Clinton, McCain, Take Pandering To A New Level
April 30, 2008
Hillary Clinton and John McCain wants to suspend the 18 cent per gallon federal gasoline tax. Not eliminate it. They just want to suspend it over the summer, while voters are making up their minds about the candidates.
As increasing gas prices freak out Americans (even though it is cheaper in America than any non-OPEC country), Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic spoiler Hillary Clinton have decided to show that they “feel our pain.” Although this tax suspension will only save the average driver about 20-30 dollars this summer, it will cost the federal government billions of dollars in revenue. Which would be fine, it we didn’t have a nine trillion dollar debt, and a quarter trillion dollar deficit.
Obama, to his credit, is standing strong. Reducing, eliminating, or suspending the gas tax goes against every single thing that the three candidate have said about reducing dependence on foreign oil, investing in new energies, and reducing gasoline consumption. The question is whether or not the voters in IN and NC have the intelligence to realize that this is pure political pandering which would set a dangerous precedent about how we are going to deal with oil and energy over the next few decades.
Call me cynical, but until we actually reward someone with Obama’s sense with our votes, I’m afraid pandering is likely to be a winning formula with Americans - once again
i would think that an 18 cents/gallon savings would add up to more than $20-30 over the summer months.
still, i’m all for cutting taxes–especially during the summer when gas prices are typically higher–but that reason for it is kind of lame. however, i don’t think it’s likely that such a change would happen just because of clinton and mccain–other representatives have to vote to make that suspension go into effect. even if we reward someone like obama with our votes, do you think it’s likely that that mentality would carry over to using that criterion when voting for our other, local representatives in future elections–the ones who actually pass these laws?
deb - Congress is more likely to pander than any of these candidates!
[...] on one of my recent posts, deb commented that i would think that an 18 cents/gallon savings would add up to more than $20-30 [...]