OPINION

A Tax Holiday to Nowhere

 
 
 

Email To A Friend

Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.

Separate multiple addresses with commas

 

Hillary Clinton has joined John McCain in proposing the most irresponsible policy idea of the year: suspending the federal gas tax this summer. Both of them know it's a terrible pander, and yet they're pushing it anyway for crass political advantage. The goal is to depict Barack Obama as an out-of-touch elitist, by any means necessary. I could highlight a long debate among economists on suspending the gas tax, but there is no debate. Not one respectable economist supports the idea, unless they are official members of the Clinton or McCain campaigns. For relief at the pump, try tax credits—but not this. Why is the gas pander so bad? Let's count the ways:

• It's a direct transfer of money from motorists to oil companies. If the federal excise tax were lifted, oil companies would simply raise prices and pocket most of the difference. Clinton's proposal to recover the $8.5 million with a windfall profits tax on oil companies sounds nice but won't happen. Besides, she already committed that money to developing renewable energy.

• It offers taxpayers only peanuts. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials says the average savings to motorists would be $30. That measly number was somehow not included in Clinton's explanation of her support.

• It sends more hard-earned money to the Middle East, which is terrible for our national security. Remember, 15 of the 19 terrorists on 9/11 came from Saudi Arabia. How did they get the terrorist training? Oil money.

• It makes it more likely you'll have a car accident or waste even more time in traffic. The proceeds from the gas tax go for highway construction and upgrades. Because the tax was last raised 15 years ago, our infrastructure is a mess, with potholes and dangerous crossings practically everywhere. Thousands of repair projects will be further delayed.

• It will cost 300,000 construction jobs, according to Transportation. Which makes it kind of ironic when Clinton starts her rallies saying she wants "jobs, jobs, jobs."

© 2008

Discuss

Sponsored by

Member Comments

  • Posted By: kristinkare @ 05/20/2008 1:59:57 AM

    Clinton takes Indiana by a ???razor??? and Obama wins North Carolina by a huge margin. Nevertheless, Kentucky, Montana and West Virginia are still to come.

    The Democratic race for nomination is still very much alive ??? and most likely to be decided by superdelegates

    If you???re tired of waiting around for those super delegates to make a decision already, go to LobbyDelegates.com and push them to support Clinton or Obama

    If you haven't done so yet, please write a message to each of your state's superdelegates at http://www.lobbydelegates.com

    Obama Supporters:

    Sending a note to current Obama supporters lets them know it's appreciated, sending a note to current Clinton supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Obama, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Obama. It's that easy...

    Clinton Supporters too ???. !

    It takes a moment, but what's a few minutes now worth to get Clinton in office?! Those are really worth !

    Sending a note to current Clinton supporters lets them know it's appreciated, sending a note to current Obama supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Clinton, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Clinton. It's that easy...

  • Posted By: stwood6 @ 05/13/2008 2:09:06 PM

    I agree that a summer gas tax break is not going to help. I think what would help is for the government to give tax breaks to companies that help conserve energy. I am sure there is a large percentage of workers who are able to do their jobs from their homes. This would eliminate some of the problem. Companies should also get credit for creating carpool/ride share programs. The government should make it mandatory that a certain amount of government/contract workers at least entertain the idea of having some workers telecommute.

  • Posted By: vdadholgate @ 05/10/2008 7:47:58 AM

    Once again, Mr. Alter demonstrates his arrogance and anti Clinton journalsim with a twist,
    Alter's arguments about captial spending for road repair and construction sprout from the mouth;s of the oil companies. Mr. A;ter doesn't present an original thought in his article, Stop drinking the cool -aid from Exxon/Mobile and represent the working poor that commute to work everyday.

Reply

Report Abuse

Enter comments if any for reporting abuse

 

Up and Coming Newsweek Stories on Digg

Discover more Newsweek content on Digg