why do Hillary and McCain keep pushing the gas tax holiday?

Its a bad idea for so many reasons.

1) In order to continue building roads, they have said they will increase taxes on the gas companies. Guess what the companies will do...they will pass that expense on to the consumer. No real savings to the consumer.

2)If it does lower prices at the pump this will hurt the long-term search for solutions. It will increase demand for gas, and decrease interst in conservation and alternative energy. This is the opposite of what we need to do.

3)It is a temporary fix to a permanant problem. Its not like we're dealing with temporary supply disruption, like what would follow a hurricaine. High energy prices are a permanant situation, and bringing prices down for a few months won't change that.

4)The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon. With gas well above $3.50 and climbing, how many of you will get excited about an 18 cent discount? Rather insignifigant savings. "Gas just went down to $3.32, let's go fill up the Hummer!"

my list wrote:

"Gas just went down to $3.32, let's go fill up the Hummer!"

Actually, many Americans would think exactly that.

The Z Man wrote:

Voice of reason wrote:

So I am better off without that tax savings this summer?

Actually, yes. Do you realize that the majority of the gas tax goes to the highway department to build roads & bridges? I don't know about you, but I for one appreciate diving on paved roads without pot holes. I also appreciate having bridges that don't collapse.

(snip)

I am all for reducing taxes where we can, but let's put some thought into where we reduce it.

I would not mind less construction this summer. Just put tolls on the roads and let those who drive those roads fund the improvements/maintenance.

adam smith wrote:

Do yourself a favor and please go read an introductory economics textbook.

If you repeal the tax, demand goes up and oil companies raise prices in order to (SURPRISE!) make a profit. You're basically just taking the government revenue and giving it to oil companies. So yeah... dumbest idea I have ever heard of sounds about right.

damn, you beat me to it

yeah, thats a really good idea... wait, no it's not, you're f***ing over the lower class, stupid

Voice of reason wrote:

I would not mind less construction this summer. Just put tolls on the roads and let those who drive those roads fund the improvements/maintenance.

The gas tax is essentially a road use tax. The more you use the roads, the more gas you'll use, the more tax you'll pay, the more money goes to the upkeep of those roads. That's why the diesel you use for farm equipment, construction equipment, and some marine applications is dyed red, it is untaxed.

As for construction is the summer, for the snow belt that's the only time you can do it. They say we've got three seasons up here: winter, mud, and construction. It can be a hassle, but after driving through some foreign countries, I appreciate the good conditions of our roads. If anything, I'd like to see a slightly higher gas tax to provide for more funds for the highway departments.

Voice of reason wrote:

So I am better off without that tax savings this summer?

do you like roads?

sirbek wrote:

Voice of reason wrote:

So I am better off without that tax savings this summer?

do you like roads?

I think that there are already enough roads.

Using tax policy to stimulate gasoline consumption makes so much sense I can't believe it's taken this long to be proposed.

And given the huge federal surplus, it's not like we'll miss the tax revenue.

Troll 45 wrote:

CNN was talking about a group of 200 economists, 4 nobel prize winners, that came out against the idea.

Nobel Prize Winners! Holy Cow!

Wait...didn't they give one of those to dumbass Al Gore? Kind of tarnishes the prestige, doesn't it?

cabana boy wrote:

Nobel Prize Winners! Holy Cow!

Wait...didn't they give one of those to dumbass Al Gore? Kind of tarnishes the prestige, doesn't it?

No not really.

Let's RAISE gas taxes...Lower Payroll taxes(social security, etc.)

Voice of reason wrote:

I think that there are already enough roads.

If you expect to be able to drive on them you'll have to pay someone to keep them up.

Sagarin wrote:

Too bad he's deadset on implementing the rest of his ridiculously onerous tax policy on a federal level before he figures out that it will prove very costly in the long-run.

__________________________________________________________

Think it will cost as much as that war McBush supports and said he would stay there and fight for a hundred years if needed? You know - that war about there being WOMD in Iraq...or is that Afghanistan or Iran? Talk about ridiculous and onerous.....

Because they either don't know or think we can't figure out that the money that is saved from temporarily suspending the gas tax is not going to make one bit of difference in the long haul.

cabana boy wrote:

Troll 45 wrote:

CNN was talking about a group of 200 economists, 4 nobel prize winners, that came out against the idea.

Nobel Prize Winners! Holy Cow!

Wait...didn't they give one of those to dumbass Al Gore? Kind of tarnishes the prestige, doesn't it?

Yeah dumbass. And GW went to Yale and Harvard. That's definitely how I'm going to base my judgement of those schools.

There is also quite a big difference between getting a Nobel Prize for peace and one for economics or physics. I associate the later two with the person being a genius, while a Nobel Prize for peace doesn't necessarily correlate with extreme intelligence.

The Gas Tax Holiday (tm) sounds "catchy". Karl Rove probably came up with that one. Kinda like No Child Left Behind or the Clear Skies Act.

It is nothing more than a ploy to get votes. Obama and everyone else with a brain has pointed that out. The only people who think it's a good idea are clear Clinton or McCain supporters anyway and would support them even if they wanted to RAISE the tax.

The federal gas tax is a whole 18 cents per gallon. Someone dropping $10 every time they go to the gas station would simply be buying more gas thus driving the price up. Also, consumers are already willing to pay 3.50-2.75 per gallon so the oil companies would just let the price drop initially then raise it back up due to "the summer driving season". Gas will be close to $4 a gallon regardless of the tax. Of course without the tax good luck on getting roads and bridges fixed. Another thing....neither Clinton, Obama, nor McCain has any freaking say in the gas tax this summer. We can debate it all we want, but it's nothing more than a political ploy that is FAILING.

States have tried it in the past, even Obama voted for it in Illinois a few years ago. It FAILED. It FAILED in Indiana as well a few years ago making an economic sitution worse.

Alan

Runningart,

Why do you post on here so much? Seriously. Also, watch this post get deleted as it has been in the past.

whining about expensive gasoline is like whining about expensive crack.

get off the crack, crackheads.