In yesterday’s Assembly voting session the Democrats passed another waste of time, non-binding, completely ignored resolution to “urge” that the federal government take action to come down on the oil futures markets to drive down the cost of oil and eventually the cost of gasoline.
The obvious problem with this resolution is that it is a total waste of time. The federal
government is no more going to act on this resolution than any other, and it is not as though members of the House and Senate live under a rock, they know how expensive gas is. The Democrats just thought that this waste of a resolution would be more worth their time and taxpayers money than say, important Toolkit legislation that may soon finally see the light of day.
However, what is more disappointing and disgusting than this obvious attempt to look like they are doing something is the even more obvious hypocrisy. This resolution is coming from the same caucus that have recently introduced two separate bills to raise the gas tax in New Jersey, one of the only taxes that our state can claim is lower than that of most others. Clearly the Democrats realize that with just a bit more effort, they can put New Jersey back on top as the highest taxed state in the Union! The two bills, A-2718 and A-2908, would respectively raise the state gasoline tax by 24 cents over three years and another 12 cents over six years. The first bill would then attach the gas tax level to the consumer price index, meaning that once inflation from all the money printing the Fed is doing catches up with us, you can expect even higher increases as time goes on.
This is the typical doublespeak that we have come to expect from New Jersey Democrats. They want to blame any sort of market that they can for a problem, and never one that does not fit their narrative. They remain silent on the issue of domestic oil production and how the mere mentioning of digging into our own untapped resources in this country could drive down prices remarkably, but they want to blame people who “speculate” on the future supply and demand of oil. They want to go after people who invest the money from our IRA’s and 401k’s in a commodity that is constantly rising, rather than attack the actual disease, our total dependance on foreign oil. And then, after going after our investments, they have the chutzpah to raise the tax rate to a point that essentially ensures gas prices over $4.00 a gallon for all New Jerseyan’s, all of the time.
Assmeblyman Bucco of the Budget Committee had this to say:
The Assembly Democrats want to jump on the bandwagon of feigning concern about oil prices, but their actions in New Jersey tell a much different story. Their legislation over the last several years has taken a toll on commuters, and now they support raising the gas tax. One of their members stated at a Budget Committee hearing on March 31 that ‘at some point, we’re going to have to raise taxes or tolls.
If the Democrats in the Legislature had such a concern about costs for drivers, why did they pass bills over the years that hike taxes and fees on vehicle registrations, tires, the tax on higher-priced autos and rental cars? And the crown jewel in their strategy to help travelers was increasing the sales tax by 17 percent, adding hundreds of dollars to the cost of buying a car.
If Democrats were serious in their concern for New Jersey’s consumers they would withdraw their proposals to raise the gas tax by a quarter per gallon. Today’s vote makes it clear that they continue to support raising another tax on drivers
