Today, Mitch McConnell — Big Oil’s top loyalist in the Senate — launched a misleading ad attacking Senator Hassan for her push to suspend the federal gas tax and hold Big Oil accountable for posting record profits while keeping gas prices sky high for Granite Staters.
Unlike her opponents, Senator Hassan has been relentless in taking on Big Oil. She has called for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate any price gouging by the industry and called out Big Oil for posting record profits while keeping gas prices high. Senator Hassan has also been aggressive in pushing for a federal gas tax holiday, which would provide critically needed relief for Granite Staters at the pump. And she successfully called on the Biden administration to release more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“Senator Hassan is leading the fight against Big Oil to bring down gas prices for Granite Staters — and that’s exactly why Mitch McConnell and his Big Oil donors are attacking her with misleading TV ads,” said Maggie for NH spokesperson Kevin Donohoe. “Senator Hassan has been relentless in calling out Mitch McConnell for blocking a federal gas tax holiday and Big Oil for posting record profits while keeping gas prices sky high on Granite Staters — and she will keep standing up to whoever it takes to lower costs for New Hampshire families.”
The TV ad is just the latest effort by Mitch McConnell and his dark money donors – including the oil industry – to attack Senator Hassan for standing up to Big Oil and working to lower costs for Granite Staters. McConnell and Republican Senators blocked Senator Hassan’s effort to immediately pass a gas tax holiday on the Senate floor. And Chuck Morse, one of Senator Hassan’s opponents, was responsible for killing bipartisan legislation at the state level that would have suspended the state gas tax.
Much like Senator Hassan’s opponents, the attack ad parrots Big Oil’s favorite talking points, including pushing policies such as the Keystone Pipeline that would do nothing to bring down the high prices Granite Staters are seeing right now at the pump. While Republicans have tried to shift blame for rising gas prices, the truth is that Big Oil already has thousands of unused permits for drilling in the United States that they could use to help ramp up production and bring down costs. But instead of doing that, they’re using their huge profits on stock buybacks and rewarding their investors.