United States | Petrol-tax holiday

Biden’s gas-tax break is tempting politically but it’s a bad idea

It would do little for consumers. Thankfully, it is unlikely to get through Congress

A worker fills a car belonging to a Texas resident with gasoline at a gas station following increased fuel prices in U.S., in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico April 4, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
|Washington, DC

Americans are mad about soaring petrol prices. Joe Biden’s administration has tried to pin the blame on one man, calling it “Putin’s price hike”. Analytically, it is true that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the main reason for the global energy crisis. Politically, though, that has not given much cover to Mr Biden, whose popularity has sagged. On June 22nd the president tried a different form of politicking: he called for a gas-tax holiday for three months.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Pump and dump”

The right way to fix the energy crisis

From the June 25th 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from United States

 Pam Bondi is sworn in as she prepares to testify during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to examine her expected nomination to be Attorney General, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC.

Pam Bondi seems like a relatively safe pair of hands

But is America’s next attorney-general an independent operator?

US President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA.

Checks and Balance newsletter: Joe Biden’s farewell shot at the oligarchy

The outgoing president warns of a new “tech-industrial complex”


Xiaohongshu And TikTok Logos

A protest against America’s TikTok ban is mired in contradiction

Another Chinese app is not the alternative some young Americans think it is


Joe Biden wound up serving Donald Trump

In some ways, his administration will look less like an interregnum than like MAGA-lite

How bad will the smoke be for Angelenos’ health?

Expect more sickness and disrupted schooling

Should you have to prove your age before watching porn?

America’s Supreme Court weighs a Texan law aimed at protecting kids