The only thing worse than John McCain’s proposal for a gas-tax holiday is John McCain’s new proposal for a longer gas-tax holiday.
John McCain said Thursday that his proposal to suspend the gas tax for three months this summer may need to be extended longer if high gas prices continue to take a toll on the economy.
“I think we ought to seriously look at whether we need to have it be longer or not depending on what the economy (does),” McCain said, standing beside the Grand River.
“I think we have to consider all options but the fact is we need a gas tax holiday. We need it, we need it, we need it very badly. The Americans that are hurt the most are low income Americans that are driving the oldest automobiles,” he said.
I just find it hard to believe we’re still talking about this obvious nonsense. McCain surely knows that his proposed holiday wouldn’t actually lower the price of gas. Indeed, if he genuinely believed otherwise, McCain would probably go to Capitol Hill — he is still a senator, by the way — introduce legislation, and push lawmakers and the White House to endorse his initiative.
I have to say, McCain is at his least attractive when he takes on the role of con man.
McCain wanted to eliminate the 18.4-cent a gallon federal gas tax over the summer (from Memorial Day to Labor Day). This would cost the Highway Trust Fund between $9 billion and $11 billion. McCain hasn’t said whether he’d just increase the deficit to make up the difference, or just let the transportation money disappear, costing thousands of jobs. Now he wants to make the holiday longer, costing more jobs and more billions of dollars.
And what would consumers get in return? Nothing. Putting aside the volatility in oil prices, and the fact that the cost of a glass of gas will probably go up over the summer regardless of federal taxes, Americans won’t actually be in a position to save any money if the gas tax is temporarily repealed. McCain may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but he almost certainly realizes this.
He has to.
This is just common sense. As Paul Krugman explained in April:
Why doesn’t cutting the gas tax this summer make sense? It’s Econ 101 tax incidence theory: if the supply of a good is more or less unresponsive to the price, the price to consumers will always rise until the quantity demanded falls to match the quantity supplied. Cut taxes, and all that happens is that the pretax price rises by the same amount. The McCain gas tax plan is a giveaway to oil companies, disguised as a gift to consumers.
Is the supply of gasoline really fixed? For this coming summer, it is. Refineries normally run flat out in the summer, the season of peak driving. Any elasticity in the supply comes earlier in the year, when refiners decide how much to put in inventories. The McCain/Clinton gas tax proposal comes too late for that. So it’s Econ 101: the tax cut really goes to the oil companies.
Got that? We can cut the tax, but the price wouldn’t go down. Oil company profits — which are already breathtaking — would go up, but there’d be no extra money in Americans’ pockets.
Thomas Friedman recently offered a similar critique, arguing that a gas-tax holiday is “a reminder to me that the biggest energy crisis we have in our country today is the energy to be serious.” Friedman added that the proposal “is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away.”
This, regrettably, is McCain the Con Man. He’s selling snake oil, hoping desperately that voters won’t know the difference. That his proposal wouldn’t do anything to help American consumers, wouldn’t lower the price of gas, and would boost oil company profits seems entirely irrelevant. A confidence man in the middle of a scam can’t be bothered with reality — it only gets in the way of the deception.
On his proposal, McCain, at his most breathtakingly pathetic, concluded, “We need it, we need it, we need it very badly.”
Actually, what we need is a leader who not only tells us the truth, but is in touch with reality. John McCain has proven himself to be neither.
No Trackbacks To “John McCain takes a ‘holiday’ from reality“
Color me surprised that the politicians are divorced from reality. I guess comfy salaries, big homes, endless money and fancy meals from lobbyists and just plain ol’ gubbmint thievery and the like’ll do that to you. It’s at times like this that I sympathize with the anarchists….then I wake up.
John I understand that your not raising the kind of cash that Obama is, but is the straight talk express really that much bad on gas that “We need it, we need it, we need it very badly.”
That’s a good question to ask him: Why doesn’t he “introduce legislation, and push lawmakers and the White House to endorse his initiative.”
Also I’d like to ask him, since he criticized Barak Obama for not visiting Afghanistan before setting policy goals, how could he vote for the Iraqi War without first doing a fact finding mission there himself.
George Bush took 168 billion , walked out the front door of the white house with it , gave it to the American working people who promptly gave it to ther gas station of choice ,which went directly to President Bush’s oil friends. Calls it his stimulus package, who is he stimulating besides his Buddies. And the winner is BUSH AND CHENEY once again!
It is way time for a change! get out and vote send the crooks home a every level of government!!
McCain=Bush 3
We’ll just pay it somewhere “down the road”.
nonsense.the oil companies and Wallly World need no more help. They are doing fine.
