How one group highlighted inflation by paying for Georgia drivers’ gas
Americans for Prosperity lowered gas at one station to $2.38, the same national price per gallon the day President Joe Biden took office
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - On the same day Gov. Brian Kemp extended a suspension of the state’s gas tax, one group made a political statement at the pump, rolling back prices at one gas station to $2.38 per gallon.
It’s a price drivers haven’t seen in a long time, with the national average on Wednesday topping out at $3.40.
“We’re dropping prices to $2.38, which was the price of gas when President Biden took office,” said Jacquelyn Harn, coalitions director with Americans for Prosperity Georgia (AFP-GA), the conservative political advocacy group behind the event. “People are having to sacrifice and make changes in their lifestyle and it shouldn’t have to happen that way.”
AFP-GA paid the difference to get drivers down to that $2.38 rate for a few hours, providing some temporary relief from what’s proven to be one of the most prominent examples of inflation in recent years.
Drivers pulling up to the Texaco and Finish Line Car Wash on Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain Tuesday seemed grateful.
“I was just driving, coming back from my lunch and I saw the price, and I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I should fill it up today,’” said motorist Anedreia Lima. “It’s frustrating. I’m a single mom and I have a lot on my plate and every time you turn around something’s going up.”
“I haven’t been filling up because it’s so high. I just put in like ten or fifteen dollars and it has to make it work however long it can work,” said driver Karisma Elyse.
“If it could change, I’m sure we would all love that,” she added. “Especially with the holidays coming up. I used to do a lot of giving back and trying to make food for the homeless and I feel bad because I might not be able to do that.”
AFP-GA also spoke to drivers about House Resolution 1, a piece of legislation currently making its way through the U.S. Congress that would roll back permitting regulations on domestic energy companies to stoke more production inside the nation’s borders.
“We are looking for actual permanent change,” said Harn. “We shouldn’t have to rely on our governor to suspend a gas tax to provide us relief. We should actually have federal policies in place to cure that.”
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