Hillary Clinton and John McCain support seriously Energy Dumb gas tax holiday
There’s Energy Smart, like Mark Udall and this slate of Energy Smart US Congressional candidates.
Then there’s seriously Energy Dumb, like touting a temporary gas tax holiday as an appropriate response to high gas and oil prices.
Hillary Clinton solidly aligned herself last week with the Energy Dumb camp, vociferously supporting a gas tax holiday first proposed by Energy Dumber John McCain that amounts to blatant pandering for votes.
This “quick fix” proposal, a three month suspension of the 18.4 cents/gallon federal gas tax during the summer “driving season,” would at best save the average American about $30.00 this summer. That’s right, Hillary Clinton and John McCain’s idea of a solution to high energy prices is to mail you a check for half a tank of gas!
So, is $30.00 enough to buy your vote?
Don’t expect to actually pocket those savings though. It’s unlikely that a gas tax holiday will benefit anybody but oil companies, since laws of supply and demand will no doubt bring prices back up to pre-holiday levels as soon as drivers hit the road this summer (and you can bet that gas stations will raise prices by exactly 18.4 cents as soon as the “holiday” is over in September!).
Of course Hillary proposes funding this gas tax holiday by ending unnecessary subsidies and royalty loopholes for the oil companies. OK, not a bad idea. If we’re going to propose a gas tax holiday that only profits oil companies, we can at least fund it by taking money from those very same the oil companies. One problem: it’s not politically possible! And Hillary knows it.
Congress has tried to pass an incentive package for clean energy solutions funded by ending these oil company incentives three times already. Each time this truly Energy Smart idea has failed as it ran into veto threats from President Bush, filibusters from Senate Republicans and defections from “Oil Patch” Democrats. Clinton knows that. She was there all three times. Which means Hillary knows this gas tax holiday is an empty promise she can’t deliver on!
Finally, in order to view this gas tax holiday as a “fix,” Clinton and McCain would like you to ignore ignore that this three-month holiday will do nothing to help lower oil prices beyond the summer, which are expected to remain high over the long term.
Long-term problem. Short-term band-aid. Sounds like Clinton and McCain are proposing we take a shot of novocaine while we continue to saw our own feet off. Pretty soon we won’t have a leg to stand on. Just like Clinton and McCain don’t have a policy leg to stand on when they propose this gas tax “holiday.”
How dumb is this policy idea? Well, Huffington Post and the Washington Post both did some digging to find an energy policy or economics expert that would support Hillary Clinton or John McCain’s advocacy of a gas tax holiday. What did they find? Zilch. Nada. Clinton and McCain are so Energy Dumb and Dumber on this, not a single expert wants to back them. Ouch.
Clinton’s response: “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists.” Oh, ok Mrs. Clinton. We’ll just forget all those experts. What do they know after all? They’re just experts!?
Which brings me to the worst part in my mind: Hillary Clinton knows better! She’s got the best policy advisors out there. They no-doubt told her this was seriously Energy Dumb, just like all those experts she discounted. She knows paying for it with an oil company “windfall tax” is politically impossible. She knows it won’t help consumers pocketbooks and will at best help their psyche. Heck, even John McCain admits it’s mostly a psychological benefit, not a real economic one (seriously, he said as much here!).
And do you know how I know Clinton knows better? Because she told us herself!
Back in 2000, when then-senate-candidate Hillary Clinton was running for office, Clinton lashed out at a New York state plan to temporarily suspend the state gas tax, calling it, “a bad deal for New York and a potential bonanza for the oil companies.” Well said!
Summary: Hillary Clinton is trying to buy your vote with $30.00 worth of empty promises that she knows full well are seriously Energy Dumb. John McCain is just happy to propose a psychological band-aid with no real economic savings for the American consumer.
I know. The stupid. It hurts!
And you wonder why people feel like politicians don’t respect their intelligence! Good thing you can spot a gas tax scam when you see one!