GOP whistle-blower names Karl Rove and others in election fraud conspiracy
http://www.democraticundergrou.....15;3638926
Steve B: “McCain is at his least attractive when he takes on the role of con man.”
Which has happened often enough that it is impossible to tell when he isn’t in that role.
I thought this had been debunked, even by the lazy media months ago. I guess the truth only got through to people with the ability to think.
What about all this drilling bullcrap going on now? More and more polls show people favor it when it has been stated that it won’t help for at least 10 years. Why do the oil companies need new leases when they have millions of acres already that they haven’t even started drilling on? Why did the republicans kill a bill yesterday that would have made the oil companies start drilling on already leased land if, as they say, we need to drill here to stop our independence on foreign oil? What’s going on?
Ooooooooooooooo…tax cut. McCain has my vote.
Typical Greedy Republican
Boy. I thought MY political choices were limited. I’m actually now feeling sorry for you Americans. You have the choice between an empty shell of rhetoric, and an empty shell of rhetoric. Sad. One gives powerful meaningless speeches, and the other speaks about as well as Bushie. I guess the promise of free living for at least 4 years, all benefits, free travel AND thousands in pay just isn’t enough to attract a decent candidate. Truly sad.
If McCain gets elected, I can see myself running down the street screaming hysterically — for four years.
His position makes perfect sense from the election standpoint, and we can look to WV and Hillary’s victory to substantiate that claim. There are many Republicans and undecidedes that think this is just a fantastic idea, and it’s clear that McCain will pander to get those votes because let’s face it many elections are won in the margins.
So while this is a pretty horrible idea, it only matters what the clueless undecideds think, and McCain will try to get every one of their votes.
Is it not July 18th already? What 3 months of summer is he talking about?
If McCain gets elected, I wonder how many Mexican will want to come HERE?
Our new secret war on immigration, elect mcCain????
ConcernedCanuck @ 11:
Considering you guys elected Harper when it was fairly obvious Dubya and Dubya-wannabeing were bad for a nation, you’re in no position to criticize.
With the summer “season” half over, McCain is still harping on this losing issue and referring to some alternate universe where there are 3 months of summer still left.
It would be pretty comical if someone in the press pointed out that his summer seems to consist of September through November. Maybe he thinks he’s still in Arizona.
General_Rennenkampf @ 15:
I was in no way part of the “you guys” that elected Harper, and he has what is called a Minority government which means he can’t do shit on his own at all. With that said, I’d take Harper any day over McCain, Obama, or Hillary…..rich people DO NOT know how to run a nation and that is the only thing the US elects is rich people.
ConcernedCanuck @ 11:
You forgot about the millions to be made after four years through book deals and the rubber chicken lecture circuit.
We’ve got an imperfect system, but at this point there’s nowhere to go but up.
General_Rennenkampf @ 15:
To expand a little bit, we already knew Bush sucked by the time you Canadians elected Harper. We were well-versed in Bushite ways of suckitude. What’s your excuse, Canadians?
ConcernedCanuck @ 17:
Yes, I’m aware of that, but as I already said, we knew Bush’s methods of running the US were bad at that point. What excuse does Canada have for electing Harper as PM, or the UK for Brown for that matter?
eric @ 7:
Hey Eric,
Can’t get there from here.
General_Rennenkampf @ 19:
Did you see who ran against Harper? NOBODY. Nobody worth voting for. Where you have 2 running not worth voting for, Harper had the oil tycoons and corporations supporting him. The rest-not so much. That’s why the election was basically tied.
General_Rennenkampf @ 20:
Like I said. Harper’s only supporters were the corporate that made a shitload off the Bush presiduncy. The diff between your elections and ours is our leaders don’t get paid a whole heckuva lot, so nobody decent wants to run for office. Yours pays quite well, and still nobody is interested except the greedy rich that don’t need the cash or benefits.
Either way, like I said, I feel sorry for you. The globes superpower, and the only thing that is running is a pair of deadbeat lifelong politicians. Most of our politicians here do not suck on the taxpayer’s boobs their entire lives. Yours do. It is extremely odd.
ConcernedCanuck @ 22:
Um, you serious? You coulda kept the last PM, Martin or elected the New Democrats. If the New Democrats couldn’t win against Bush Mk. 2, you know now why Dennis Kucinich, the only antiwar Dem couldn’t make any headway in the primaries.
ConcernedCanuck @ 23:
And like I said, the New Democrats sound much more decent than the Honorable Mr. Harper. The reason they didn’t do anything is probably the same reason Kucinich did nothing here despite being the only one who actually had an anti-war position.
