reyonthehill

I wanted to opine on this silly temporary repeal of the federal gas tax idea that is being sold by Hillary Clinton and John McCain. It makes little to no sense. In fact, it will end up being detrimental to our economy. It is quite the opposite of taxpayer relief.

Clinton and McCain suggest that the temporary repeal of the federal gas tax will help regular taxpayers at the pump, relieving them of the high price of gas. I call "bullshit" on that nonsense.

The federal tax is currently 18.4 cents per gallon. The gas outside my neighborhood -- as of today -- costs $3.87 per gallon on unleaded regular. With the supposed temporary repeal, that would bring the cost of gas to a little under $3.69 per gallon. Thank the lord almighty, I can live again.

For example, if I buy 100 gallons of gas over a period of one month (which is a hell of a lot of gas), the Clinton-McCain gas tax repeal would save me $18.40. It's time for a down-payment on a foreclosed home with that extra dough.

But the idea that the price of gas will reduce by the amount of the federal gas tax is ridiculous in itself. The price of gas is based on supply-and-demand. Given the repeal, the price of gas may lower a little, stay the same, or even go up. The laws of our economic system will not be dismissed upon the exaction of the repeal. The price of gas is not fixed.

And lastly, the detrimental lasting effect. The federal gas tax -- the 18 cents per gallon -- goes to the already depleted funding of infrastructure projects across the county, projects that we have all realized -- some more recently than others -- are wholly underfunded and in need of much larger investment. Temporarily repealing the gas tax, or scheduling a gas tax "holiday," is not only bad economics and bad contemporaneous policy, it will also result in higher taxes in the future to pay for the damage to the roads and bridges.

A better idea to high gas prices... invest in rail transportation. That will have long-term positive effects on our economy and our environment.

Hillary is playing catch-up to Obama, and the gas tax holiday is a clear sign of a desperate campaign. McCain... he's just an idiot.