June 7, 2022
By Frank Knapp Jr., President & CEO, South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce
The price of gas jumped by 25 cents in one week.
You are angry.
The average price of gas is 59 cents higher than a month ago and you are now paying over $4 a gallon.
You want someone to blame.
Small business owners are paying more for everything with much of the increased cost, one way or another, due to higher gas and diesel prices. And, of course, the small businesses have to pass their higher gas-induced costs on to you the consumer.
The blame for these gas prices is being largely placed on President Biden and Congressional Democrats. They are running everything in Washington, aren’t they?
Well, they are not but that is another issue.
Consider this. Neither the President nor any member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, has voted to raise gas prices.
Yes, there has been bi-partisan support of Ukraine in its battle against the Russian invasion, support that has included agreement to stop buying Russian oil. Most consumers understand that some of the increased cost of gas stems from this publicly backed foreign policy.
Refinery capacity is down also which adds to the problem especially when the summer vacations are causing an increased demand for gas.
So, what happens if tomorrow we flipped the Presidency and control of the U.S. House and Senate. What would change regarding gas prices?
Nothing.
Congress could pass a federal gas tax holiday until the end of the year that would cut about 18 cents off a gallon. But there is not much support for that from either party.
A different President could release more oil from the nation’s strategic reserve, but President Biden has already done much of that.
What is dumbfounding then is why does the American public want to blame Washington?
Yet, there is no public outrage for the folks who are responsible for raising the price of a gallon of gas—the oil industry.
Oil industry profits were up nearly 300 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year!
We are talking about profit after taking into consideration their expenses and write downs due to exiting their business in Russia.
Have the oil companies used any of this obscene profit to keep the gas prices as low as possible while still making a decent profit?
Of course not!
Instead, the oil companies are doing what all giant corporations do when they receive a windfall (as they did in 2018 after getting a 40% tax rate cut from Congress). They use the money primarily for buying back their own stocks, increasing their value to the benefits of their shareholders and executives.
Where is the public outrage?
If there is finger pointing to be done on high gas prices it should be directed to the businesses that are greedily jacking up their prices to make higher profits. Not the gas station owner. The oil companies.
If the President and members of both political parties are to blame, it is because they are not calling out Big Oil and passing legislation for a wind-fall profits tax with the revenue given back to consumers.
The disconnect between a major cause of high gas prices and who is being blamed is clear.
And the oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank.