Earlier this month John McCain proposed a gas tax suspension for the summer. (you can read the Yahoo News article here) The gas tax is approximately 18 cents on regular, now commonly referring to unleaded, but regular was leaded when I was a kid, but I digress, and approximately 25 cents per gallon for deisel. Yes this will make a difference for a few weeks for some summer travellers, but it will only be a band-aid. And a band-aid without neosporin at that! According to the Yahoo news article suspending the tax from Memorial Day to Labor day will result in the government losing approximately $10 Billion. Correct me if I'm wrong but are we not already in debts above our ears and over our heads somewhere in the catrillionzillion area? So maybe losing another $10 Billion would be just a drop in the bucket. The taxes from gas are earmarked to go directly into the highway safety fund and are to be used solely for refurbishing and upgrading our national highway system. Hmmmmmm, didn't a big ass bridge in Minnesota collapse last year? Can we really afford to take $10 Billion away from that fund?
How about a long-term solution? How about kicking some oil owning ass? How about looking into price gouging and the fact that a barrel of oil costs $115, I spend about $100 month on gas (I drive an itty bitty Ford Focus)am I getting a barrels worth of gas each month? How big is a damn barrel? How much of the $3.89 gallon of gas that I bought yesterday goes where? Why are the profits of the oil refineries allowed to skyrocket when our country is IN a recession? When we have an earthquake here in So Cal, merchants are not allowed to take advantage of the consumer by ratcheting up the prices of the bare necessities. Should all Big Business be held to some sort of regulatory action for taking advantage of consumers?
Some of the spin doctors are calling the tax suspension a great relief, that it will help drive back down the price of consumer goods because everything has a trickle down effect. But how long will that last? Any kid who has been on summer vacation knows that time flies by quickly. And then do the prices go right back up? And what is to stop the oil companies from raising the prices during that time period? If the "barrel" goes up, they're going to raise the price anyways. So why shouldn't they go ahead and raise it the full 18 cents we are supposedly saving. And then when the tax suspension is over we get raised another 18 cents.
No Mr. Mc Cain, I don't see this as a good idea in any possible way, except maybe for your friends the oil lobbyists.
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Thank you great grandpa!!
15 years ago
I see your point however, I feel these funds that are earmarked to go to certain projects also carry with them a clause that says ultimately they can go where they are most needed. And that is where I feel they end up in the politician's retirement fund as they constantly pass laws to give themselves raises. It's crazy isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Bush relief package does not help at all. He is only doing it because the people want something done, even if it is wrong. And this is just an additional one of his many poor judgements.
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