With utility bills expected to increase 30%–50% this winter for most Americans, the Biden Administration wants to do nothing more than add more fuel to the inflationary fire.
We’ll get to Team Biden in a moment.
First, to give you an idea of how bad the situation has already gotten, my initial research for this report had me stumbling over story after story about relief programs for Americans who can no longer afford their monthly utility bills.
Check these out:
- Arizona launches $36M program to help families pay utility bills
- New Jersey: Utility companies will resume shut off of service for nonpayment after December 31, 2021. Don’t delay, apply for energy assistance today!
- Pennsylvania: Columbia Gas Urging People To Use Its Assistance Program
I could go on (and on… and on), but you get the point. Prices haven’t nearly peaked, winter demand has yet to set in, and yet already state and local governments (and some utility companies) are looking for ways to help those who can least afford to pay.
The higher cost of keeping your home warm this winter comes on top of gas prices that are up to levels not seen since the last time we had a Democrat in the White House.
Joe Biden’s response? He wants to impose new taxes and more restrictions on American energy producers — costs that will be passed on directly to consumers.
Bethany Blankley reports that “About $6 billion in new taxes, fees and fines specific to the oil and gas industry” are all part of Biden’s multitrillion-dollar “Build Back Better” bill currently undergoing fierce negotiations in the Senate.
Those taxes would hit products far from the gas pump or the oil heater:
In a letter to the House Natural Resources Committee, representatives from Western Energy Alliance, U.S. Oil and Gas Association, International Association of Drilling Contractors, and the Energy Workforce & Technology Council argue that imposing hefty “ill-conceived and punitive fees, royalties, and penalties in an effort to raise just six billion dollars in revenue” will constrain the future supply of 6,000 products derived from oil that Americans use every day.
That’s $6 billion in new taxes that will push prices up on almost everything from consumer electronics, office supplies, building supplies, home appliances, medical devices, health products, and more.
Biden’s tax plan is ostensibly to move us towards a “green” energy future, but already he’s been forced to ask OPEC — whose members generally have far less strict environmental regulations — to increase oil production, while Biden decreases it here at home.
Then there’s this:
US power plants are on track to burn 23 per cent more coal this year, the first increase since 2013, despite Biden’s ambitious plan to eliminate carbon emissions from the power grid.
The boom is driven by soaring natural gas prices (again, borne by consumers). Prices are up because production has still not recovered to pre-lockdown levels. Both the lockdowns and Biden’s unemployment expansion hurt producers.
If you were to look at today’s situation and ask yourself, “What could I possibly do to make it worse?” you still couldn’t have come up with more bad answers than Biden already has.
Source: PJ Media
