Clinton's Gas Tax Plan Called 'Ineffective', 'Shortsighted'

The Washington Post published yet another article today showing the negative reactions to Hillary Clinton's plan to suspend the federal gas tax.

A growing chorus -- including a top congressional Democrat -- labeled Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's proposal for suspending the federal gasoline tax ineffective and shortsighted yesterday, even as she continued to paint Sen. Barack Obama as insensitive to drivers' woes for not endorsing the plan.

Yesterday, HuffPost's Sam Stein published a comprehensive article about how Clinton has nonexistent expert support for the plan:

Surely, however, there must be someone out there not associated with a politician or a candidate who supported the idea of a gas tax reprieve -- especially if, as Clinton suggests, it would be paid for by an excess profits tax on oil companies.

I emailed Howard Wolfson, Clinton's spokesperson, asking him to put me in touch with an economic or environmental analyst who favored his boss' plan. He never wrote back.

So I took the task upon myself. I would call experts from all sides of the ideological aisle to get a sense of where the debate stood. In the end, every single analyst I surveyed judged the gas tax holiday proposal to be, roughly speaking, a silly, superfluous, or outright pandering idea.

Comments

[RickO]

The first official pseudo-presidential initiative the McCain/Clinton administration hits the wall.

[AZDemocrat500]

Anthing Hillary proposes is not a good plan or policy according to most of the mainstream media. However you are all trying to get us to see past someone who has listened to radical teachings for the past 20 years and who is now saying he is beyond that. You are also the same people who were writing about having a beer with Bush. No wonder the American people loathe the media.

[CapitalistRebel]

If you can't fine ONE economist to support your policy, chances are, it sucks. Keep talking about Rev Wright though. Maybe that will bring the gas price down.

[Cherlesq]

Is is at all possible for any of us to look past the associations of the candidates and listen to what they are proposing to keep us educated, healthy and prosperous. How is an association with a pastor actually affecting your pocketbook/wallet and the furture of your kids? And, if we have to do the association comparison, Clinton's past associations would ne er measure up. Just ask her how many times Wright was in the Clinton White House and why he was invited?Has the media asked Hillary this tough question. Ask yourself why?

[AMJordan]

Excuse me, if I remember correctly, and this time I'm pretty damn sure I am, wasn't it Hillary Clinton who talked about having a beer with a candidate?

[deb813]

She's a con artist. And she doesn't even have to try very hard to con her supporters.

[Rocky4356]

Pandering again. But we love to be pandered to. Just say that week gas goes up the same amount as the Tax holiday cut comes. Really does anyone know how much gas is going to cost next week. Saving me a tank of gas over a three month period is bs. We need a better plan. But we are all stupid to the polls so they will tell us anything. Hillary has not pumped gas in 16 years boy she really feels our pain at the pump.

[lastams]

While Hillary and McCain pursue this dog and pony show which, in the end, may save the American public a few cents, currently in joint committee is the extension of the Farm Bill. Perhaps the worst example of corporate welfare on the planet, we hear nothing from the candidates or the press about this 300 billion-dollar pork barrel. At a time of economic crisis and diminishing world food supplies the very idea of paying billions of dollars to wealthy landowners to NOT GROW FOOD, is obscene beyond measure.
Yet all we get from the candidates are “solutions” that make effective sound bites and accomplish little.
Where was the demand to help the American worker when Nafta was extended or two 6 hundred billion dollar spending bills were passed?
Why is it that we keep forgetting these candidates, all of them, are all sitting members of the United States Senate; that they can make a real difference TODAY.
Isn’t it time to start paying attention to what our “leaders” do instead of what they promise?
Isn’t that how we’ve gotten ourselves into this mess in the first place?

[BillyT]

Hillary will never give up any opportunity to pander to win a vote, even if it means doing what every policy expert from energy to tax to economy says is a TERRIBLE IDEA.

FACE IT PEOPLE: Tax holiday will NOT SAVE YOU ANY MONEY. BIG OIL WILL SIMPLY RAISE THEIR PRICES.

Thomas Friedman of NY TIMES says today:

"The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: “Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.”

Good for Barack Obama for resisting this shameful pandering.­"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/opinion/30friedman.html?em&ex=1209787200&en=c74689f177717558&ei=5087%0A

All of you who think this will save you money:

PLEASE REALIZE IT WILL NOT SAVE YOU ANY MONEY AND YOUR ROADS AND BRIDGES WILL CRUMBLE AS WE GO BANKRUPT ON HIGHWAY REPAIR FUND.

