Sunday, May 4, 2008

Gas Tax Holiday?

Obama is correct. This would do nothing but give the Oil Companies a bigger profit. gas prices would not come down. They would just rise to the point of where they were before the gas tax. Sorry Hillary Gas tax Holiday is a nice token gesture but it would do nothing to help.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Part of what ticks me off about it, Count, is the terminology. Gas Tax "Holiday." Gee, makes it sound like a week at the beach or the cabin, or the family reunion, doesn't it? Some kind of massive break to the typical family. When, in reality, this will mean maybe - MAYBE - $20 bucks, tops, to the average American over a period of three months. Does that sound like much of a "holiday"? Maybe it will mean an extra trip through the local fast-food joint for a family of 4, on some random day between June and September. It's a largely symbolic gesture offering no genuine relief, but instead massive job losses over its enacted period, and absolutely NO skin off the oil companies' gold-plated teeth.

You might call it the light, politically-issue-expedient version of Bush's "economic stimulus" package, without the visceral pleasure of depositing or cashing an *actual* check. You just have to "feel" that extra rush of solvency... deep down in your already-empty pocket.

It's one of the most disingenuous things I've seen come down the pike in a long time. And, while it's not unexpected that the likes of "More War For Oil! Bomb, bomb Iran!" McCain would back it with all his senile enthusiasm, I'm very dismayed to see Hillary climbing aboard what most sane citizens, not to mention most economists, see as a cheap stunt at the expense of the most gullible segment of the American people.

Anonymous said...

ET you're right; "holiday" sounds very pleasant and very temporary.

I think, though, politicians ought to be giving out a not so pleasant message: painful though it sounds, the days of unlimited cheap gas for that huge SUV that's bigger than some African people's houses may be over.

I think the incentives should be not for driving as usual, but for driving more sensibly: not going way across town to shop; buying more fuel-efficient vehicles; making bus service better so people have alternatives; building more sidewalks and bike paths; opening branch factories in nearby small towns so you don't have to truck things in from Toronto.

That's a long term solution but I'd like to see a politician at least acknowledge that it's on the horizon.

But who acknowledges anything painful?

Anonymous said...

Count you will need to get rid of that gas guzzling Escapade that you own..

Anonymous said...

'Escapades' are great at holiday time....especially the new Gas Tax Holiday.
I wonder if it will be a 'paid' holiday?
Will the Post Office be closed?

Anonymous said...

The Count doesn't own any cars. he can't drive. The Contessa has the same vehicle she's had since I met her. And when and if she wants something else that's up to her. Knowing her I don't think she'll drive anything that isn't economical.

Anonymous said...

Since the anon pussy mentioned the car I own...

I have Cerebral Palsy (a very mild form) My driving days ended 10 years ago :) My neurologist said I shouldn't not have been driving then.

Anonymous said...

Politicians ought to be giving out a not so pleasant message: painful though it sounds, the days of unlimited cheap gas for that huge SUV that's bigger than some African people's houses may be over.

Absolutely right, Wee. The truth that anyone who has filled a gas tank just about anyplace outside the U.S. has known for decades is that gas prices in the States have been artificially low, compared with the rest of the world, for many a year. And the level of gas consumption in the States is staggering to residents of these other countries. Some of that can be put down to unfamiliarity with the geographical quirks of the largely suburban U.S., and the particularly vast distances between points A and B in many Western states, where there can even be close to a hundred miles between Rest Areas, let alone towns. But not all of it is down to demographics or geography.

I would enormously respect any politician who would get out there to communicate some of the hard truths about fuel dependency and promote incentives to "kick the habit."

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