Voters don’t make passes at pols who tax gasses
The recent pander by candidates Clinton and McCain - both want to remove the tax on gasoline for the summer months - is probably the worst idea since the “please love us” tax rebate from Congress. It’s estimated that removing the 18.4 cents per gallon tax will save the average consumer $30 for the entire summer. My personal estimate is $25.92.
The supply of gas is relatively fixed by the capacity of the oil industry. The removal of the tax will initially lead to an uptick in demand, which will drive the price back up, eating into estimated consumer savings. That extra change will, of course, no longer go into government coffers for highway repairs, but will be added to oil industry profits.
This also seems like a rather odd proposal for two candidates who say we need to ween ourselves off of foreign oil and do more to protect the environment. Increasing gas consumption in the summer months doesn’t really jive with that.
Fortunately, my candidate is sitting this one out: “This isn’t an idea designed to get you through the summer, it’s an idea designed to get them through an election.”
photo by _ES on Flickr
