Mitch Gann’s

“Sparring Over Gas Tax Continues” The Washington Post:

In Indianapolis, Obama portrayed Clinton’s proposal for a gas-tax holiday this summer as an example of Washington at its worst, calling it the latest in a long line of “phony ideas, calculated to win elections instead of actually solving problems.”

Clinton fired back from the back of a pickup truck in Gastonia, N.C. Spotting a sign in the crowd that said “A gas tax holiday is blatant pandering,” Clinton told the audience: “I’ll tell you what. I’d rather the oil companies pay the gas taxes than you pay the gas taxes this summer.”

Well, you already know where I stand on the great gas tax holiday debate. I’m with Obama, and against Clinton and McCain. The gas tax has nothing to do with the oil companies. The gas tax is a fee we pay to drive on the public roads. Still, I could live with having the oil companies pay the gas tax for us consumers, but why just in the summer? I think they should pay it for us year-round. As far as that goes, why don’t they just give us the damn gas? Then we could pay the tax ourselves.

Recalling the recent federal bailout of the investment banking firm Bear Stearns, she [Clinton] added: “I didn’t hear people talking about it being pandering. I think it’s time we didn’t just bail out Wall Street. What about bailing out Main Street?”

Now, I am with Clinton in her implied criticism of the Bear Stearns deal, but not because it was pandering. It wasn’t pandering. First, the Fed bailed out Bear Stearns, and the Fed is not running for office. So it can’t pander to the voters. Second, if the Fed were running for office and wanted to pander to the voters, it would do so by proposing a summer gas tax holiday. Duh.

“Clinton calls for gas tax vote, Obama calls it ’shell’ game” AP:

Hillary Rodham Clinton called for a vote Friday in the Democratic-controlled Congress on a summertime suspension of the federal gasoline tax, a plan that Barack Obama dismissed as a political stunt that would cost thousands of construction jobs.

“It’s a Shell game. Literally,” Obama said to laughter from his campaign audience, adding it would mean little for hard-pressed consumers.

Comment: I’m with Obama on this one. A couple of weeks ago, John McCain was proposing the same silly tax suspension idea for the same purpose: to pander to the voters. It was a counter-productive idea then, and it is still counter-productive.  We need to discourage, not encourage, gas consumption. We also need money to maintain our crumbling infrastructure.  Pot holes don’t patch themselves, Hillary and John. Gas tax is what you pay for using the public roads.