the pump price for fuel. Then, who can guess what the per gallon price of fuel might be once the taxes are reinstated. The only thing important to this damnable buffoon is to have it his way regardless of the damage that it may do. “I the Great Biden have decreed, and it shall be even if it sinks every ship, burns every home and kills everyone in the State of Florida, so shall it be.” Is this guy being secretly visited by AOC, who is sitting on his lap, feeding him ice cream and making bizarre promises? Just what is this halfwit expecting to get out of this? Surely, he cannot believe this is a noble act if it destroys all he has ever known? If he does, he is truly mad and must be removed. Why are the Conservatives just sitting on their thumbs? Is it all for the hoped-for Mid-Term victory?
Joe Stalin must have just realized he and his commies cooked the Golden goose, now the tax revenues are collapsing because of BidenFlation, which any C grade economist could have told you would happen, but the Commies are always smarter than everyone else. Excuse me while I go dig in my couch for pennies…. to pay for my $100,000 Biden era electric car, LOL.
Jibberin’ Joe has cooked himself up a fine mess.
He created a problem where there was none and now he’s scrambling to fix it.
This is classic.
it would be funny except for all the pain it’s causing hard-working Americans.
The kind of pain he and his ilk inflicted on American’s across the board is that of a Treasonous group of Traitors.
All deserve trial by hemp
In typical DC pol style, he’ll fix the gas price problem by making things worse in other areas. He will then proceed to fix that problem…
He’s devolved into a parrot whose owners have taught to say certain words.
And that ignorant Secretary of Energy Granholm, trying to sell the tax break to the public continues to refer to the increase in gas prices as Putin’s gas hike. What a bunch of BS. The Democrats refuse to take any blame whatsoever. Lying fools all of them.
Yes, yes, yes.
How did the sanctions work out? Isn’t Russia at pre-sanction production? The ruble is doing great. How are the sanctions working out?
Senile old fool.
FJB
Exactly Chase! The sanctions have done the opposite of what they wanted. The ruble is at an all time high while Europe and the US are suffering. Plus, we’ve begun the beginning of the end of the US petro dollar with BRICS & their basket currency. As the US politicians spend like drunken sailors and the world loses confidence in the dollar (fiat) it will be a SHTF scenario. Greatly appreciate this site & its members wisdom.
They’re all racist right?
These people are such fools.
And all the neglected highways and bridges that collapse along with the loss of road construction crews who become unemployed will be Putin’s fault. Backfire JoeBama spread misery everywhere he goes.
I guess they want the gas companies to lower their prices , it’s their “patriotic duty.” They need to give Joe the BIG MIDDLE FINGER !!
This is awesome, I have a 34 gallon tank, so If I filled it up full from empty, I save $6.12. So cool, now I can get that 1 gallon of milk finally.
Heck, with all these savings, I’m calling Geico to save even more. Win, win….
Paid $135~ for 20~ gallons of gas in Sacramento yesterday. Not sure I can buy a bag of hot dog buns with the all the savings, 20 x .18. $3.60 out of the $135 total, if my limited skills did the math right.
No one is even talking about the airlines, Southwest Airlines is having major problems. I smell a huge Walkout soon.
What a DISGUSTING LIAR. He needs to be physically removed.
Physically removed in handcuffs and leg irons and sent to Gitmo!
Do they have a dementia ward?
It’s called Congress. It’s main delusion is that they are “the greatest deliberative body in the world”.
Help me here. How does a ‘company’ pass along unpaid taxes to its customers?
“By suspending the 18-cent gas tax — federal gas tax for the next 90 days, we can bring down the price of gas and give families just a little bit of relief.
I call on the companies to pass this along — every penny of this 18-cents reduction — to the consumers. This is — there’s no time now for profiteering.”
Figures. Dictators demand.
Yes, that’s the spirit! The spirit of ’76! So why not demand more refinery activity? After all, the last time a major oil refinery was built in this country was…. 1976! Add to that the refining capacity that has been retired since then?
