January 11th Marks National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

April 28, 2008

Americans Wait for Plan on Gas Prices

COLUMBUS , OH – Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus) today submitted the following editorial:

Two years ago last week, House Democrats announced they had “a common sense plan to bring down sky rocketing gas prices.” To date, no plan has been introduced to either the House or to the American public. And as the Congress and the nation continue to wait to see this plan, or any plan for that matter, consumers continue to get hosed at the pump. Since Democrats took control of Congress, Ohioans are paying, on average, $1.19 more per gallon every time they fill up.

Spiking gas prices act as a tax increase on families, on workers, and on businesses. They impact every sector of our economy and every segment of our society, lead to higher costs for goods and services, and they are the most regressive of taxes out there, hitting hardest those who can least afford to pay them – the poor and seniors on fixed incomes.

So, two years after the bold pledge to the American people, where is the plan? Is it being kept under wraps until gas prices get really bad, say $4.50 per gallon in Ohio? $5? Most Ohioans, who are paying an extra $20 every time they fill up the tank, would suggest that we have suffered enough, and that perhaps this an appropriate time to share the plan publicly -- particularly if it is “common sense,” as we from the Buckeye State are famous for our commonsense and practicality.

The truth of the matter is that there is no plan and there never was one. It should be classified somewhere between an empty promise and a broken promise, and House leadership should be held accountable for it.

In the absence of coming up with a law to help consumers at the pump, the House majority should at least acknowledge basic economic laws. Oil is a commodity, and accordingly, it is subject to the laws of supply and demand. Unfortunately for us, while oil supplies dwindle, world demand is booming. America no longer has the bargaining power it once did as OPEC’s top customer; today we are competing for these precious drops of oil with the exploding middle class economies in China and India, and their growing appetites for automobiles.

Last Congress, in near unanimity, Democrats opposed virtually every Republican effort to increase our domestic oil supplies. They opposed our efforts to build new refineries, despite the fact that America has not built one in more than thirty-two years. They said no to efforts to increase oil exploration off our own shores, while China and Cuba are doing so less than fifty miles off the Florida coastline. They opposed our efforts to reduce boutique fuel requirements, despite the fact that specialty gas blends cause price spikes and overall increases in the price per gallon.

It is a near certainty that our planet will run out of oil, or at minimum, exhaust currently known oil supplies, within most of our lifetimes. I am of the firm belief that someday science will lead us to an energy source beyond fossil fuels: one that is abundant, and cheap, and renewable, and environmentally friendly. To that end, it is the responsibility of Congress to encourage scientific progress in this effort and to support the creation and development of alternative fuels and energy sources. But someday has not arrived yet. Consumers need help in the short-term, and they need help now.

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has unveiled one way to help get Americans through what will otherwise be a hot and expensive summer. He suggests a Federal Gas Tax Holiday, during which time the 18.4 cents per gallon Federal gas tax would be suspended between Memorial Day and Labor Day 2008, the peak months of summertime driving. Is it a long-term solution? Of course not, and nor is being touted as one. But Americans need relief at the pump, over both the short and the long-term, and in the absence of any ideas coming from the majority party, it’s the only plan in town.

The silent reaction by Congressional Democrats to Senator McCain’s plan should not be surprising. The last two increases in the federal excise tax on gasoline – in 1990 and 1993 when the tax increased by 9 cents per gallon, going from 9 cents to 18.4 cents – were approved by a Democrat-controlled House and Senate. Needless to say, in the name of self-preservation, Democrats should unveil their gas price plan quickly – or it will be a long, hot and expensive summer for everyone.

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