You take away the taxes, the refineries are still at full capacity, so the OIL COMPANIES CAN CHARGE WHATEVER THEY WANT. THEY WILL RAISE THE PRICE. We cannot control oil companies' prices.

This means we save @ $5 a month per family, we collect nothing for the Highway Trust Fund which is sorely needed to repair out nation's roads and bridges, and ALL THE MONEY THAT WENT FOR HIGHWAY REPAIR GOES LEGALLY AND STUPIDLY INTO THE POCKETS OF EXXON, MOBIL, and the oil barons of Saudi Arabia.

[zenguy]

"Shameful Pandering" ?

Really?

Obama voted for a gas-tax holiday in the Illinois legislature on three (3) different occasions. Three times for an issue seems like Obama supported it then but not now.

Hmmm. Pandering?

"I will vote for it as long as they put my picture on the gas pump so they give me credit"..O­bama

[RedBirdy]

Hillary and McCain are not to blame here... (well, not entirely) We all know gas prices are out of control, and this plan is extremely shortsighted, but most Americans who depend on a full tank to commute back and forth to work, this will help them until a better solution comes along. I have neighbors who are having their gas stolen in the middle of the night. I have friends who use sick time and vacation time to miss work because they can't afford to refill their tanks. so, yes this plan is not a long term solution and will save only a few pennies, but hell, some people need those few pennies. We should all be upset with this current adminstration and the other useless politicians who pander and promise shit, and never deliver. These oil companies are getting hella rich, and we're suffering. So, yes, they're pandering. But what the fuck? I don't see anyone else doing anything.

[mcap56]

It's not that the economists are out of touch. When you have a problem with supply, and you drop the gas tax, that means people may use more, and that puts even more pressure on supply. That could lead to higher prices. The 18 cents may be a far overly optomistic estimate of what people would actually save. No objective analysis, from any side, thinks this would do any good. Considering all the heat politicians get for bending the truth, pehaps you shouldn't be so quick to condem Obama for telling the truth on this one.

[FastMovingCloud]

Those few pennies they save will be spent in auto repair costs because the roads will go to hell and it will cost one heck of a lot of jobs. Money from this tax is given to the states for road repair and without that money, much needed repairs on roads and bridges won't happen and construction workers would be laid off.

That is not a good exchange for "a few pennies"!

[anticon]

Clinton and McCain authorized invading a Muslim nation in the middle of the worlds biggest oil supply.If you have forgot oil was under 30 and the proponents of the war told us the cost per barrel would go lower.
Now you want to support them because they are offering you coffee money?
They are the problem not the solution!

[99hockeyman]

Gas prices will NOTgo down. The only thing that will change will be the distribution of profits. If gas is $3.50 a gallon today, it will be that or more when the gas holiday goes into effect. Prices are not going down until something more drastic comes along.

[Cherlesq]

The 12-18 cents to be saved per gallon will encourage increased demand which in turn will cause the gas companies to raise prices. So the savings in the taxes (which actually goes to the benefit of all of us as we build roads, repair bridges, etc) will actually go to the oil companies. Moreover while the good folks think they ae enjoying a break in gas prices during the summer we are actually providing a repreive for the Gas companies from the relentless complaints about their pricing practices essentially providing one last hurrah for enormous profits before the Dems take over. Now ask yoursel why would Hillary allign herself with such a Republican gimmick and work to fool the American people. If she will do this during her campiagn, she'
ll do it in the White House. Don't be fooled.

[stalkervision]

Ever get the feeling Obama supporters are becoming more and more like Bush apologists? A reduction of 18 cents a gallon is a big thing for many people in this country except apparently for economists, Obama and Obama's supporters. Then people wonder why people are saying Obama can't relate to average working class americans?

[BikerJim]

Therea re several points here. First, what makes you think that the oil companies are actually going to drop the price. Most likely they will oower the price a few cents and keep the rest as a tempory tax cut for them. If the gas tax is stopped that saves 18.5 cnets a gallaon. If the oil camplnies drop the price even 10 cents a gallon, (which 5 cents is more likely) they keep an additional 8.5 cents a gallon profit.

Second the reduction in tax revenue would slow down road and bridges project that need to be done. This causes job loss in the construction industry.

third, any drop in gas prices (granted it would be pretty small) would increase demand and cause the price of gas to actually go up.

Every wonder why people are saying that Clinton supporters are subject to pandering and manipulation?

