You know it's a bad idea when even CNN isn't willing to defend it. In response to President Joe Biden planning on calling for suspending the gas tax in an attempt to lower gas prices, reporter Matt Egan noted the flaws in his idea.
Biden continues to solely blame Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine for the historic increase in gas prices despite prices increasing before the war started in late February.
"But, you know, to John's point, there are some serious problems here and it's also important to remember that just because things poll well doesn't mean it's necessarily smart policy, right?" Egan said.
"Like John said, this does nothing to fix supply. It actually supports demand at a time when demand can't keep up with supply. Moody's economist Mark Zandi, he told me that he's concerned this could be inflationary and there's no guarantee that energy companies are going to pass along the entire savings here," he continued. "And then there is the fact that this money funds the building of highways at a time when the construction of the building of highways has gone up because of rising costs for building material and our labor. So, there is a lot of issues here and I think it does show why Obama in 2008 called it a gimmick."
In 2008, Barack Obama bashed a “gas tax holiday” as a “gimmick.”
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 22, 2022
“For us to suggest 30 cents a day for three months is real relief, that that’s a real energy policy, means that we are not tackling the problem that has to be tackled.” pic.twitter.com/vUziTflOnb
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also dismissed the idea of a federal gas tax holiday in March: "The pro is very 'showbiz,' ok? Let's just do something, there it is. But it is not necessarily landing in the pocket of the consumer."
