So We're Going to take a Gas Tax Holiday huh?

Image source Money.com

This is a rant.

So our leader (we all know many others are pulling the strings) is talking about a 3-month suspension of the federal gas tax to "help ease the burden."

Every little bit helps, yes, but in this case, it's not going to make that much of a difference... and may actually make things worse longer-term.

#ThinkAboutIt

According to whitehouse.gov, the federal gas tax is 18 cents per gallon of gas, 24 cents per gallon of diesel.

So if you're paying $4.99/gal gas, it'll go down to $4.81.  Over 10 gallons of gas you'll save $1.80.  20 gallons, $3.60.  20 gallons at $4.999/gal = $99.98.  Shave off $3.60 and you're all the way down to $96.38.  Woo.  

I'm no mathemagician, but that ain't much.

According to TCSFuel.com, "semi-truck fuel tanks come in varying sizes, but they hold an average of 125 to 300 gallons of fuel."  So for this argument, I'll err on the high end (since I don't know squat about tractor-trailers). The 24 cents per gallon will make a bit more of difference there, but still, looking at the big picture, not that much. 

24 cents per gallon x 300 gallons is $72.  If diesel is already $5.60/gallon (pretty much what it is here), 300 gallons of that comes to $1680.  Shave off $72.  Woo.  Now of course nobody is filling those tanks from completely empty, but you get the point.

The North Carolina gas tax is 38.5 cents per gallon, according to igentax.com.  South Carolina and Tennessee are 26 cents per gallon, Virginia is 26.2 cents per gallon.  Georgia is 29.1 cents and Florida is 19 cents.  (Source - https://igentax.com/gas-tax-state/#table)

For gasoline, North Carolina has the highest state tax in the southeast.  I will give the devil his due, our main roads are for the most part in pretty good shape, nicely paved, lines painted, etc.  Our secondary roads, they're absolute trash in most cases, but that's another argument for another day.

(According to NCDOR.gov, "Effective January 1, 2017, the motor fuels tax rate is set at a flat rate of 34 cents per gallon multiplied by a percentage. The percentage is plus or minus the sum of the annual percentage change in state population for the applicable calendar year, multiplied by 75% and the annual energy index percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, multiplied by 25%.")

NC has a diesel tax of 38.5 cents/gal.  Add that in with the fed's 24 and you have 62 cents/gal.  Over 300 gallons, that's $186.

A few drops in the bucket.  Every little bit helps, yes, but..........

In case you were wondering, per the igentax.com website, the highest gas tax in the nation is Pennsylvania (57.6 cents/gallon) followed by California at 51.1 cents/gallon.

Sadly, suspension of the tax isn't going to lower prices in the long term.  According to TaxFoundation.org, "the savings from zeroing out the gas tax would likely be enjoyed at least in part by producers, rather than passed entirely to consumers.  Even if savings were passed to consumers in the form of lower gas prices, it could make the misalignment between demand and supply worse—-reducing taxes on gasoline could spur further increased demand for gas, and in turn, higher prices."

If you still really believe this is a "Putin price hike," well, you're entitled to believe what you want, even if you're wrong.  Sure, some of this is the fact that we're no longer buying Russian oil, but prices were spiraling upwards long before the first shot was fired in Ukraine.  Remember, our president, on his first day, shut down the Keystone pipeline and subsequently placed crippling regulations on oil companies.  Because that's what his masters told him to do.

Want to TRULY help people?  Cut income taxes, slash business regulations, especially on oil companies.  Open it up and drill, baby, drill.  We have enough resources right here in the US to be energy independent (again) and put thousands of workers BACK to work.  Restore the pipeline(s).  No, the effect wouldn't be immediate -- I believe we're going to have these prices through at least the end of the summer -- but increasing supply, using THE ABUNDANT RESOURCES WE HAVE HERE instead of relying on enemy states, would be huge.

And don't talk to me about 9,000 leases or whatever the left's talking point is on that.  Even a few minutes' thought on that causes one to realize that there isn't oil on all of those lands, and with the crippling regulations the left keeps placing on oil companies, what incentive do they have to do anything?  Why would they risk even MORE regulations?  I wouldn't.  

The Dems' stated goal (and yes, our inept leader said the quiet part out loud in recent days) of getting everyone to electric vehicles... I'm glad they believe we have a power grid capable of plugging in however-many-million electric cars every night.  You think your light bill is high now?!  Get yourself a $55,000 electric car and plug that baby in every night.  But it'll help the environment!  No, it won't.  Where do the resources come from to build those batteries?  What happens to the batteries when they eventually wear out?  

But at least I'll save $2.46 per 13.7-gallon tankful in my Cruze.  Woo.