Forget the Gas Tax “Holiday,” Give Us Real Relief With a Windfall Profits Tax

Trump’s war of choice on Iran has sent prices at the pump skyrocketing, and the best this administration can come up with to soften the blow is a band-aid: suspending the federal gas tax. Congress should focus on real solutions, like passing a windfall profits tax to get our money back from war profiteer CEOs at fossil fuel companies. A federal gas tax “holiday” seems like low-hanging fruit. But it will only lower costs by 10 to 16 cents at a moment when we’re headed towards a national average price of $5 a gallon. It’s also going to mean either a larger deficit or fewer repairs for our highways and mass transit. This is not the relief from the affordability crisis we need. Meanwhile, while we’re struggling to make ends meet, the megadonors in the fossil fuel industry are making out like bandits. In the first month of the conflict, they made an estimated $30 million an hour extra for the same amount of oil, and they could ultimately clear more than $200 billion in excess profits. A windfall profits tax would retrieve some of the fortune they’re raking in from the bloodshed and return that money directly to American households – refilling our wallets and discouraging them artificially inflating prices moving forward. Senator Whitehouse and Rep. Khanna have already introduced S.4111/H.R.7960 to do just that. Analysts found a similar measure passed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have put more than $1700 back in our pockets. That’s a real difference. Please ignore the gas tax holiday distraction and publicly endorse, co-sponsor and fight to pass the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act ASAP.