February 24, 2018

Gas Prices vs. Tax Cuts: How Trump Can Protect His Signature Achievement

During his short time in office, President Donald Trump has taken several steps that have generated robust economic growth, including signing historic tax cuts that have already led to bigger paychecks for American workers. But to ensure that Americans can keep enjoying the benefits of this popular tax cut, the administration needs to fight rising gas prices.

During his short time in office, President Donald Trump has taken several steps that have generated robust economic growth, including signing historic tax cuts that have already led to bigger paychecks for American workers. But to ensure that Americans can keep enjoying the benefits of this popular tax cut, the administration needs to fight rising gas prices.

The challenge is a familiar one. For example, in 2011, Americans’ savings from a payroll tax cut were largely negated by rising gas prices. Similarly, an analysis by the nonpartisan organization Securing America’s Future Energy found that although former President George W. Bush’s tax cuts increased household income by $1,900 from 2001 to 2008, Americans spent $2,000 more on gasoline in that same time frame as prices rose.

President Trump needs to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself. One way to do that would be to strengthen and modernize the fuel economy of our vehicles.

Simply put, fuel economy standards help Americans’ pocketbooks. According to Forbes, a 2017 study by David L. Greene at the University of Tennessee found that fuel economy standards have saved American consumers in all income groups an estimated $4 trillion since 1975. Fuel economy standards that encourage innovative ways to further increase our efficiency will continue to help consumers save money.

Securing the gains won by the tax cut isn’t the only reason that President Trump should strengthen and modernize fuel efficiency; it’s also in keeping with his stated desire to realize not just “energy independence” but “energy dominance.” The administration has said that part of its plan to achieve this goal will be permitting more offshore drilling, which will give Americans access to our own energy resources. This is a laudable goal, but getting more out of the oil we already put in our cars is also a commonsense step towards energy dominance.

Over 92 percent of America’s transportation sector relies on oil, making our economy vulnerable to fluctuations in the oil market. Increasing the efficiency of our cars and trucks would be a good step towards shielding our economy from the potential ramifications of a volatile global oil market.

There’s no free market for oil — that’s why we need policy to protect our interests. At the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC), state-subsidized oil companies collude with one another to manipulate the global oil supply to their own benefit. Leaving our transportation costs subject to the whims of foreign powers at OPEC creates uncertainty for consumers, weakening the economy. Strengthening these standards will help shield us from the interference of petrostates and lessen our dependence on foreign oil.

The fuel economy of our cars and trucks also has national security implications. These rules were initially adopted to prevent foreign countries from seeking to harm American interests by manipulating the price of oil. Boosting fuel efficiency would further reduce this risk.

The administration should collaborate with car companies and innovators to strengthen fuel economy standards so Americans may enjoy the full benefits of their tax cuts instead of having to spend that money on gas. The White House should not risk economic growth from tax reform being stifled by oil price volatility. Strengthening fuel economy standards would benefit both consumers and America’s national security and would help achieve the administration’s “America first” agenda on both energy and security.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.