[ylpatriot]

Exactly , and can anyone please send me a link which clearly shows that Obama has really talked about a good plan ? Is HE really planning to tax the big oil $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ vultures ?

Lets put the blame where it belongs .. a war for $$$$$$$$ Oil and Greed....t­oo many Bu$hit look alikes getting very rich ... remember the Bushits are in the oil business..­...

Missions Accomplished attaboy bushy job well done ... you have about ruined America...­.

[spooks51]

Didn't you see Mrs.Clinto­n at the pump saying that she hasn't bought gas for a very long time becase of the secret service...­....but she understands how hard it is for OTHER people?

[undecidee]

You are right. Obama's supporter are too intelligent for the blue collar worker who care about 18 cents savings or half a tank of savings at the pump for the summer.

His apologist thinks that it is better to fix the roads and highway up during the summer, thereby creating jobs for highway construction workers. To them this is worth more than saving us an average of $30.

We, the average working class Americans can't relate to that because it is too bright an idea.

He has the brightest bulb in the country all saying the same thing. Even HRC's supporter are saying the same thing. He must then be a closet Obama support. He can't be patriotic and is support the idea and not the person.

It takes a person who can connect the dots to know the outcome of a gas tax holiday and obviously you are not one of those person. You must be a Hillary supporter! LOL

[serenegeezer]

The "savings of 18 cents a gallon" wil be a 3 month mirage. Initially it will motivate increased sales of gasoline which will, guess what?, drive the price of gasoline up. Then when the tax is re-instated at the end of the 3 month mirage we will have higher prices yet over what they were at the beginning of the summer.

It's not Obama who can't relate to working class voters....­..it's Clinton and McCain who want to run this shell game on them.

[DavidK08]

I wont say that any amount of money wouldn't be nice for some families. BUT, HRC's plan is stupid.

HRC is counting people being stupid. She is trying to buy a vote with a fake promise. You and I may save $40/car but our kids will pay $80/car tommorow.

She is also making the claim that because she wants it, it will be. Not true. But her goal here is only to fool enough people to keep her alive next week.

What if someone acted presidential on this matter? And, did what was right for the country.

If you need $3/week that bad, the gas savings wont help much anyway.

Her promise is empty. She lied about snipers. Her husband was impeached and a proven liar. She will say anything to get your vote and never get called on it.

[FastMovingCloud]

You and I won't even save that $40 because, even if this gas tax "holiday" were to get through Congress before summer (chances: slim to none) what odds would you give that Shrub would sign it! This is just more Clintonian pander monkey-business!

[KBAR]

For the first quarter of 2008, the average state gasoline tax is 28.6 cents per gallon, plus 18.4 cents per gallon federal tax making the total 47 cents per gallon. For diesel, the average state tax is 29.2 cents per gallon plus an additional 24.4 cents per gallon federal tax making the total 53.6 cents per gallon.

So, if you use only 6 gallons a week your figures would hold ethanol(or water) Now my tank holds 22 gallons so every time I fill up there is $11 in tax. If you live in Cal. or Conn. it's 62.5 cents. You do the math.

[aftershock]

Your logic is faulty for several reasons. For starters, Clinton and McCain are only talking about eliminating the federal excise tax on gasoline, which is 18.4 cents a gallon. That is the only amount that will be deducted from the price at the pump, and that's under the assumption that the oil companies don't allow greed to motivate them to just push the price back up (I'm sure there's just no chance of that happening). Given that even if McCain and Clinton were proposing what you say, it'd make the proposal WORSE pandering and an outright lie. The President, nor anyone in the federal govt., is able to suspend state and local taxes. Than you can factor in an increased supply and demand which will probably push the savings down to around $0, where the price will merely skyrocket back to the price it was before the repeal of the tax in mere weeks. You do the math, correctly though.

[DavidK08]

Look, you're not getting a gas tax holiday. You're not. No matter who you vote for. You do the math on that. It is a bad Idea anyway. It is pandering no matter who explains it. Only one of the three is sure enough of his positions to stand up to the pandering.

Tax to pay for a bridge to nowhere is ok to cut. But tax that pays for something that we use everyday isn't.

Don't be of such a weak mind that you will sell your vote for money that you will have to pay back 10 fold.

[TruthandHope]

The proposed gas tax holiday only applies to federal taxes. The federal government does not have the authority to repeal state taxes.

