Letters to the Editor
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Missing the point
your article misses the main point that Obama makes. That this is a gimmick that obscures the fact that the era of cheap oil is over. OK so we take off the 18.4 cents per gallon federal tax. What happens when oil goes from $120 per barrel to $160 per barrel at the end of the summer. The price increases will already have eaten the tax savings and the return of the tax will be that much more of a shock.
The main problem with your argument is that the gas prices during the time of the Illinois tax holiday saw the decrease of the overall price at the end of the summer. There is no guarantee that the price will go down at the end of this summer. In fact I don't think that the price of oil is going down anytime soon since we have probably already entered the period of oil production stagnation and eventual decline.
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No short term solution to the real problem.
The real problem is that demand for crude oil is rising, and supply is nearing its peak and inevitable decline. Supply won't drop suddenly, but production will continue to slide,, and as it does, oil will continue to get more expensive. Suspend the gas tax, and the price will go down a little, temporarily, while demand goes up in proportion. Gasoline inventories have nothing to do with it, because gasoline is produced from oil. So long as the demand for oil grows faster than the supply, such inventories are temporary.
The only real solution is to use less oil and to provide alternate forms of energy and transportation. That's why suspending the gas tax is an utterly phony solution. We should be taxing gas at higher rates, and using the revenues to build more mass transit, to subsidize the creation of plug-in hybrids and electric cars, and to expand the production of electricity from wind and solar.
If we want to give people a break to soften the high cost of gas, let's do it in a way that will reach those that need it most, and won't drive up gasoline demand nearly as much: increase the earned income credit, perhaps in the form of an early rebate to those who would earn that credit.
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you can take that $30 gas tax savings...
...and use it to buy a week or two of your mandated healthcare plan!
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My name is Hill-ry and I cover my ass...
...goodness gracious great balls of gas!
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I need a Salon Premium fee holiday
Give me back my $, this product is brutal.
You can make up for it by continuing to steal ad dollars from Obama, who is heavily advertising on this Clinton propoganda site.
King Kaufmann is the only writer on this site who still has a fastball.
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Some of it will go to the oil companies
The demand curve for oil is inelastic as economists say. That is as the price goes down the demand goes up but not as much for most products. In an "inelastic" demand scenario most of the gas tax cut will show up in the price cut but since demand still goes up for gas with a price cut, the oil companies will end up making more money as a result of the cut.
The best way to deal with the price of gas is to tax the hell out of it but pay back consumers with tax cuts that are as close to revenue neutral as possible. Obams plan for a middle class tax cut is closer to this scenario than what McCain and Clinton are proposing
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I want a vacation from all taxes!
Sales taxes! Income taxes! All taxes!
First candidate who promises me that gets my vote.
Unless another candidate promises free beer.
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What a waste
The biggest problem with the gas tax holiday is that it’s sucking all the oxygen out of the public conversation on energy policy. What if this much energy and attention were suddenly brought to bear on fuel conservation and vehicle fuel economy--things that could really make a difference?
It seems 50% of the vehicles I see on the road here in Texas are large gas-guzzlers. Given that many, many people have knowingly purchased vehicles that are very expensive to gas up, I’m highly skeptical of the need for a $30-50 savings. For those to whom $30-50 dollars will truly make a difference, there are much better ways to provide relief, such as the $1000 tax cut Obama proposes.
If the gas tax holiday is an example of the kind of leadership we can expect from Hillary on energy policy and financial relief for average Americans, she flunks spectacularly.
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No, Obama isn't wrong....
He admits he made a mistake in Illinois, but that's beside the point. The people that are being hurt by the gas tax are low income. There are much more effective ways to target tax relief their way that would help with the gas expense, if that expense is a necessity. And that wouldn't increase demand, if the gas expense is not a necessity.
If the Clinton funding mechanism is viable, a windfall profit tax, it should not be used for short term minimal relief. Those billions should be invested in ending this long term problem. Obama is right.
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Do you think?
Hillary bet Rove that she could do him one better and win the primary for a $30 bribe, one tenth of Bush's tax rebates? Do you think they toasted it over crown royal? You know, for laughs?
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Shut up. All of you. This man in right and you are all wrong.
Except skylerdexter who posted this work of brilliance:
But if you're an Obamabot, you probably don't care about saving a few cents on your arugula-and-wheatgrass salads.
And you're all probably driving Prius's, anyway.
You pukes really are out of touch, ya' know that?
Amen to that. Why do Elitists hate America so much? When Dear Leader ascends her rightful throne, we'll have to do something about you traitors. Perhaps a Cultural Revolution. We must purge the Elitists and Intellectuals out of society. They hate America and will not be tolerated any more.
Hillary '08!!
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Really Now?
I come here hoping to read intelligent remarks. Instead I find flames and hyperbole.
Did the gas holiday "work" for Illinois consumers? Well, If saving $.60 per week is a big deal, then I suppose it did. What did Illinois residents miss out on because of the uncollected millions. I'l just bet Illinois is the only state in the nation that has plenty of money for all the government services that the citizens demand, so probably nothing, right?
2000 is a long time ago for the gas market. Many things that are obvious now were barely discussed then:
India and China
The interdependence of the grain, meat and petroleum markets via biofuels.
Protecting consumers from market realities is not always the best strategy. Despite the high level of gasoline reserves, prices are staying high. Suppliers are obviously passing through the spot market prices directly to retailers, who have low margins and little room to cut the prices they offer. will a gas tax holiday change this? I doubt it; in fact I expect prices will rise to meet current levels.
Don't worry about gas supplies. At $120. per barrel the effective supply of petroleum is huge and growing. Previous uneconomic extraction plans now make perfect sense. The day is nearly at hand when any organic material can be thrown into a digester and turned into bio-diesel or ethanol. I don't think developed-world consumers are likely to change their consumption habits just to keep developing countries from throwing environmental treasures into the fuel market. It is clear that many farmers will be returning marginal erodible lands to production, trading valuable topsoil for profits this year, with no government action to discourage them.
Personally, I'd rather see the government have the money and hope that it will pay for some obvious low or no carbon energy programs.
the real danger isn't that we're running out of oil, it is that we are not running out of oil. The invisible hand of the market will continue to whup us upside the head with increasing greenhouse emissions and global warming until we all decide that this is not a problem that markets will fix. Until then we can keep filling your tanks with gas, corn, soybeans, chicken. the rain forest, switchgrass or whatever.
I don't think it is fair to call the Illinois gas holiday a success. In any case the gas market is different now. I do believe that Hillary is pandering by supporting the gas holiday.