乔·拜登总统呼吁国会通过一项汽油税假期周三遭到了来自两党的质疑。
在接受美国广播公司新闻的独家采访时，西弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员乔·曼钦表示，他对该提案有几点担忧，并暗示他不会支持该提案。
“我现在不同意，这是肯定的，”曼钦说，就在几个小时前拜登定于周三下午发表讲话。
在过去的25年里，联邦汽油税的所有收入都流入了高速公路信托基金，这是联邦政府为高速公路、道路和桥梁提供资金的主要来源。曼钦指出，国会在通过两党基础设施一揽子计划时，向该基金追加了1180亿美元。
“现在，这样做并给预算增加另一个漏洞是我非常关心的事情，人们需要明白18美分不会是一刀切的——你永远不会看到18美分的价格一分一分地下降，”曼钦说。
预计拜登将呼吁国会暂停联邦汽油税，截至9月底，联邦汽油税约为每加仑汽油18美分，柴油24美分。担任参议院能源和自然资源委员会主席的曼钦对秋季中期选举前的时机提出异议。
“我的另一个理由是政治分歧。它在九月底爆炸。在11月大选前的一个月，哪位政治家会投票支持恢复18美分的税收?所以，我们只是把整个挖掘得越来越深，”曼钦说。
他补充说，“我们30年来第一次有了基础设施法案，我们可以开始修复道路和桥梁，但电动汽车也必须按比例支付，因为它们使用相同的道路和车辆。他们不是。他们什么都没付。所以，我们需要做很多调整。”
曼钦呼吁国会开始考虑他们家乡地区的美国人，坚持认为“西弗吉尼亚州的人民正在经历一段艰难的时期-他们真的很艰难-无论我们在COVID救济期间发出多少支票，这些通货膨胀支票都受到了沉重的打击，这都被遗忘了，这一切都是徒劳的，”曼钦说。
“我们向市场投入了超过5万亿美元，但这一切都被遗忘了，我们现在只有更高的通货膨胀率，以及需要国会做出一些正确决定的人们面临的更多困难。我们只需要开始考虑我们正在做的事情和我们如何做的长期影响，”他说。
其他民主党人也持怀疑态度，而共和党人不感兴趣
伊利诺伊州民主党党鞭迪克·德宾说，提供救济很重要，但他认为汽油税假期是“暂时的”解决方案。
“从长期来看，这将是一项昂贵的基础设施投资，我对此表示支持，”德宾说。“我们必须把这件事抛在脑后。”
但对于弗吉尼亚州参议员马克·沃纳(Mark Warner)来说，汽油税假期对高速公路信托基金(Highway Trust Fund)的打击，以及美国的基础设施支出，令人担忧。沃纳是去年通过的约1.2万亿美元基础设施法案的关键民主党谈判代表。
他说他对支持汽油税假期“犹豫不决”。他还提到了对总统在九月结束假期的提议的担忧。
沃纳说:“我想明确表示，如果我们采取行动，取消这项税收很容易，恢复税收很难。”。
民主党参议员克里斯·库恩斯。他说，他“愿意支持”拜登的汽油税假日呼吁，但不知道它是否会获得所需的支持，以通过参议院。
甚至一些民主党人也对这个想法不满，总统不太可能与共和党人和好。
参议院共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)在周三上午的发言中称，该提案是“掩盖民主党在可负担的美国能源上的战争的无效噱头”。"
参议院共和党二号人物对此表示赞同。
共和党参议员约翰·图恩(John Thune)说，“我认为政府提出的很多东西都是短期的噱头，我不知道它们是否会产生任何真正的影响。”“这显然是政治花招，不是正确的长期解决方案。”
Democrat Joe Manchin signals he won't support Biden's call for a gas tax holiday
President Joe Biden's calls for Congress to pass agas tax holidaywere being met with skepticism Wednesday from both sides of the aisle.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he had several concerns with the proposal and signaled he would not support it.
"I'm not a yes right now, that's for sure," Manchin said, just hours beforeBiden was set to speak Wednesday afternoon.
For the last 25 years, all revenue from the federal gas tax has gone to the Highway Trust Fund, the major source of federal funding for highways, roads and bridges. Manchin noted Congress put an additional $118 billion into the fund when it passed the bipartisan infrastructure package.
"Now, to do that and put another hole into the budget is something that is very concerning to me, and people need to understand that 18 cents is not going to be straight across the board -- it never has been that you'll see in 18 cents exactly penny-for-penny come off of that price," Manchin said.
Biden is expected to call on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax, which amounts to roughly 18 cents of gasoline and 24 cents per gallon of diesel through the end of September. Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee took issue with the timing ahead of the fall midterm elections.
"My other would be the political ramification. It goes off at the end of September. Which politician up here is going to be voting to put that 18-cent tax back on a month before the November election? So, we just dig the whole deeper and deeper and deeper," Manchin said.
He added, "we have an infrastructure bill for the first time in 30 years that we can start fixing roads and bridges, but electric vehicles have to pay proportionally also as they use the same roadways and vehicles. They're not. They're paying nothing. So, we need a lot of adjustments made."
Manchin called on Congress to start thinking about Americans in their home districts, insisting "the people in West Virginia are having a hard time -- they really are -- these inflation checks have hit hard no matter how many checks we sent out during the COVID relief that's all forgotten it's all for not," Manchin said.
"We put over $5 trillion out into the marketplace and it's all forgotten and all we have now is higher inflation and really more hardship on people that need some good decisions here in the Congress. We just need to start looking at the long-term effect of what we are doing and how we are doing it," he said.
Other Democrats skeptical, too, while Republicans not interested
Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said it's important to provide relief, but contends a gas tax holiday is a "temporary only" solution.
"Long term, it's going to be an expensive infrastructure investment, which I support," Durbin said. "We've got to get this behind us."
But for Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, a key Democrat negotiator on the roughly $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed last year, the hit that a gas tax holiday would take to the Highway Trust Fund, and therefore the nation's infrastructure spending, is concerning.
He said he's "hesitant" about supporting a gas tax holiday. He also cited concerns about the president's proposal to end the holiday in September.
"I want to make very clear if we were to take this action -- its easy to take away this tax its hard to put one back on," Warner said.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said he's "willing to support" Biden's gas tax holiday call but doesn't know whether it will get the support it needs to pass the Senate.
And with even some Democrats sour to the idea, the president is unlikely to make up support with Republicans.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, in floor remarks Wednesday morning, called the proposal an "ineffective stunt to mask the Democrats' war on affordable American energy."
The second-ranking Senate Republican echoed that.
"I think a lot of things being suggested by the administration are very gimmicky, short term, and I wonder if they would have any real impact," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said. "This stuff is clearly political gimmickry it's not the right long-term solution."
