By Paul Waldman
Columnist |
December 9, 2022 at 11:57 a.m. EST
After reaching $5 a gallon in June, gas prices have fallen precipitously. The national average for regular gas is now around $3.30, and in 13 states the average is below $3, where the national average could be by Christmas. If your car has a 15-gallon tank, that means you’ll soon be paying just $45 to fill up, instead of the $75 it cost you this summer. What a relief!
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This is a policy triumph for President Biden, a direct result of his actions. Even his Republican opponents are lining up to praise him for heeding their earlier criticisms, now that he has brought down prices at the pump and put more money in the pockets of hard-working Americans.
Everything in the second paragraph is an invention, of course. Biden isn’t responsible for bringing down gas prices, any more than he was responsible for them rising in the first place. And Republicans are most decidedly not praising him — for that or anything else.
But when prices were high, they couldn’t stop repeating that it was all Biden’s fault. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rising demand from a reinvigorated economy originally drove up gas prices, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) blamed the “out-of-touch policies” of Democrats. “This is intentional,” said Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, alleging that gas prices were rising because Biden had a secret plan to “deplete our energy independence.”
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Other Republicans agreed. Some began calling it “Biden’s gas hike.” Conservatives even sold stickers with a picture of Biden pointing his finger and the words “I did that!” for irate gas-buyers to affix on fuel pumps.
This was all predicated on two ideas: First, that Biden wanted gas prices to go up, which is plainly idiotic (wouldn’t a sinister villain like him at least want prices to remain low to prop up his approval ratings?), and second, that Biden had it in his power to determine those prices.
Catherine Rampell: Excited about falling gas prices? Be careful what you wish for.
Throughout the past couple of years, as in previous times when gas prices rose, fact-checkers have dutifully explained that Republican claims were bogus. In general, the president can do very little to send the prices up, and even less to bring them down. The reason they’re falling now has to do with fears of a recession, along with reduced demand in China.
Unfortunately, Biden probably contributed to the belief that he could control gas prices by making a big show of trying to do something about them. He called for investigations of gas companies into “whether illegal conduct is costing families at the pump,” and released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But even people who generally support him (like me) pointed out that while a number of presidents have taken that step in the past, releasing oil from the strategic reserve can have, at most, a tiny and temporary effect on the overall supply.
And in the news media, those occasional fact-checks were overwhelmed by a torrent of reports along the lines of “Rising prices pose political challenge for Biden.” Those were full of quotes from Republicans saying it was Biden’s fault, and were driven by the assumption that attributing responsibility for gas prices to the president is routine and reasonable, even if a line in the 12th paragraph might explain that he had nothing to do with them.
The long-term solution to the problem of gas prices is familiar to every American who owns an electric car or a plug-in hybrid: Move away from fossil fuels. If you drive a Hyundai Ioniq or a Tesla (which conservatives now think is cool since Elon Musk became a right-wing troll), you don’t care what the price of gas is.
While electric cars still make up a small portion of the market, sales have grown steadily and will almost certainly continue to increase, especially because the Inflation Reduction Act contained provisions meant to promote electric vehicle manufacture and sales. Nevertheless, most cars on the road will be powered by gas for some time to come. Which means we’ll continue to be concerned about gas prices.
So here’s what we should do now, while everyone is a little calmer about the issue: Let’s promise ourselves and each other that the next time prices rise — as inevitably they will — we’ll try not to be so dumb about this subject.
Columnist |
December 9, 2022 at 11:57 a.m. EST
After reaching $5 a gallon in June, gas prices have fallen precipitously. The national average for regular gas is now around $3.30, and in 13 states the average is below $3, where the national average could be by Christmas. If your car has a 15-gallon tank, that means you’ll soon be paying just $45 to fill up, instead of the $75 it cost you this summer. What a relief!
Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates
This is a policy triumph for President Biden, a direct result of his actions. Even his Republican opponents are lining up to praise him for heeding their earlier criticisms, now that he has brought down prices at the pump and put more money in the pockets of hard-working Americans.
Everything in the second paragraph is an invention, of course. Biden isn’t responsible for bringing down gas prices, any more than he was responsible for them rising in the first place. And Republicans are most decidedly not praising him — for that or anything else.
But when prices were high, they couldn’t stop repeating that it was all Biden’s fault. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rising demand from a reinvigorated economy originally drove up gas prices, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) blamed the “out-of-touch policies” of Democrats. “This is intentional,” said Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, alleging that gas prices were rising because Biden had a secret plan to “deplete our energy independence.”
Follow Paul Waldman's opinionsFollow
Other Republicans agreed. Some began calling it “Biden’s gas hike.” Conservatives even sold stickers with a picture of Biden pointing his finger and the words “I did that!” for irate gas-buyers to affix on fuel pumps.
This was all predicated on two ideas: First, that Biden wanted gas prices to go up, which is plainly idiotic (wouldn’t a sinister villain like him at least want prices to remain low to prop up his approval ratings?), and second, that Biden had it in his power to determine those prices.
Catherine Rampell: Excited about falling gas prices? Be careful what you wish for.
Throughout the past couple of years, as in previous times when gas prices rose, fact-checkers have dutifully explained that Republican claims were bogus. In general, the president can do very little to send the prices up, and even less to bring them down. The reason they’re falling now has to do with fears of a recession, along with reduced demand in China.
Unfortunately, Biden probably contributed to the belief that he could control gas prices by making a big show of trying to do something about them. He called for investigations of gas companies into “whether illegal conduct is costing families at the pump,” and released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But even people who generally support him (like me) pointed out that while a number of presidents have taken that step in the past, releasing oil from the strategic reserve can have, at most, a tiny and temporary effect on the overall supply.
And in the news media, those occasional fact-checks were overwhelmed by a torrent of reports along the lines of “Rising prices pose political challenge for Biden.” Those were full of quotes from Republicans saying it was Biden’s fault, and were driven by the assumption that attributing responsibility for gas prices to the president is routine and reasonable, even if a line in the 12th paragraph might explain that he had nothing to do with them.
The long-term solution to the problem of gas prices is familiar to every American who owns an electric car or a plug-in hybrid: Move away from fossil fuels. If you drive a Hyundai Ioniq or a Tesla (which conservatives now think is cool since Elon Musk became a right-wing troll), you don’t care what the price of gas is.
While electric cars still make up a small portion of the market, sales have grown steadily and will almost certainly continue to increase, especially because the Inflation Reduction Act contained provisions meant to promote electric vehicle manufacture and sales. Nevertheless, most cars on the road will be powered by gas for some time to come. Which means we’ll continue to be concerned about gas prices.
So here’s what we should do now, while everyone is a little calmer about the issue: Let’s promise ourselves and each other that the next time prices rise — as inevitably they will — we’ll try not to be so dumb about this subject.
