This has been diaried several times, by poblano, Doug Johnson MD, Magorn, Gray, Raralex, ablington, jcullen, and others. But I'm infuriated enough that I can't resist adding my own thoughts. I'm talking about the "gas tax holiday" , of course.
I hate to be dramatic, but if people are so against their own self interest as to fall for this, if they are not willing to take a teensy tiny step towards ending our profligacy in energy use, dismiss this gimmick, and start on the right path, then they are not serious about wanting any of our problems fixed, and we are well on our way to becoming a formerly great nation.
First let's review the Bush ad on this subject from 2004:
Well, of course Kerry was proposing no such thing in 2004, the last time he proposed it was years before. But he would have been right to do so, as almost all economists and energy experts agree. John-Hillary McClinton, predictably, disagrees. And Bush of course was also wrong, as he has been about nearly everything.
This is a perfect example of why I am supporting Barack Obama. This idea, which Clinton and McCain (twins separated at birth?) both support, is a huge error in judgement, and shows either a serious misunderstanding of the economics of the present oil crisis, or is just unjustifiable pandering. Some of the above posters point out how Clinton used to be against this, and that Republicans have used this ridiculous ploy against both Gore and Kerry in the past two elections, but until now, only Republicans.
How wrong? Well partly due to Bush policies, and using his own numbers, drivers are now paying not $657 but $1708 per year more than they were in November 2004. But this money, instead of going to improving our crumbling infrastructure, instead goes to foreign countries, making our trade deficit worse. We're still stuck with huge SUVs draining our bank accounts, and oil demand per person still far higher than any other country in the world.
So what would happen if the "gas holiday" becomes law? Others have written in a lot more detail than I will here, but:
First ,we're talking about 18.3 cents, with gas now approaching $4/gallon. People aren't going to notice it. Clinton wants to replace the lost money with a windfall profits tax, and oil companies will just raise the price of gas to make up for it. This cannot be avoided without actually introducing Nixonian price controls. People not only won't notice it, they will still pay the same. Except the money will go into the federal black hole instead of the highway trust fund. The trust fund and mass transit will lose 15 billion dollars per year. So you should be even more afraid every time you cross a bridge. And there will be less opportunity to save fuel by using environmentally friendly mass transit. However there will as psychological impact, people will buy more gas, increasing demand and sending prices even higher, while sending still more money to our friends in Saudi Arabia.
People know that getting out of our energy bind is going to cause pain. Our children and grandchildren depend on us. If we're not willing to forgo even this fake gimmick, then face it, we're just fooling ourselves; we Americans no longer have the greatness within us to conquer our most pressing problems for the sake of posterity. And future generations will not have it better than us - they will have it worse.
Obama is exactly right on this. His judgement is sharp and sound. His integrity will not allow him to join the "buy votes cheap" crowd. Hillary-John McClinton is a disgusting panderer who will sell the future of the country for a few votes, just like their predecessor Bush, as he demonstrated with his spectacularly, willfully ignorant commercial from '04. This is a big example of why I support Obama. Sorry, but my vote is not for sale for 30 bucks (the measly amount the "gas tax holiday" would save you if you pocketed all the savings- except that it won't), and I'm insulted by the Republican and Republican-lite candidates who think so little of their potential employers that they assume that it is. I challenge any Clinton supporter reading this to try to justify her actions. Make my day.