Biden’s Gas Attack On America’s Working Families

Gas stations across the country are facing fuel shortages, driving prices to a seven-year high as more than 40 million Americans prepare to hit the road for the Fourth of July weekend,

reported Will Feuer of the New York Post.

The nationwide average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas hit $3.09 on Monday, the highest price Americans have been asked to shell out ahead of the holiday weekend since 2014, according to data from the American Automobile Association.

“Today, 89 percent of US gas stations are selling regular unleaded for $2.75 or more. That is a stark increase over last July 4 when only a quarter of stations were selling gas for more than $2.25,” said Jeanette McGee, a AAA spokesperson. “Road trippers will pay the most to fill up for the holiday since 2014.”

Since Joe Biden’s inauguration average gas prices are up almost $1.00 a gallon, and there’s no sign of that cooling off, with AAA saying prices at the pump will likely continue to rise through the end of summer. Prices at some stations in Los Angeles were hovering near $6 last week.

But the increase in gas prices is killing more than America’s Fourth of July fun.

Rising gas prices affect both consumers and the economy adversely, and they are especially harmful to lower- and moderate-income households.

Back in 2012, during the last Obama-Biden gas price spike, a Brookings study looking at all households with annual incomes less than $50,000, found that the vast majority (80%) own cars, and a significant portion (over a third) own more than one car.

Among low-to-moderate-income households that do own cars, the 2012 study found they drove about 10,000 miles and spent about $1,500 on motor fuel during 2010 when the average price of gasoline was about $2.80. Gas prices later approached $3.80 a gallon in 2012 and with every dollar increase, holding the number of miles driven constant, would cost these moderate- and lower-income households an extra $530 per year. For a family with an annual income of $20,000, this is an additional 2.7% of their total income the study found.

Since low- and moderate-income families spend most of their income on average, in the very short run they can only choose between spending less on other items and going further into debt.

The Urban Institute found that because their incomes are much lower, poor commuters spend a much higher proportion of their wages on gas (8.6 versus 2.1 percent at $4/gal), this is a frightening prospect for America’s working families with gas already passing $3.08 average per gallon with no slowdown in sight.

The estimated numbers may actually understate the relative burden on the poor, noted the study authors, since they assume exactly the same gas mileage for commuters in the two groups— if lower-income people tend to have older, less well-maintained (therefore, less fuel-efficient) cars, they will tend to get lower gas mileage.

One interesting phenomenon associated with the rising price of gas is how quickly and desperately the establishment media has rushed to tell Americans the crushing increase in gas prices isn’t Joe Biden’s fault.

Politifact tried to explain away the damage from the increase by claiming there was an increase in demand on the world market, and Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and banning drilling on various federal lands had no effect on the market.

That is pure economic nonsense. It’s true there’s a world market for oil and gasoline, so withdrawing any supply from the market is going to raise prices, especially if demand is increasing, and Americans will pay for that increase in demand unless there’s an increase in domestic supply – which there won’t be because of Joe Biden’s policies.

For the DC elite who make Joe Biden’s policies for him, the increase in gas prices may have a negligible impact on their quality of life, but for America’s working families that dollar a gallon increase is the difference between a burger at McDonalds or a family sit-down meal at Applebee’s and it is the difference between getting your back-to-school clothes at Walmart or the nicer store at the Mall.

DC Democrats may see an increase in gas prices as a good thing that will drive people away from using fossil fuels, but America’s working families won’t forget Joe Biden’s gas attack on their quality of life.

• gas shortage

• gas prices

• Keystone pipeline

• Biden administration

• Fourth of July holiday

• inflation

• family budgets

• working families

• Biden energy policies

• climate change

• standard of living