ConcernedCanuck @ 11:
sorry about that canuck, the american people are easily fooled , they didnt notice dureingthe deabates if you can call them that, that the only candidate worth voteing for ,dennis kucinich was being shut out of the election by the corporate news whores, they fell for the news whores telling them they didnt really want an honest politician for president, they needed to make history by electing a one speach wonder like barack obummer or a woman president , never mind both were corporate darlings, you get what you pay for and now were getting more of the same , diebold wont have to pick this years winner of the white house , both candidates are repigs,
General_Rennenkampf @ 24:
The New Democrats will never win a federal election. They have wonderful ideas, but they bankrupt you trying to implement them. We had them in power in Ontario, and they spent money like drunken sailors on a weekend pass.
But like I said, Harper won running against nobody, and he still barely beat nobody. Martin was railroaded out because the public was sick and tired of the Liberal’s corruption and wanted a change.
swampfox @ 26:
Fooled isn’t really the term to use, is it? Like I said to the good General, our politicians go back to the outside world after a few years. Yours? They get elected over and over and over and hell, alot of them die STILL receiving tax dollars. That is beyond bizarro.
WHEN was the last time that you remember REALITY having anything to do with a comment from McShame? How long will it be before our media begins to accurately reflect the ridiculousness of this geezer and accurately report on his foolishness rather than continue to suck up to his “perceived” hero status? They just want a “horse race” and if it looks like Obama is really pulling ahead they might have to look for REAL NEWS to fill up their pundit panels of pathetic pandering…
kablooie @ 12:
If John McSame is “elected” in November I will be convinced that the republiscums have fixed the vote count, again. I see a lot more people than just you running and screaming down the street.
ronnyg @ 21:
HomerRamone Donating Member
Fri Jul-18-08 08:13 AM
Original message
GOP whistle-blower names Karl Rove and others in election fraud conspiracy
Edited on Fri Jul-18-08 08:24 AM by HomerRamone
From: Mark Crispin Miller
Here, friends, is some news of vast importance–the beginning of a major lawsuit that will thoroughly expose Bush/Cheney’s long conspiracy to steal their “victories” through election fraud.
It is a case of vast historical importance, not just because of what it will reveal about US elections since 2000, but, no less, because it represents the only way that we might actually prevent another stolen race this fall. By shining a bright light, at last, on all the topmost perpetrators of the fraud thus far, this suit will drive them all into defensive mode and, therefore, out of business.
To understand the magnitude of this amazing case, please read Steve Heller’s piece, below, about today’s press conference in Columbus, Ohio, where attorney Cliff Arnebeck–and whistle-blower Stephen Spoonamore–laid out the case before a number of impressed reporters.
Here are just a few enticing bullet points:
> Stephen Spoonamore is a prominent Republican–who until recently was working for McCain’s campaign–and a respected expert on computer fraud.
> Spoonamore has named Mike Connell, a fiercely partisan IT specialist, as Karl Rove’s primary instrument for high-tech sabotage throughout the past eight years (at least). A self-proclaimed Bush loyalist (and a fanatical pro-lifer), Connell has been at the scene of every dubious election since 2000 (including the gubernatorial race in Alabama in 2002, when Don Siegelman was “beaten” by Bob Riley).
> Connell has not only been assisting Rove on the >electoral front, but also has full control of the congressional computer system. As Heller reports:
One of the more frightening aspects of Connell’s work is that he created the firewall for the U.S. Congressional computer system. Of course, it is completely possible that the firewall could have been created with secret security gaps that can be exploited to hack into any congressional computer. If that has happened, every computer in any senate or congressional office is subject to hacking by Bush/Republican operatives.
(It is quite possible, in fact, that the bizarre timidity of Reid, Pelosi and most other leading Democrats may be explained as a result of BushCo having lots of dirt on all of them–dirt gleaned freely from their emails and other on-line correspondence, all of which may well have been surveilled by Rove’s own men.)
MCM
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6189
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Hahaha, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association has published the numbers of a 90-day suspension of federal gasoline and diesel fuel taxes: it would cost a quarter of a million jobs
Willem van Oranje @ 33:
Not to mention how many more bridges will end up on the ground. States are already in a bind when it come to trying to repair there roads and bridges, and McLame wants to take more money away from the states. What a dick.
abdul waheed ahmad @ 32:
Nice pictures, Kahn!
Willem van Oranje @ 33:
EXACTLY!!
So why is McCain/McSame screaming about a longer gas tax?
The answer can only be that extra money from the “holiday” will become added profits for Big Oil and just go from Oil companies right into McCain’s campaign war chest…. one way or another… because he does “need it, need it, need it very badly” to even compete against Obama!