As I See It
Suspending gas taxes to help the pain at the pump
They said it would happen, and it did. Quickly. Experts warned that gas prices would rise quickly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turns out the price at the pump rose more quickly than ever before, up by fifty cents in the past week. The price for a gallon of regular has now topped $4.10, the highest national average price ever. And the price is likely to continue to rise, with some predictions of oil at $300 a barrel, and the possibility of gas topping $5 a gallon or more. President Joe Biden’s decision to ban imports of Russian oil makes that likely, even though only about three percent of U.S. oil imports come from Russia. What can we do? The obvious answer is to drive less. A drop in demand should lead to a drop in prices. Going electric is another option to dealing with the pain at the pump. But a bigger impact would be to suspend the federal tax on gasoline. Governor Evers is among the nation’s governors urging Washington to suspend the federal gas tax, 18.4 cents per gallon, for the remainder of the year as a way to give drivers a break. That would help. But so would suspending the state gas tax, and Evers didn’t mention that. Wisconsin’s gas tax is 30.9 cents per gallon, one of the highest in the nation. Our lawmakers should look into that, because at these prices, every penny helps.
Debra Kirven
March 9, 2022 at 8:46 am
Suspending the gas tax would be a good preview for the government to prepare for what tax income will be substituted for the gas tax when cars are all electric.
nick
March 9, 2022 at 9:11 am
Let’s buy electric; what a concept. I travelled to Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York City last Thanksgiving week. Densely compacted homes with the cars parked on the streets. Drive around LaCrosse and apartment complexes with parking lots and do designated spots for anyone. The need is charging stations and in a lot of situations dedicated charging station for each car. Electric cars may be here for those whoo have garages and can charge them in the garage but for millions of Americans even if they could afford one they cannot purchase one.
The goal is to go electric but we need oil and gas until we get there. We do not need a President who is waging war against oil and gas to appease the far left and progressives of his party.
We do not need a President who is begging nations who are run by murderous dictators to pump more oil.
We need to turn on the tap here so people on the lower economic ladder do not have to make choices between fuel, medicine and food.
We need it now before we endure more economic pain caused by a President who is a total disaster just like his predecessor