A US Gas Tax Holiday is a BAD Idea! a debate run by beeobrien

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 13 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

HERE'S WHAT I THINK

Should the US Have a Gas Tax Holiday?

Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton are in favor of the suspension of the federal gasoline tax (18.4 cents/gallon) for the summer traveling season. This is possibly the stupidest idea I have heard from either one of them. This is simply politics at its worst.

Suspending the tax would just encourage the use of fossil fuel (read foreign oil) at a time when the government needs to step in to encourage us to conserve.

The money from the gasoline tax could be used for worthwhile projects like wind energy research, instead of allowing people to (maybe) save a very few dollars on their summer vacation.

This isn't even a Band-Aid on the limping economy. I don't think it would have ANY positive effect on the U.S. motoring consumer. Most experts agree that consumers would not pocket this money anyway; it would go to the oil guys. Demand for gasoline always increases in the summertime, and prices always go up in response. Any taxes that we wouldn't be paying to the government, we WOULD be giving to the oil companies. They would raise prices just because they CAN.

Tell Me What You Think 

This is your chance to convince me. Give it your best shot.

Do You Think the US Gas Tax Holiday is a Good Idea?

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Yes! We Can Save a Few Bucks

kab says:

I'm almost thinking that the government should pass a law that says "it is not legal to import gas at a cost of higher than $60/barrel". We will have a short while of no gas coming in, and Americans freaking out. Then foreign oil will miss the money and drop the prices, and we will all have learned a lesson. Well, we need something drastic.

Posted May 28, 2008

StartPoint says:

My fuel bills use to run around $4000 a month and now it's hitting $9000. I'm a small business owner (like 90% of American business's. I'm all for the "holiday" and do think that the oil company's should pay the tax. Why should my company suffer while oil dawgs grow richer by the day? As for a comment I see about the UK being the 4th most expensive...wrong...CNN is too bias to trust their data. The most expensive fuel is 18.75 (Sri Lanka)a gallon while the cheapest is .12 (Venezuela). Granted, conservation is the name of the game for sure BUT there is no reason fuel cost should be as high as they are. Pure greed by the oil companies.

Posted May 08, 2008

beeobrien says:

Point taken. I've changed the No option.

Posted May 02, 2008

kab says:

I think it is a good idea. What we need is consumer confidence. Gas prices affect that - they just do. If the general public believed the economy was good then it would certainly be better. Fear of an impending recession has caused a recession. Ask people in vacation towns if they think this is a good idea - they will. Form many in this country much of their income comes in the summer. Perhaps it is only temporary, but it may be at the time that many need it. And, I don't think that the alternative of yes to this question should be "We should drive less anyway" - that is a given, but unrelated - even using less we still need to use some.

Posted May 02, 2008

No Way! It is a Step in the Wrong Direction

poddys says:

Well I'm all for saving a few bucks, but as a consumer I know that in the long run I will end up paying a lot more, as the government seeks to get back it's missing taxes in some other way.

I understand the benefits from a small business owner perpective and feel very strongly for them however.

What I never will understand is why if the cost of getting oil out of the ground and refining it has barely increased over the last 10 years, how come we are all expected to pay 3 or 4 times as much for it? At the end of the day, who is getting all this extra money, and WHY?

Posted June 21, 2008

Mac33 says:

This is a ridiculous idea...short sighted political pandering that only makes the situation worse. We get to save a few bucks this summer by stiffing our kids and grandkids with the bill decades later.

I'm all for lowering taxes, but we have to find a way to pay for it through spending reductions...not going deeper into debt.

Posted May 08, 2008

RufusQuail says:

We need sound policy, not gimmicks. I haven't seen an estimate of the cost to administer the plan, but I'll bet it's high.

Posted May 07, 2008

Grasshoppa says:

Taxes need to be lowered across the board, not just temporarily. To do that, we'll have to convince Congress to learn how to spend responisbly. Heh.

Aside from that, we need to open up the supply and drive the prices down economically. Temporary props and feel-good social engineering ain't gonna do it.

Posted May 05, 2008

Noadi says:

I remember a major bridge collapse last summer that killed people. The money from the gas tax goes towards highway maintenance. We have a highway system that is way out of date and needs more money than it's getting already. This is our safety, politicians shouldn't compromise that for a gimmick that will only make people feel good and not actually save us any money.

Posted May 03, 2008

smsRob says:

So I could save upwards of $18 - $20 dollars on gas for the whole summer? Wow that's amazing! They're really pulling out all the election year stops... tax rebates, gas holidays... get real. All it would do is save me a virtually unnoticeable amount of money and take millions and millions away from the roads and bridges that tax helps pay for.

Posted May 03, 2008

Greekgeek says:

Bad idea -- unless the tax was only a holiday for the consumers, and the oil companies had to pick up the difference! THAT might help direct the kick where it belongs. After all, they're making record profits right now... they can afford it.

I'm trying to think of some alternatives that would help. I keep trying to think of a way to have a Green Grocer Saturday carpool program (maybe even supported by dealers selling these kinds of cars) where customers can sign up to be picked up by an eco-friendly car, taken to the grocery store and taken home.

Heck, when I move to my new condo, I just might start offering that to the folks in my cul-de-sac, since I have a Prius! There's a crazy idea.

Posted May 03, 2008

thefluffanutta says:

Sheesh! Your American Gas is sooo much cheaper than everywhere else in the world! In fact, US Gas comes in at number 111, while us Brits have to pay $8.38 per gallon (4th most expensive). Stop complaining, and start conserving!

Here are the facts: US Gas is Cheap (CNN)

Posted May 02, 2008

victoria_neely says:

They're making promises they think people want to hear without addressing the real problems.

Posted May 02, 2008

bdkz says:

Bad idea. It's a band-aid just like the Ecnomic Stimulus checks! We need to be developing cars that use less fuel too.

Posted May 02, 2008

 
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