What’s more painful, seeing what the pump says you owe after filling your tank with gas or hearing Joe Biden essentially tell you to suck it up and deal with it because we’re going through an “incredible transition.”
He’s right about one thing; some people might go through an incredible transition straight into poverty based on the cost of a gallon of gas. In fact, in many places, a gallon of gas is more than the federal minimum wage. Meaning it would take over an hour at a minimum wage job to pay for a gallon of gas.
Despite some states increasing their minimum wage to $15 or so, the federal minimum wage is $7.25, and that number is less than the cost of a gallon for many people in California. If you’re wondering why Californians seem always to get stuck with significantly higher fuel prices, higher gas taxes in Cali are used to pay for infrastructure and other things.
UC Berkley economist Severin Borenstein told CBS that there’s also a “master gasoline surcharge” tacked on that can’t be explained, meaning there’s no fess or other factors explaining the added cost.
The average cost of a gallon nationally is $4.60, and analysts are forecasting that it could balloon to $6.20 by August. Borenstein said if you’re holding out for lower prices, forget about it, he doesn’t see prices falling into the $3 range anytime soon.
Drivers in Los Angeles will see prices as high as $7.83 at some stations, and multiple stations around California report prices of $7.25 or higher.
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