[TN60]

INDIANA AND NORTH CAROLINA, ARE YOU LISTENING !! Another Hillary/McCain gimmick to get your vote, just as she LIED to Ohio and Texas on NAFTA and just as she has LIED about Columbian Trade deal while Penn and Bill were grabbing all their money. Oh! and she LIED about Penn leaving her campaign. Bill and Hillary lie about everything. They have pulled a fast one in CA in the Peter Paul fraud. Bill's friend , the judge, excused Hillary from being deposed until after the election.

INDIANA & NORTH CAROLINA, please wrap up this farce called Hillary, Rambo, Pansy, Testecular, Sniper Fire Heroine, Teddy Roosevelt or whomever she is today. She is a frigging liar and we don't need another BUSH/Cheney/McCain in the white house.

We don't need another McCain/Hillary Iraq debacle or an Iran debacle. We don't need her Mortgage fix either. Another lie.

INDIANA & NORTH CAROLINA, The rest of us out here are relying on you to not shame us by helping to keep up this stupid farce which is Hillary.

I don't ever watch Fox and I sure as hell don't watch anything this puppy is on.

Hillary makes me sick !! Liar that she is!!

[andyboy]

What qualifies Hillary to be President?

She doesn't believe the government caused the AIDS virus.

Someone should put a book together of Hillary quotes. She says some of the stupidest and most insulting things to Americans I've ever heard. She isn't much different than George Bush.

Hillary Clinton...­..Lowering America's standards by leaps and bounds.

Maybe Hillary could just go around throwing spare change at random citizens. Quarters dimes & nickles.

After you get your half a tank of gas you drive somewhere and pray you don't have to cross a bridge since it might just collapse.

Hey kids do you know how you inspect a bridge? It's really easy. You just check a box on a piece of paper. You don't even have to actually see the bridge.

[rollingdivision]

"What to do about oil? First it went from $60 to $80 a barrel, then $80 to $100 now to $120. Perhaps we can persuade OPEC to raise production, as some senators suggest; but this seems unlikely. The truth is that we're almost powerless to influence today's prices because we didn't take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two. The first thing to do: Start drilling.

The United States is the third-largest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia. We could be producing more, but Congress has put large areas of potential supply off-limits. These include the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and parts of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. By government estimates, these areas may contain 25 billion to 30 billion barrels of oil (against about 30 billion barrels of proven U.S. reserves today) and 80 trillion cubic feet or more of natural gas (compared with about 200 tcf of proven reserves).

What keeps these areas closed are exaggerated environmental fears, strong prejudice against oil companies and sheer stupidity. Americans favor both "energy independence" and cheap fuel. They deplore imports -- who wants to pay foreigners? -- but oppose more production in the United States. Got it? The result is a "no-pain energy agenda that sounds appealing but has no basis in reality," writes Robert Bryce in "Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of 'Energy Independen­ce.' “Robert Samuelson Washington Post

[iBgood]

Such a good and obedient little right wing non thinker.

Yawn.

[Sparhawk]

Instead of posting foolishly patronizing comments, refute the post. Add to the discussion instead of reverting back to grade school humor.

What would YOU do?? Suspending the gas tax until Fall is a pandering ploy that most people will go for because it cures their short term predicament but does nothing to fix the problem.

Step 2 - Break up the incredibly powerful Lobbyist behind the Oil Companies. Give them reasons to develop Alternative fuel instead of rewarding them for the Status Quo.

Step 3 - Develop Alternative energy sources (Ethanol is NOT one of them...tha­t's a disaster that hasn't landed yet)

This situations has nothing to do with Left-Right.

S

[blytzd]

We should be afraid since Exxon is raking in record profits and still hasnot cleaned up the Valdez mess. Maybe I would agree with more drilling but the oil company have ZERO compassion for the environment. Their environmental sins run much deeper in the Central and South America.

[rollingdivision]

Exxon is making about an 8% mark up, which is about average. Why are you against profits? If Exxon makes record profits that's a good thing in that it will increase their and others efforts to provide even more energy. Higher profits means increased oil supply and in the long run lower prices. And with the huge potential liabilities why would any company have any incentive to harm the environment? The oil industry moves billions of gallons of petroleum through out the world every year and has "spilled" next to nothing.

[andyboy]

rollingdivision,

Net effect on price? 1 cent per gallon. This is confirmed by ALL experts.

You don't even have the first clue what your talking about.

Is this like climbing Mt Everest? Do we HAVE to use up all the oil just because it's there?

I'm shocked at your simple minded and irresponsible views.

Do you have any concept of how out of step you are ? We're looking for ways to get away from Oil. Our dependence on it is causing massive problems. What don't you get about this?

