hi, everyone. i'm kate snow. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. nbc "news daily" starts right now. ♪♪ today, wednesday, october 19th okay 2022, opening the tap. president biden pulling millions of barrels of oil out of the american reserve. what it could mean for gas prices we all pay. >> brackets busted. irs being forced to overhaul tax brackets and standard deductions. what you need to know before you

think about filing. bitter blast. temperatures nosedive across the country, and in some places the cold could be just the beginning of the problem. >> the gentle approach of moms and dads is growing in popularity. does it go too far or not far enough? we begin with your money and the biden administration's efforts to bring you relief at gas prices surge. >> president biden trying to create lower fuel prices and he's releasing 15 million barrels from the oil reserves. the national average is $3.85. the president says oil companies need to give americans a break. >> when the cost of oil comes down, we should see the price at the gas station, at the pump come down as well. that's how it's supposed to work, but that's not what's happening. >> in addition to that, believe it or not, there's some positive news today about inflation.

you could have lower taxes because of inflation coming up. we'll break down some of the changes coming from the irs with you let's get to digital reporter shannon pettypiece. president biden spoke at the white house and what are the details of this plan to lower gas prices. >> reporter: big picture for consumers. this isn't expected to have a significant effect on prices at the pump. the president, as you noted, said that they would be releasing this 15 million barrels from the petroleum reserve, the stockpiles of oil that we have. that's really part of a larger release that the white house had announced months ago, and it's less than the amount of oil that the u.s. uses in one day. but it is an attempt by the white house to show that they are trying to do what they can to address concerns by consumers. here's a little bit more about what the president had to say. >> choices made by other countries are affecting the price of gas here at home. that's why i've been acting so aggressively. without the steps we've taken over the past several months to

ramp up production and lower prices and get relief to consumers, gas prize would be higher than they are today. >> reporter: and the president again repeated the attacks and criticism on the oil industry saying he wants to see the companies passing along more savings to consumers rather than using their profit to essentially buy back shares and pay out dividends or rewarding their shareholders instead. >> shannon, we're now 20 days from the mid-term elections, right? we no gas prices and the economy are top issues for voters. what is the white house saying about the political strategy behind this move? >> well, the president was asked specifically about that, and he said that this is not politically motivated but democratic strategists and pollsters that i've been talking to have been sounding the alarm in recent days saying they don't feel like democrats are doing enough to show that they are addressing and they plan to address concerns that vote verse about the economy and inflation. they talk to a smaller extent

about what they have done, like legislation that's passed that would ultimately have some effect on inflation, but democrat you can strategists want to hear democrats talk more about the actions they are