Jeanyus! /s
So, refineries should step up, says the man making good on a campaign promise to kill fossil fuel as we know it.
Takes more than an executive order and stroke of a pen to get refineries back up to speed, and back to pre-2020 operating capacity and output. But works in a soundbite.
FJB and all his horses.
Who’s going to invest in building oil refineries in the US when Joe Biden has vowed to destroy the US oil industry and has been taking action on his threats since the day after he was sworn in? Why would they invest in anything here? They’re not daft like Joe. Who can explain this to the Idiot-In-Chief?
“for all those Republicans in Congress criticizing me today for high gas prices in America, are you now saying we were wrong to support Ukraine?
Uhhh. yeah
Why is it that the dementia-ridden, old retarded pedophile thinks everyone else is supposed to cover for his stupidity and incompetence?
Dictate to gas station owners: Reduce your prices. The “or else” didn’t make it to the teleprompter, but in a so-called emergency, the enforcement squad will be busy. The good news is plenty of new enforcement agents will be hired which might be good for economy.
“So, let’s be honest with one another. My message is simple. To the companies running gas stations and setting those prices at the pump: This is a time of war, global peril, Ukraine. These are not normal times.
Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you are paying for the product. Do it now. Do it today. “
Next he will be blaming Putin for killing all the dinosaurs.
It’s still funny that the dinosaur thing has weight, even just in humor
(I know you’re being funny, zoomie )
But that’s how effective that lie was for a couple generations.
Imagine telling kids nowadays that the vast oil deposits on our planet
are from dinosaurs.
lol
My kids would be like, “How does that work, dad?”
Frankly, I’m of the belief that nobody really knows for sure where or how the oil came to be.
Im open to suggestions, but it better not be dinosaurs.
Im firm on that.
There must have been an awful lot of dinosaurs
The flood of Noah.
All vegetation uprooted, settled under grains of sand.
Lots of sand, lots of movement, shifting earth.
That’s how the mountains came to be.
How did dead dinosaurs or plant matter get miles below the earths surface? Some wells are 20k+ feet deep. I have seen studies/speculation that the earth is continually producing oil at depth due to pressures and micro organisms abundant in the crust.
If true then oil is not a fossil fuel but a “renewable” resource.
Remember Beverly Hillbillies ” up through the ground came a bubbling crude”?
Hey Joe: Americans don’t GAF about Ukraine.
Stop blaming Putin.
Stop wasting our money on Ukraine.
When I fill my tank up for 120$, I am not THANKING GOD that
the US is “fighting for democracy” in Ukraine.
No, I am cursing YOU, Joe.
Cuz you suck.
And so do your energy policies.
Joe Biden, you are the worst resident of my lifetime.
Resign, you garbage POS. You are ruining my country.
Don’t beat around the bush.
I live in GA and Kemp suspended our state gas tax quite a while ago… March or April I think
Here is Louisiana, tax on a gallon of gasoline totals 33.4 cents. Not nearly enough.
What a bloviating blowfish. I swear the only thing keeping him standing are the electrodes implanted to shock his muscles.
He talks way too much to sell what he wants us to want. We don’t belong in Ukraine, Russia does. Yes of course Joe, Do your job at home. Stop running other countries, your decisions are poor, Obama’s were unforgivable.
Biden is letting Ukrainians die to protect his son Hunters and Obama’s puppet Zelensky, a remarkable dope. Somebody, start the impeachment in November. Of course there won’t be an election. Instead there will be a Pandemic, Martial Law or both.
Love this:
“My administration also directed the sale of gasoline using homegrown biofuels — ethanol, E15 — this summer, which will boost gasoline supplies and lower the price at thousands of gas stations across America.”
hummmmm-really? please explain how….
A new ethanol mix of 15% versus the 10% we have now will drastically reduce our supply of corn to make this “extra” ethanol killing off feed for our methanol producing farm animals…congrats joey -it’s a twofer.
Furthermore, causing irreversible damage to the engines in our cars…yay get your electric car replacements faster.