[rollingdivision]

Regardless of the conventional wisdom, oil is and will be one of the main sources of energy, worldwide, for all of our lives. Oil continues to be cheap, plentiful and environmentally sound. I'd like to see where an expert has stated the total net effect of all economically feasible increases in USA oil production would be 1 cent per gallon.

[Groobiecat]

If she hadn't heretofore, it's clear that Hillary has now lost all semblance of shame and is actually willing to make our problems worse for political gain. Are there any among her supporters than can support this nonsense? For more on the folly of this faux tax break, read this piece:

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/04/gas-tax-holiday.html

Quote from the piece:

"...when McCain floated his tax holiday proposal two weeks ago, the federal gas tax funds the federal Highway Trust Fund, which finances road projects nationwide and is already facing a $3.4 billion shortfall. And the federal transportation department says every $1 billion in highway spending creates 34,779 jobs, which means the a gas tax holiday could cost 300,000 construction jobs."

[zenguy]

In 2000, gasoline prices were climbing quickly, reaching $2 a gallon in the Chicago area — a remarkable price back then. Illinois legislators scrambled to offer some election-year relief to angry motorists.

Obama voted three times for a tax holiday.

[alaintex]

28-Apr-08
Distribution Costs, Marketing Costs and Profits $0.09
Crude Oil Cost $2.83
Refinery Cost and Profits $0.31
State Underground Storage Tank Fee $0.01
State and Local Sales Tax $0.29
State Excise Tax $0.18
Federal Excise Tax $0.18
Retail prices $3.89

Feds take double what the Mean ol Oil Companies make.

The State takes 5 times as much.

[andyboy]

alaintex,

How do you propose keeping our roads and bridges in shape genius?

They should be taxing 4 to 5 times as much. Taxes are what pays for upkeep.

Where you raised in a cave?

[Sparhawk]

Yep the story that the MSM isn't talking about... Windfall taxes for the Oil Companies?? What about the Windfall profits for the Government on EVERY gallon you buy??

It's Criminal

[theyak]

Since you have such a detailed breakdown of the costs, what do the oil companies pay the treasury for a barrel of oil pumped from federal lands?

[andyboy]

It'll save $37 per car. Hapy Days are here again . Whoopee!

You couldn't get a much more empty gesture. It's akin to waving at a Nolan Ryan fastball as it goes by,

McCain and Hillary should both be ashamed of themselves. It demeans government to be pandering and patronizing instead of doing the hard work of bringing cars run on alternative renewable energy instead of gas. Oil is a big part of what's ruining our economy. And our environment.

You as a voter need to understand that this is all your going to get from either McCain or Hillary. Gridlock. It's your fuckin money their "giving" you back. The gas tax should be higher of anything to pay for infrastructure improvments and to encourage new fuels.

Did you know the US only spends 1.5% of it's budget on roads and bridges and infrastructure?

Japan? Try 7%. Our nation is crumbling fast. Literally falling apart due to these ratfinks in Congress and the Senate. They are irresponsible greedy pigs who don't give a shit.

[alaintex]

Nolan Ryan?

[andyboy]

The issue of Gas prices is a fastball and McCain and Hillary are waving at it helplessly like a pitcher at the plate.

Alaintex. You know when those bridges collapse and shit and people die? That's because we don't tax enough to take care of our infrastructure. Hence crumbling.

I know your not exactly the brightest bulb in the pack. Try to keep up.

[markusmarkus]

Let's say the gov't does cease collecting the fed gas tax, currently at roughly $0.185 or 18.5 cents per gallon. Do honestly think that the oil companies and the gas stations are really going to lower the price at the pump (pimp, really - it takes your money for a short cheap thrills ride) by 18.5 cents? And, if they did lower the pump price by 18.5 cents, what do you think will happen to gas useage? I'll bet that our use of gasoline would go UP. And, then, what would happen when the "tax holiday" ends? I'll bet the price of gas goes up by more than 18.5 cents.

BTW, purchases of gas and diesel for farming and industrial equipment don't pay the gas tax.

Wake up America, all that Hillary offers are ill-conceived, poorly thought-out, has been ideas that can't stand the light of scrutiny.

I can I shall I am Obama08

[zenguy]

In 2000, gasoline prices were climbing quickly, reaching $2 a gallon in the Chicago area — a remarkable price back then. Illinois legislators scrambled to offer some election-year relief to angry motorists.

Obama voted three times for a tax holiday.

[TruthandHope]

Yeah, I hate when people learn from their mistakes..­.