Sen. Rand Paul Proposes Gas Tax Freedom

Eliminate gas tax and pass savings on to Americans



Today, Sen. Rand Paul proposed a plan to reduce the burden on Americans facing ever-increasing prices at the gas pump. This amendment, which will be proposed to any energy bill that comes before the Senate, would eliminate the profit per gallon the federal government receives every time we fill up our cars, and will offset the loss in revenue with cuts to foreign aid.

Last week, oil company chiefs were called to testify in the House, where Democrats berated them for turning a profit on the product they offer consumers. While oil companies make an average profit of $0.07 per gallon of gas sold, the federal government collects nearly three times that in taxes. The Democrat solution to this is to raise taxes on the oil companies - a cost that will undoubtedly be passed on to consumers.

"Eliminating the federal gas tax passes on a $0.184 saving per gallon to consumers. Raising taxes on the companies that provide this product would have the opposite effect," Sen. Paul said. "The only real solution to this problem in the short term is to eliminate the government's cut and pass the savings on to consumers."

While some worry that eliminating this tax will lead to a decrease in revenue for the Highway Trust Fund, Sen. Paul has a solution for that as well: "Every dollar that is lost in the highway trust fund from the gas tax holiday will be replaced by cuts in foreign aid and in corporate welfare," he said.

Speaking on the Senate floor this afternoon, Sen. Paul addressed this proposal. The following is a video and transcript of his floor speech.