Way to go joe-more nails in the coffin that was once America.
So he’s asking Congress to lift the gasoline tax but he wants retailers to cut their prices now even before Congress acts. What if Congress says “Sorry, Bud, no can do!”? Any retailer that cut their pump price is SOL, and they’re working on a shoestring now.
What a dumpster fire!
No one is buying Slo Joe’s excuses for his failed policies and he knows it. True to his Lame Loser mentality he thinks he can gaslight enough smoke & mirror outrage against the oil companies to slide through all his pro-China “Kill US Oil” and “Let Them Buy EV’s or Ride Bicycles” initiatives. It’s just a coincidence that Hunter Biden helped keel haul an American company while helping to finance a deal to ensure that the ChiComs have a monopoly on metals needed to make EV batteries, right? We are watching pay-play in real time. How much are the Bidens and the Big Guy getting on this deal? Or does Biden just have to pay his blackmailing debt this way?
https://thefederalist.com/2021/11/23/why-was-hunter-biden-part-of-chinas-takeover-of-key-global-metal-supplies/
we gotta just keep punching, and punching, and punching at it.
As if we were trying to pass domestic abuse law reform.
Keep punching, America.
The pain we are experiencing is because our elected representatives feel none. They stole our election, nulled our voice, murdered our citizens, threaten our liberties and absolved themselves of responsibility.
We don’t vote our way out of this. Until we inflict unbearable pain on them, they will continue to impose their will on us.
Germany de-creased taxes on jun 1. The decrease of prizes for consumers lasted around 1 day.
On jun 1 they were down by like 20 cent. Then came a holiday weekend and they were up old level and beyond.
And from then on they stayed like this, not going down as this one day, but rather going up.
Suspended gas taxes will only account for a tiny fraction of the Biden gas price increase. It will help no one in reality. When you double or triple the price of a gallon of gas, what is 18 cents off going to do? Nothing. All inflation will keep rising. Everything we grow, manufacturer or transport takes energy.
Joe broke it and only he can fix it. Too bad we can’t fix stupid.
Supposing this is implemented, at its end they will impose a surcharge on gas to recoup the lost revenue.
Isn’t it odd how we only talk about gas tax “holidays” when democrats are in office?
He just headed off one of the next coming political talking points where a handful of governors we’re going to use fuel tax as a subject of pushing back.
It’s a smart move to undercut the talking heads before they get there.
An embarrassing and pathetic performance even by grammar school standards.
It never ceases to amaze me how evil and a seared conscience can look you right in the eyes and just continue lying, as though it is speaking truth.
All for more temporary gain and to torment / torture decency.
I thought he had a pen and had a phone. He don’t need not studied Congress. Just ask him.
Suspending Joe Biden is the only answer.
What a disgusting Moron.
So the fraudulent Puppet President more than doubled the cost of fuels with the policies his leftist masters ordered (Obama Ilk) for American consumers and now he wants to convince the states and congress to work together to reduce the price at the pump less than .50 cents a gallon 🤪 once again the parasitic lunatic left set up another pissing contest where as they piss on the great unwashed the message is they jus made it rain for us . Fire this entire administration with extreme prejudice for economic treason
Resident meathead biden is dumber than a bag full of rocks.
They truly think we are idiots. Our government HATES us!! How about making it permanent.
PERHAPS we should ask congress to suspedd Biden
So, let me get this straight. 3 months of reduced gas tax, the price continues to go up and surpasses what it was when the tax was reduced, 3 months puts us in October for putting the tax back on the increased price, resulting in a huge jump right before the election? This is the democrat plan to win elections? They think saving $4 on a $80 fill up will get them votes or help anyone? This is so stupid there has to be some ulterior motive behind it.
And his comment about MN gov Walz is going nowhere unless the legislature convenes a special session. Republican controlled senate says no. Grassroots groups are pressuring Republicans to deny special session unless budget surplus is given back directly to those who paid it.
Is Joe Biden aware that California has a state gas tax increase scheduled for July 1, 2022?