It might not the best solution in the world, but any tax break is certainly worthy of consideration - just not according to ABC's April 30 "World News with Charles Gibson."
"The idea is to cut taxes and gas prices during in the summer vacation months, when demand is highest," ABC News correspondent David Wright said. "Great politics, but apparently terrible economics."
ABC opposed the proposal, supported by both presidential contenders Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) on the grounds it would increase demand and cause harm to the environment.
"[C]utting the gas tax actually goes against the long-term energy goals all three candidates have embraced, cutting pollution and reducing our dependence on foreign oil," Wright said. "If more people are out on the roads, those problems will only get worse."
The segment trotted out an economist from the left-leaning Urban Institute that condemned the idea.
"You would be hard-pressed to find any economist who would say that this is a good idea," Len Burman of the Urban Institute said.
However, the editorial board of Investors Business Daily didn't seem to have any problem with calling this proposal "a good idea." An editorial in the April 15 IBD finds some merit in the proposal. Although it isn't a permanent solution, it is a step in the right direction.
"The tax holiday is a slam dunk," the editorial said. "Yes, the government would lose $10 billion in revenue, as the Associated Press took pains to point out. But that's exactly the point. That money would instead be going into the pockets of the very people who need it most - those pinched by the soaring cost of oil, now at $113 a barrel. If Congress needs the $10 billion, let it cut pork-barrel spending."
















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How about a compermise...
May 1, 2008 - 17:01 ET by ExtirpaterThe exorbitant taxes on fuel are payable every other month for the next 10 years.
The point to keep in mind is not how much the Fed's will lose, but how much the people will gain through the exercise of freedom from outrageous Federal schemes to steal prosperity.
So, wait a minute....
May 1, 2008 - 17:36 ET by Jnoble..going by the MSM's logic, isn't it GOOD that gas prices are high and stay high to encourage us idiot regular non-enlightened people from driving more and "damaging" the damn environment?
Didja ever notice if the price suddenly spiked 18 cents in one day, every MSM reporter would be out in front of the local station interviewing Joe Six Pack and asking him if he has to choose between food and gas
-BUT-
If they did have a gas tax holiday and cut that 18 cents a gallon for everyone, suddenly thats a "bad idea" and something that shouldn't be done
WTF?
There's No Contradiction
May 1, 2008 - 20:09 ET by Repeal 16-17For the Liberal Media, everything sucks when the President is a Republican. If a Democrat becomes President, then everything will be fine again. It's like when a Republican is a mayor there's a homeless problem, but if a Democrat replaces that mayor the homeless magically disappear.
My favorites are those
May 2, 2008 - 13:05 ET by ckc1227My favorites are those analysts who say on the one hand that that extra 18 cents is breaking the back of average Americans, but then on the other hand, they tell you that reducing the price by 18 cents will only save those same Americans a couple of bucks, lol.
"Great politics, but
May 1, 2008 - 18:10 ET by fitzfong"Great politics, but apparently terrible economics."
If any statement underlines the economic illiteracy/indifference of much of the media, that one certainly does. Here you have a "journalist" claiming that people going out on the road to travel (I don't know, maybe staying in a hotel or two, patronizing a few restaurants and tourist attractions and injecting more money into the economy) is a bad economic idea.
Look, I couldn't be less interested in what the "long-term energy goals" of the three clowns running for President are. Their "environmental" interests are ancillary to the pressing needs of this country and its economy. The fact that they've allowed these socialist parasites to grab so much control of our laws and our economy is shameful, and it must be stopped. Let the market and people who know how to run an economy determine and meet the "long-term energy goals". The environment and the economy would be so much better that way.
I am so sick and tired of
May 1, 2008 - 18:37 ET by mostlymoderateI am so sick and tired of using the "environment" as an excuse to screw American's. Group's like the "Urban Institute" ruin my day like no other. :(
I like it how liberals can blame Exxon or Chevron for high fuel prices; however, they won't DARE look into all the liberal concepts that have caused fuel prices to get high (i.e. taxes, environmental fear tactics, etc etc)