So, where does Barack Obama stand? I’ll let you know with my next post (hint, he’s pretty Energy Smart on this one)…
p.s. I want to make it clear that I have yet to be particularly partisan in the Democratic presidential primary race, calling both Obama and Clinton out for supporting new uses of coal. That officially ended the day Clinton supported this seriously Energy Dumb idea. Sorry Clinton, this is just plain indefensible! You’ve lost the vote of this Oregon primary voter who just cast his mail-in ballot for Obama.
Related posts:
-”Energy Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest” by A. Siegel at Energy Smart.
-”Dumb as We Wanna Be” by Thomas Friedman at NY Times.
-”Udall Responds to Energy Dumnb Challenge from Hillary Clinton” at WattHead.
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The elitist’s who support Barack Obama just don’t get it do they? When I got to the pump and there are two gas stations directly across from each other and one says 3.79 and the other says 3.78 I am going fill up at the 3.78 gas pump. Why? Because that penny matters to me if it means I am saving something. So if what Hillary proposes is going to save me a penny in the summer…so be it!!!! Now if you choose to pay more for you gas, than by all means you definitely should be voting for Obama.
President Hillary 08
Stop the madness. Vote on the “Gas Tax Holiday”
http://www.govit.com/s_2890
On govit.com you vote, and have your vote sent directly to your reps. It’s democracy in action.
This gas tax-holiday *may* save consumers a small amount, but the price of gas is expected to rise close to the amount that the holiday would take off the cost per gallon. Combined with the fact that this will be a temporary rebate, this means that this so-called solution will not create a permanent break for consumers and will not be lighter on our wallets. This is not a long-term solution.
Add that to the fact that we use this gas tax to pay for roads and infrastructure, and the federal government does not intend to eliminate the expenditures, this proposed holiday will continue to deepen the federal government’s deficit spending. Given the incredible debt that the government has racked up recently, the fact that this will not be a permanent solution and that it won’t save consumers a significant amount at the pump (and by the way other energy efficiency and conservation measures will save consumers) it would be incredibly irresponsible to think that this will solve our problem.
It’s not elitist to oppose this idea. Recognizing that this is an irresponsible waste of federal funds is just plain common sense and shows respect for the people of this country. We will not be bought off with a meager tax holiday - we want long term solutions to our energy problems which will (not even in the distant future) save consumers money and reduce our dependence on dirty energy.
Why isn’t anyone asking the question of how we got to this point!?
Who wouldn’t allow drilling in ANWR and have the oil companies build more refineries making it tougher for the the remaining 150 or so that are left to manipulate the price of gas??
Treat the CAUSE not the damn symptom!
Why Is Gas So Freakin’ Expensive?
http://consumerist.com/consumer/features/why-is-gas-so-freakin-expensive-263887.php
Not only is the ‘principle’ of a gas tax holiday absurd, the reality is nothing more than a confidence trick.
1) Federal Government does NOT control gas prices, the oil companies do.
2) There is NO guarantee that reducing tax will have ANY significant impact on pump prices.
3) As pointed out above, after the “Holiday”, there would be a sudden jump in price, just before the General Election.
4) There is NO windfall tax on oil companies from which to pay for the tax cut.
5) A windfall tax bill has already failed, another one would have to be passed (in an oil company led government) for the money to be available, probably to be bundled with the “Let’s Freeze Hell Over” bill. To cap it all, Bush has already declared that he would veto any such bill.
6) It would take months if not years to claw back the windfall tax, during which time, the “Holiday” is paid for by government funds. Even if it were successful, the oil companies would deduct legal and admin costs amounting to 30%+ of the windfall tax. They would also put up the price of gas to pay for it.
7) Hillary may talk big, but she doesn’t have the clout to pass a “Gas Tax Holiday” bill without substantial support from he colleagues. The majority of Democrats in Washington have already denounced the stunt.
9) The economists that advised her on her healthcare plan are now too “elite” to advise her on her “Gas Holiday” plan. Just what we need, another know-it-all president who will ignore the experts for their own political gain.
10) There is an easy way to reduce the amount we pay in gas that even people dumb enough to vote for the “Holiday” myth should understand:
STOP USING SO MUCH GAS!
CT