Conservatives on Twitter roasted the Biden administration on Saturday after a report surfaced that the White House had mulled giving Americans gas cards to help alleviate skyrocketing prices at the pump.
Axios reported Saturday that the White House floated the idea as part of a package Democrats are brainstorming in an attempt to offer some sort of positive policy response to soaring gas prices. The idea was quickly shot down by a House Democratic legal counsel, who pointed out the idea would be expensive and poorly targeted; it would likely make inflation worse and wouldn’t necessarily lower prices; and it would likely bog down the IRS in the middle of tax filing season, which would lead to delays in filing and processing tax returns.
A White House spokesman admitted that the idea was discussed, but claimed it was not a serious policy proposal. “There’s a variety of ideas being discussed to ensure that the costs American families are feeling at the pump are as minimal as possible,” White House spokesman Vedant Patel told Axios. “However, gas cards being sent to the American people is not seriously under consideration. It is not an administratively feasible solution and the Biden Administration is not considering this as a serious option to help American families,” Patel said.
That didn’t stop conservatives on Twitter, who pounded Democrats for proposing to make inflation even worse while avoiding the long-term fix of revitalizing American oil and natural gas production.
“Amazing. Just amazing,” conservative influencer and co-host of the “Ruthless” podcast, Comfortably Smug, tweeted. “Anything except creating jobs in America making us energy independent.”
Amazing
Just amazing
Anything except creating jobs in America making us energy independent https://t.co/LlI2fRNlfK
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) March 19, 2022
“WH hasn’t already learned their policies push up inflation? Let’s make it worse…or maybe they could consider increasing domestic supply?” Republican Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks replied.
WH hasn’t already learned their policies push up inflation? Let’s make it worse…or maybe they could consider increasing domestic supply? https://t.co/A7p8UHEKR6
— Dr. Miller-Meeks (@millermeeks) March 19, 2022
“After losing hundreds of billions in waste and fraud in the COVID relief/stimulus packages, why not send out gas cards that could be even more misused and, ironically enough, help the gas companies the White House is attacking,” market researcher Josh Jordan tweeted.
After losing hundreds of billions in waste and fraud in the COVID relief/stimulus packages, why not send out gas cards that could be even more misused and, ironically enough, help the gas companies the White House is attacking. https://t.co/Yk1gHad1Jz
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) March 19, 2022
“‘We’re facing runaway inflation. Anybody got any ideas?’” National Review Senior Writer Dan McLaughlin wrote. “‘Hey, how about we print more money, but make it gift cards?’”
“We’re facing runaway inflation. Anybody got any ideas?”
“Hey, how about we print more money, but make it gift cards?” https://t.co/3n7nT3TfCU
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) March 19, 2022
Other responses can be found below:
Make no mistake: they want everyone dependent. https://t.co/E6ntTcwWyW
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) March 19, 2022
At least this is slightly less stupid than “Just get an electric car, you hillbillies” https://t.co/w7AiVjoNxM
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) March 19, 2022
Gas cards? While we are sitting on barrels upon barrels of onshore (and offshore) oil and gas? Preservationist environmentalism is toxic and needs to be dumped as energy policy immediately. https://t.co/KqbN5AGqwE
— Gabriella Hoffman (@Gabby_Hoffman) March 19, 2022
We are like 5 minutes from Biden sending every American family a few lottery scratch offs. https://t.co/UnTM7ZCVRk
— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) March 19, 2022
#NeverForget https://t.co/PL4Zcn6QJd pic.twitter.com/mWNyHOV8pW
— Rusty Scrambles (@RustyScrambles) March 19, 2022
Joe Biden: Fossil fuels are not the answer!
Also Joe Biden: “You get a gas card! And you get a gas card! And you…” https://t.co/OsctSXXqEk
— John Cooper (@thejcoop) March 19, 2022
The Biden admin was considering printing more money as a means to offset inflationary pressures — that were created by their printing of more money…
God help us. https://t.co/mjfWoR48qp
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) March 19, 2022
they really have no clue what they’re doing. just no vision, no plan. https://t.co/DMxW6VBbta
— kaitlin (@thefactualprep) March 19, 2022
The White House and Congressional Democrats are weighing a number of options to address gas prices, which soared to record highs earlier this month. Prices have come down somewhat after oil futures cooled off this week, but experts predict that prices will spike again as the summer travel season begins in earnest and as producers switch to a summer blends of gasoline, which costs more to refine.
Some of the proposals floated by Democrats include stimulus checks, an increase in ethanol use to cut down on oil consumption, and canceling unused drilling leases. Some lawmakers have also called for a suspension of the gas tax. Democrat Senators Mark Kelly and Maggie Hassan, who are both facing re-election in 2022, authored a bill to suspend the federal gas tax through the end of the year. State lawmakers are also floating proposals to suspend state-level gas taxes, and some Democrats have proposed offering gas rebates.
Biden, meanwhile, has insisted that his policies have not hampered domestic energy production, and that there is little he can do because the price hikes are the fault of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite the fact that he shut down the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office and has taken a number of executive actions to restrict domestic energy production in line with his environmental agenda.