How much is your vote worth? The gas tax holiday

Once upon a time there was a man who sold his soul for thirty pieces of gold. How much is yours worth?

Republican candidate John McSame proposes to suspend the gas tax for the summer months, thereby, in true Republican fashion, pandering to the voters at the expense of bridge, tunnel and highway maintenance and ignoring the harmful effects of using more oil on the environment. Hillary Clinton's twist on this idea is to tax the oil companies' windfall profits (which would only increase with this proposal) to compensate the Highway Trust Fund that builds and maintains roads and bridges. Given the current composition of Congress, I'll bet you can guess how far that idea will go. So, in effect, her suggestion is really no different than McSame's. The only one of the three mainstream candidates for president who is acting in a principled way and doing what's best for the U.S. now and in the future is Barack Obama.

This should prove to anyone who is paying attention that McSame and Clinton are simply not suited for the presidency. We desperately need someone who is capable of making the hard decisions. The New York Times says in an editorial today:

Senators John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton have hit on a new way to pander to American voters.... The proposal may draw applause and votes from Americans feeling the pain of nearly $4-a-gallon gasoline. But it is an expensive and environmentally unsound policy that would do nothing to help American drivers.

That's the last thing we need.

Most analysts think that the summer 2008 gas holiday won't save consumers much money and to the extent that it would save any, contrary to McSame's claim, it would save the rich considerably more than anyone else. but it remains just a gimmick to get your vote. It's likely to save consumers about $28-30. With these proposals both candidates are just pandering for votes in the short run at the expense of infrastructure maintenance and the environment in the long run. Obama (see video) is the only one who is being honest. And what we need most after the last nearly eight years is a president who has the courage to be honest with us.