Here’s How States, Not Washington, Can End the Biden Gas Crisis

[WisconsinLiberty]

Here’s How States, Not Washington, Can End the Biden Gas Crisis

Here’s How States, Not Washington, Can End the Biden Gas Crisis


The New American
June 23, 2022


Let’s be honest: Politicians thrive when there’s a huge public problem to be solved. It lets them play the hero and score points for the next election. This makes it perplexing as to why so many Republicans in state legislatures have been slow to take action on one of the most hot-button issues gripping the country right now: the Biden gas crisis.

Americans of all stripes are reeling right now as the Biden White House’s disastrous energy policies have led to a massive surge in gas prices everywhere. If Republicans were looking for an issue to run on, they couldn’t have a better one handed to them.

After all, the gas crisis isn’t one that will exclusively help them rile up the base as issues such as the Second Amendment or abortion do. This is an issue with universal appeal. That’s because everyone, regardless of party affiliation, relies on automobiles. It doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Green — the thought of paying less than you are now for a full tank is appealing.

So why the reluctance to make more affordable gas a central plank of the party’s platform going into 2022? As is so often the case with the GOP, it largely comes down to a lack of imagination and will.

Most Republicans in Congress will pass the buck to the executive branch. “It was Biden who killed the Keystone XL Pipeline. We can’t do anything until we get a Republican president back in the White House!” Of course, by the time we get another Republican in the presidency, gas will probably be at $30 a gallon.

Then you have state politicians who are all too happy to say, “Sorry, it’s a federal issue. Nothing I can do, folks!” That’s their usual line when it comes to most pressing issues, even though the Framers fully intended for the states, not the federal government, to be where most significant political decisions take place.

But despite what these lackluster state lawmakers may say, the 50 states have much they can do to provide both immediate relief and long-term energy independence for their citizens — with or without the cooperation of Washington.

In the short-term, it would be wise for state legislatures and governors to immediately suspend as many automobile-related taxes and fees as possible in order to make life easier for motorists. Cutting the gas tax is an obvious place to start.

But they need not stop there. There are also government fees for tags and licenses, as well as taxes on vehicle repair and service. A brief reflection on the matter would yield a host of taxes and fees that impact car owners in one form or another, all of which could be put on hold while Americans are still being afflicted by high gas prices.

For the long-term, states must take into their own hands the creation of a stable energy policy that allows their people access to sufficient oil in order to bring the price of gas back down to a reasonable level.

The best way to achieve this is for state governments to form interstate partnerships for the purpose of oil acquisition — partnerships that neither need nor seek the federal government’s approval and thus cannot be derailed by it in the way Biden killed the Keystone XL Pipeline.

In fact, Keystone XL would be a good place to start. That proposed expansion would have run from Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska. Along the way, it would have passed through the states of Montana and South Dakota.

Montana. South Dakota. Nebraska. What do these states have in common? All three have Republican governors and GOP control of the state legislatures. If there were anywhere that politicians could get away with sticking it to Biden with an ambitious oil pipeline plan that embodies state sovereignty, it’s in those three states.

But, of course, they wouldn’t have to go it alone. To get the funding necessary to lift the project off the ground, they open it up to any state that wants to join. Under their current governors, Florida and Texas would likely be on board. And once those two giants are in, most Republican-led states would likely be persuaded.

And here’s the clincher: Only the participating states get exclusive access to the oil. Which means states such as California and New York, which would doubtless be against the project, would just have to continue living with $10/gallon gas.

 

[Madison320]

Here’s How States, Not Washington, Can End the Biden Gas Crisis


The New American
June 23, 2022


Let’s be honest: Politicians thrive when there’s a huge public problem to be solved. It lets them play the hero and score points for the next election. This makes it perplexing as to why so many Republicans in state legislatures have been slow to take action on one of the most hot-button issues gripping the country right now: the Biden gas crisis.

Americans of all stripes are reeling right now as the Biden White House’s disastrous energy policies have led to a massive surge in gas prices everywhere. If Republicans were looking for an issue to run on, they couldn’t have a better one handed to them.

After all, the gas crisis isn’t one that will exclusively help them rile up the base as issues such as the Second Amendment or abortion do. This is an issue with universal appeal. That’s because everyone, regardless of party affiliation, relies on automobiles. It doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Green — the thought of paying less than you are now for a full tank is appealing.

So why the reluctance to make more affordable gas a central plank of the party’s platform going into 2022? As is so often the case with the GOP, it largely comes down to a lack of imagination and will.

Most Republicans in Congress will pass the buck to the executive branch. “It was Biden who killed the Keystone XL Pipeline. We can’t do anything until we get a Republican president back in the White House!” Of course, by the time we get another Republican in the presidency, gas will probably be at $30 a gallon.

Then you have state politicians who are all too happy to say, “Sorry, it’s a federal issue. Nothing I can do, folks!” That’s their usual line when it comes to most pressing issues, even though the Framers fully intended for the states, not the federal government, to be where most significant political decisions take place.

But despite what these lackluster state lawmakers may say, the 50 states have much they can do to provide both immediate relief and long-term energy independence for their citizens — with or without the cooperation of Washington.

In the short-term, it would be wise for state legislatures and governors to immediately suspend as many automobile-related taxes and fees as possible in order to make life easier for motorists. Cutting the gas tax is an obvious place to start.

But they need not stop there. There are also government fees for tags and licenses, as well as taxes on vehicle repair and service. A brief reflection on the matter would yield a host of taxes and fees that impact car owners in one form or another, all of which could be put on hold while Americans are still being afflicted by high gas prices.

For the long-term, states must take into their own hands the creation of a stable energy policy that allows their people access to sufficient oil in order to bring the price of gas back down to a reasonable level.

The best way to achieve this is for state governments to form interstate partnerships for the purpose of oil acquisition — partnerships that neither need nor seek the federal government’s approval and thus cannot be derailed by it in the way Biden killed the Keystone XL Pipeline.

In fact, Keystone XL would be a good place to start. That proposed expansion would have run from Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska. Along the way, it would have passed through the states of Montana and South Dakota.

Montana. South Dakota. Nebraska. What do these states have in common? All three have Republican governors and GOP control of the state legislatures. If there were anywhere that politicians could get away with sticking it to Biden with an ambitious oil pipeline plan that embodies state sovereignty, it’s in those three states.

But, of course, they wouldn’t have to go it alone. To get the funding necessary to lift the project off the ground, they open it up to any state that wants to join. Under their current governors, Florida and Texas would likely be on board. And once those two giants are in, most Republican-led states would likely be persuaded.

And here’s the clincher: Only the participating states get exclusive access to the oil. Which means states such as California and New York, which would doubtless be against the project, would just have to continue living with $10/gallon gas.

The supply of oil is only a tiny part of the problem. The major problem is the supply of money, that's by far the biggest reason oil is going up along with everything else. We increased the money supply from 1 trillion to 9 trillion since 2009. We need to massively cut govt spending, it's the only way to reduce price inflation.

I'm not saying we shouldn't free up the oil companies and let them produce oil, that's a good thing. I'm just saying it's not going to make a big difference in the price of gas.