Clinton, McCain Back Gas Tax Holiday, Obama Opposes

Policy differences between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been far and few, but a new one emerged on Monday over a proposed gas tax holiday. Obama says he's against while Clinton says she's in favor, putting her on the same side as John McCain, who proposed such a holiday last week.

Gas prices could hit $4 this summer, raising the ire of voters and putting pressure on presidential candidates to promise immediate action.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[JadedAggie]

Not only is this a complete pander bear moment for both McCain and Clinton, but it's such a ridiculously small amount of economic relief it is comical. As others have said you are looking at under $50 for the average driver. If that isn't enough the money is being directly taken away from the Highway Trust Fund meaning every dime that doesn't get paid is coming from our highways and freeways. At the same time we are operating under the assumption gas prices would even correct to respect the tax cut, which is unlikely since gas prices are rising about .15-.20 cents a week anyway.

[not one of the sheep]

Between not endorsing any tax relief and wanting to jack the captial gains tax through the ceiling there is not doubt where Obama stands on taxes. Bend over and grab your ankles America if he gets elected.

[kettletop]

Nobody should be surprise that Hillary is copying McCain.
Those gas taxes PAY for infrastructure budgets.
The government doesn't need less money, it requires more.
The federal tax on gasoline would not put much money in our pockets....
I agree that something should be done.
Like proper regulation and oversite of the industry that is raping us in profits. You know, W and Cheney's friends.
I commute 20 miles to work, so I have to purchase a lot of gas--and cannot afford to move closer.

Hillary offered this because after McCain offered it, Penn told her it polled well with uneducated white men.

[Mattie]

Obama wouldn't want to give the middle class a break, he voted for the Cheney Energy Bill which gave millions to big oil, while we pay 3.45 a gallon for gas. He could care less about us, or the high price of gas. No true democrat would ever support anything Dick Cheney helped craft, and they certainly wouldn't give millions to big oil on the backs of the poor and working class. Thanks Obama!

[wolf58]

If you have a 15 gallon tank this tax holiday will save you 2.70 that is not even enough to buy a gallon of milk. And of course with gas prices currently spike over .25 in the last two weeks, who is to say the oil companies won't just keep on raising the price? Meanwhile the money that is collected goes to the highways bridges and tunnels etc. So take away funds for that and now you have less to repair a system that is already falling apart. Tax Hoilday is a joke and wont help anyone and it will hurt the country in the long run. What is needed is an energy policy that comes out swinging. This is now an national security issue and needs to be treated as such.

[gakabani]

This is superfluous. Clinton, McCain and Obama are truly in the limbo. A gas tax break will only enrich the OIL companies even more by hicking the prices during the summer even more. Welcome my friends to the fleecing of America.

[Sumocat]

Dropping the gas tax for the day that gas prices spike is ridiculous. Remember when the wireless excise tax was repealed after incessant lobbying by Verizon? How did Verizon celebrate? By adding a fee to cover the difference. They dropped the fee before it took effect, but that's because people had advanced warning and struck at it publicly. There is no such window for gas prices. If the gas tax is eliminated for one day, the price of gas will jump up to cover that gap and then some. Net effect will be more money out of your pocket going to the oil companies. It's similar to the first Bush tax rebate, which he *encouraged* people to use to cover high gas prices. Tax breaks to offset fuel costs is just more revenue for oil companies.

[DougPA]

A gas-tax holiday is a classic instance of treating the symptom, not the disease. As any doctor can tell you, this approach may be defensible (relieving the patient) when we don't have a clue how to treat the underlying source of the problem, but in this case, we DO know what the bigger problems are. To leave those untreated while we apply this band-aid is just more of the irresponsible behavior we've been seeing for seven years now.

[JRandomPoster]

This is a flat out attempt to buy votes. It will do nothing at all in relation to a long term solution - if anything, it will be harmful, as it will induce folks to burn more gas, not conserve.

[kae]

F**king bandaides for the little people! Here...look ...stop complaining...look what we did! Did you get your refund bribe from Bush yet?

[Mattie]

maybe we would have received more if Obama hadn't voted to give big oil millions in tax cuts. Who knows!

[aquarius2001]

A "Tax Holiday" is not going to end our financial crisis...Ending the Iraq war and saving Billions of dollars a month will !!

[engineer68]

A war tax would help us repay China for all they have done to support our troops and give the best equipment money can buy. I believe that paying down the national debt is more important than a rebate or gas tax holiday.

[rollingdivision]

McCain and Clinton are wrong on this. Unfortunately, though lowering regressive taxes such as the federal gas tax is always a good idea, in this case the resultant increase in usage with the lowered pump price will ultimately cause more problems. So, good idea, bad timing. This one goes to Obama.

[DennyCrane]

Yet another reason to support Obama. McCain and Clinton have no long-term vision and instead are trying to buy votes by giving them a temporary fix. Cutting my gas costs for a few months will help, but won't make a huge difference. Meanwhile, there'll be less tax revenues to be used for improving our infrastructure. I guess Hillary doesn't mind if a couple more bridges collapse. What we need is real leadership on this issue and someone with long-term vision. That person is clearly not McCain or Hillary.

[Mattie]

Did you know that Obama vote for the Cheney Energy bill that gave millions to big oil in tax cuts, yeah there's a long term vision. He's making sure big oil is on his side for the future. Screw us, it's all about the campaign contributions. Politics of hope and change, LOL!

[JadedAggie]

Right, except every fact checking third party agency has found that bill increased taxes on oil companies.

