You’ve no doubt heard about the proposed gas tax holiday supported by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain but opposed by Barack Obama.  I’m going to have to side with Obama on this one.  A gas tax holiday is by far the dumbest idea to ever come out of a presidential candidate, and that’s saying a LOT.  It’s right up there with “Hey look, some white people with boats.  Let’s go see what they want”.

According to CNN, Obama has this to say about the proposed gas tax holiday:

“It’s typical of how Washington works — let’s find some short-term, quick fix, even though we’re not really doing anything,”

Holy crap, a politician turning down a good opportunity to buy some votes?  Crazy!  Even crazier, he’s right.  A gas tax holiday isn’t going to help families.  At most, it may save the average family $25-30 over the summer, and that’s assuming the complete value of the tax savings passes through to the customer, which is not at all a foregone conclusion.  Simply put, a gas tax holiday isn’t going to be any help at all to the average family but would cost the federal government (and by extension our highway system) upwards of $10 billion.  That’s a hefty price tag for a measure without any tangible benefit. 

And before you write me an angry email, yes I know Clinton’s plan is to make up the revenue shortfall by imposing a “windfall profits tax” on oil companies.  That’s an even dumber idea than the gas tax holiday.  It will only serve to make gas more expensive in the future by decreasing the incentive for oil companies to explore and pump more oil.  With a windfall profits tax, it’s best for profits to come in just under the limit in order to avoid it.  Clinton’s ability to pander to the masses is mind-boggling and I certainly don’t want my president spending all her time trying to figure out ways to deceive and manipulate the public.  Hillary Clinton and John McCain don’t care about you.  They care about themselves, as this idiotic proposal CLEARLY demonstrates.  Let’s keep the bums out of office.

It Will Make Matters Worse

A gas tax holiday will do nothing to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  If anything, it will increase consumption.  If gas is cheaper, people will likely buy more of it, probably by the amount of the “savings”.  The government should not be in the business of encouraging more oil consumption.  If anything, the government should be encouraging oil savings.  I have no doubt if this weren’t an election year, this preposterous proposal wouldn’t even have come up.  Honestly, what’s wrong with these people?  Do Hillary Clinton and John McCain have no shame?  No morals?  Either Hillary Clinton and John McCain are evil or they are incompetent.  Either way, I’m voting for Obama.  This is the last straw.  Obama isn’t perfect.  I wouldn’t even say he’s a great candidate and I don’t think he would make a great president, but this is truely a case of having to choose between a douche and a turd sandwich.  Douche for President!  Just say  no to Turd Sandwich 1 and Turd Sandwich 2.

I Propose A Gas Tax Hike

Instead of taxing gasoline at 18 cents per gallon, we should raise the gas tax to $3 per gallon, effectively doubling the price of gas overnight.  Would this hurt a lot of Americans?  Of course.  But what we need to understand is that we can’t avoid hurting a lot of Americans.  We have to pay the piper sooner or later and the longer we put it off, the worse it will be.  I advocate a cold-turkey solution.  Let’s make gas so incredibly  and insanely expensive that nobody will be able to afford to drive anything getting less than 60 mpg.  You can bet Detroit, Tokyo, and Munich will react quickly to “find” ways to increase fuel efficiency if there’s enough market demand for it.  Why should we be trying to avoid hurting families with multiple gas-guzzling SUVs anyway?  They made their bed, now let them lie in it.  I’ve been chocking down their toxic fumes for year now, effectively subsidizing their outrageous consumption habits with my health.  Screw’em.  They can suffer financially like my lungs have suffered.

Related Posts

• Obama Not So Down On Free Trade Afterall