White House urges Congress to bypass legislative measures… Obama’s ‘political trick’ remarks highlighted
[EPA 연합뉴스 자료 사진. 재판매 및 DB 금지]
(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Kyung-hee = US President Joe Biden is seriously considering a fuel tax exemption card to catch the soaring oil prices ahead of the November midterm elections.
From the point of view of President Biden, who has been unable to get out of the swamp of stagnation in approval ratings, it is determined that inflation is urgently needed to make a political breakthrough, and oil prices must be addressed first to stabilize perceived inflation.
White House press secretary Carine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing on the 21st (local time) if she was contacting Congress about the temporary fuel tax waiver. .
However, he declined to comment on specific contact details.
“President Biden understands the suffering of Americans, and that’s why he has taken action, including the release of oil stockpiles,” said Jean-Pierre, spokesperson for Jean-Pierre.
“President Biden has made it clear that he will do everything to ease the suffering of American families, and that every option is on the table,” he said. will,” he added.
Earlier, President Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he had a private vacation home the day before, that he was considering a temporary waiver of the fuel tax.
Faced with its worst inflation in more than 40 years, the United States has been struggling with rising energy and food prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As international oil prices rose rapidly, the average price of gasoline in the United States exceeded $5 per gallon (3.78L) for the first time ever.
President Biden’s approval rating is at an all-time low.
According to an opinion poll by USA Today and Suffol released on the 17th, President Biden’s approval rating was 39%, and in a Reuters and Ipsos poll conducted for two days starting on the 13th, President Biden’s approval rating fell to 39% for three weeks in a row. The record lows were set one after another.
For this reason, President Biden himself is sending a strong message day after day saying that he is reviewing all cards to stabilize oil prices, which is a ‘fire on the feet’.
However, the situation is already raising doubts about its effectiveness, saying that it is only a political workaround.
In particular, amid rising oil prices in 2008, the fact that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama dismissed claims of fuel tax exemptions of in-party contender Hillary Clinton and Republican contender John McCain as ‘political trickery’ is a new prospect.
At the time, former President Barack Obama strongly criticized the tax exemption claim, saying, “The easiest thing a politician can do is to say what the voters want to hear.”
CNN mentioned the situation at the time and paradoxically pointed out that President Biden, a former vice president of the Obama administration, is coming up with a fuel tax exemption.
Critics say that if Congress approves a temporary fuel tax exemption, the effect of a fuel tax cut of 18 cents per gallon will occur. argue that there is
Another point of criticism is that this policy ultimately promotes oil consumption and goes against the climate change measures put forward by the Biden administration.
Senator Bernie Sanders, a former presidential contender for Biden, tweeted in March that “Barack Obama was right” and that “a fuel tax waiver was a bad idea in 2008, and still is” as an alternative to raising taxes on oil companies. have.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers also appeared on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on the 19th and expressed a negative stance on the fuel tax exemption, saying that it was “just a political gimmick.”
kyunghee@yna.co.kr
Report on Kakao Talk okjebo
<저작권자(c) 연합뉴스,
Unauthorized reproduction-redistribution prohibited>
2022/06/22 06:10 Send