[BlackMagicWoman]

Gas tax holiday means a weekly savings of $5 for me. Call me an elitist, but $5 ain't SHIT!

[JohnFromCensornati]

But just think how much you would save if you were a corporation with a fleet of trucks or planes!

[thegreatgiginthesky]

More trickle down Reagan economics.

[entropyisfun]

Shame on them both for pandering and trying to buy votes. These funds are used for maintaining our already crumbling infrastructure.

[Fabienne]

This is one of the most ineffectual ideas for dealing with the economy that I've ever heard.

[montemalone]

The gas tax should be doubled, or tripled. That would stimulate the economy.
People would get a little more creative a little faster and start finding solutions to our energy needs.
Europeans and the British are paying $6-7/gal for gas. They still manage to drive, deliver goods, buy groceries, and even let sick people get medical care, all while taking a bus or subway around town and hopping on a train to get from center city to center city and country to country.
All taxes are not bad. You can give all your money to the Saudis and ExxonMobilShellBP, or start building alternate ways to transport goods and people and finding cheaper, cleaner ways to heat and cool and light our homes and offices.

[sandiegoconservative]

While I understand your argument, it is flawed for a number of reasons. If you increase the gas tax by that much, the money will simply find another black hole to be lost in. When have you ever seen an efficient government program? The post office is the closest I can think of to efficient, maybe the IRS when it comes to them getting money from you, but not to you.

The costs of food and basic necessities will substantially increase as well, which will cause havoc.

Any alternative means of transportation will take a long time to get up and running and with infastructure problems, will not be an easy fix and will be expensive as all hell. Then you have the eminent domain issues that I am sure you are opposed to. Take a look at how much money it takes a local government to add bus routes and trolley's are expensive to track and run. Here in North County, San Diego, we have the new "Sprinter", which was a few hundred million over budget and is a total disaster.

The biggest problem is the layout of most major urban areas, which are not designed for high density living and reasonable public transportation. New York and Chicago are better designed cities, but thats because the design goes back 100 years or more.

[MRb1000]

YEAH MAYBE TAXES ARE ALRIGHT FOR YOU, BUT OTHER MAY NOT EAT BECAUSE OF HIGH FOOD PRICE!!!!

[InDaZone]

Gas prices just went up 20 cents the last couple weeks here. What's suspending the gas tax going to do now?

[InDaZone]

This is called trying to buy votes for about the $50 it would save Americans over the summer.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

What is to stop the Oil companies from raising the gas price to 4 and covering that 18 cent tax? This is a holiday on federal gas tax, not a holiday on rising gas prices.

[EspritDeVoltaire]

Excuse me, but taxes have purposes which would be unpaid otherwise. This is all smoke and mirrors campaign promises.

Even if it were carried out, it would not address the problem. The real problem is the oil industry having its way setting prices. There is no supply and demand factor involved. If you believe there is, you probably also believe in witches and fairies.

[montemalone]

Well, being a fairy, I do believe.

[Grunty1]

If we removed the gas tax, even for a short while, the roads in MN would likely be undrivable by this time next year. The winter reeks havoc on the roads here, especially this year with its wild ups and downs. When snow melts, it gets into cracks in the roads, then when it freezes, large gapping holes form.

[08timefortruth]

Saving a few bucks over the summer or a rebate from Bush in May are not going to solve the financial woes of this country. Does anyone really think offering token relief is going to save our economy. It's all political ploys to get the votes. Obama is correct, doing the right thing does not always mean doing the easiest thing. A little bit of instant gratification does not lead to long term effects on anything.

[DXM]

This "gas tax holiday" is such a load of BS! Do the math: Assume that the average driver travels 2,000 miles per month during the summer for a total of about 6,000 miles during the three months of the summer. Further assume that the average vehicle gets about 25 mpg (your mileage will vary). That's 240 gallons of gas for the summer. With the gas tax of 18.4 cents/gallon, the gas tax savings amounts to only $44.16!!! And, as some have already mentioned, the oil companies will likely raise the price of gasoline by at least 18.4 cents/gallon anyway so the net savings is ZERO! Actually, it is less than zero - the loss of gas tax income will add a couple of tens of billions of dollars more to the national debt. Fold in the cost of servicing that increased debt and the nation loses money. Like I said - this is all BS!!!

[drkazmd65]

Exactly DXM - shortsighted window dressing that does absolutely nothing to fix the underlying problems and in fact, makes them worse in the long run.

[montemalone]

But Clinton and McCain don't care. They won't have to pay the bill since, being in their 60's and 70's, they'll be dead before it comes due.

[mrdontplay]

Stop the bastards from stealing profits

[harriscrl3]

Ok I'm not getting how Obama is being labeled a communist for not going in and manipulate the price of gasoline. Wouldnt going in and manipulate the price be more in line with a command economy. Heres the thing too whats to stop gas prices from skyrocketing once the 3 months has passed if we are given a gas break for 3 months.

Carol

[thegreatgiginthesky]

What is to stop gas prices from sky rocketing even during those 3 months? This is a holiday on tax not a holiday on gas prices itself. What is the point in taking out an 18 cent tax if the gas shoots up to $4 or $4.50 anyway?

[10000Lakes]

Wow. I guess there is no promise that Hillary won't pass up. She IS a Campaign Whore.

About gas prices - the bad news is that it's a regressive tax for the Iraq war on middle and low income people. The good news is that it forces people to change their ways.


McCain/Clinton '08!

[progresemulo]

McClinton = ridiculous panderers