by Jocelyn Reinecke

Widener University Student

Gas prices have on the rise and Newt Gingrich is trying to regain momentum in the Republican Presidential Primary. He has begun to do this by promising that he has a plan to make gas prices go back down to $2.50 per gallon.  Although this proposal is going to catch attention among citizens following the campaign closely, a very important question arises: How is one politician going to influence something as big as the price of gas?

It is hard for politicians, such as a presidential candidate, to be able to make promises that will affect our economy not only in the short-term but in the long run as well.  During the Nixon Administration, price controls were created which turned out to be a complete disaster. This proposal is very likely to fail as well. Politicians have little control over how much the price of gas changes.  The only thing they can try and do is lower the tax on gas when it is imported. However the whole price of gasoline per gallon is based on how much a barrel costs and how much gas station owners have to charge to make some type of a profit. If gas prices were always set to the price of $2.50 but the price of the gas barrel was more than that price even with lower taxes on its importation, gas station owners with start to suffer because they will not make any profit. If gas station owners could not make any profit, their businesses would close and no one would have anywhere to go and to get gas even if its only $2.50.

Politicians have little to no control over the price of gas. Gingrich is really trying to just boost his presidential campaign trail because he has lost a lot of momentum. Gas prices being only $2.50 would be great and would really help Americans out, however it is nearly impractical to have the gas prices be that low because there are so many chain effect reactions that could happen and could really hurt our economy even more.