Advocacy Group Brings Gas Price In Levittown To $2.38

Drivers in Levittown did a double take Wednesday as they passed a gas station with an eye-catching $2.38 per gallon displayed on its marquee.

From 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., locals were able to fill up for the low price at Bruce’s Liberty Gas and Automotive at the corner of Bristol-Oxford Valley Road and Bristol-Emilie Road in Bristol Township thanks to a promotion by Americans for Prosperity, a group that promotes deregulation and largely conservative points of view.

The Levittown gas station was the last stop on Americans for Prosperity’s national “True Cost of Washington” campaign that toured the nation to highlight inflation and call out government spending that the group deems unnecessary. The tour was backed with video ads as it traveled the country bringing cheap gas and spreading their message of political advocacy.

Emily Greene, the deputy Pennsylvania state director for Americans for Prosperity, said the $2.38 price on Wednesday was symbolic, as it marked the price in January 2021 when President Joe Biden took over after President Donald Trump’s term ended.

According to GasBuddy and AAA, gas stations in the area were charging about $3.60 on Wednesday, which was down from a high of roughly $5 per gallon in summer.

Greene said Americans for Prosperity was calling on Democratic and Republican lawmakers to look at deregulation and other measures to lower the inflation that has hit the global economy and caused consumers to pay more at gas stations, grocery stores, and retailers.

Bruce Rodger, who has operated the local gas station since the mid-1990s and has been in the business since the 1970s, said he was happy Americans for Prosperity were picking up some of the bill for customers at his station.

Rodger said families are faced with rising costs and gas is just one of them. As a small businessman, he has seen the rise in prices, including keeping up with raising wages, on both fronts.

Drivers formed a short line to get gas at the discounted price.

“This is fabulous,” one woman loudly stated as she pulled up.

Although there was an attendant at each pump, their purpose was not to fill customers’ tanks. The Americans for Prosperity staffers were there to help their captive audience understand their message and to distribute swag bearing the slogan “Pay More, Get Less.”

Bristol Township resident Bill Mullins said he misses getting gas for $2.38, but he’s not sure if it was solely because Trump was in office.

Sue Rogers, of Bristol Borough, said she appreciated the cheap gas and liked the local gas station, but she doesn’t believe Biden is to blame for high gas prices.

“There’s a war in Ukraine, climate change, COVID, and other issues to it,” she said. “You can’t blame one person.”

“It’s great. I wish they always had this price,” said Fran W., a Levittown resident.

Fran said her older SUV had some mechanical troubles a few weeks back and it burned more gas than it should have, causing her to spend $50 per day as she commuted between Levittown and Philadelphia.

Between gas, grocery, and rent rising, Fran said she would like to see inflation ease.

The “True Cost of Washington” tour started in July and hit more than 100 locations.

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