Op Ed: The Gas Tax Holiday

[Finnegans Wake]

April 30, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Dumb as We Wanna Be

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer

[steelerfaninCO]

The McCain/Clinton gas tax holiday is such an irrsponsible election year BS plan on so many levels. People will save like $30 bucks. It will do nothing to reduce the longterm problem of importing too much expensive foreign oil. Its shameful really. A ploy that sounds good to the average uneducated American consumer to get their votes, but it will really make things worse. ...Like we need more bridges falling down in the country.

[Finnegans Wake]

Back in the 70s my then-hippie uncle and his buddy started making and selling solar hot water heaters.  I got a summer job staining them.  The company's still in business, making gazebos or something.  Back then, I used to get catalogs from Edmund Scientific.  They sold old US Army tank periscopes, fresnel lenses, biofeedback machines, gizmos and gadgets.  They always had solar photovoltaic cells.  

If I had taken more interest in the solar power industry then, who knows where it would have led.  Someone's going to make a lot of money when solar cell efficiency allows every American to strap a panel on their roof and live more cheaply...

[otismalibu]

Someone's going to make a lot of money when solar cell efficiency allows every American to strap a panel on their roof and live more cheaply...

I'd pay $37 to listen to Hillary give her "Strap-Ons For Everyone" speech.

:progress:

[Finnegans Wake]

Someone's going to make a lot of money when solar cell efficiency allows every American to strap a panel on their roof and live more cheaply...

I'd pay $37 to listen to Hillary give her "Strap-Ons For Everyone" speech.

:progress:

Well played.  If and when Hillary loses the nomination, what's the over/under on how long till she and Bill divorce?  And the over/under till the lezbo confession?  Is she the bull?

[steelerfaninCO]

If and when Hillary loses the nomination, what's the over/under on how long till she and Bill divorce?  And the over/under till the lezbo confession?  Is she the bull?

6 months on the divorce, 8 months till the lezzie confession to Barbara Walters, and she definately wears the pantsuit in the relationship.

[steelerfaninCO]

If I had taken more interest in the solar power industry then, who knows where it would have led.  Someone's going to make a lot of money when solar cell efficiency allows every American to strap a panel on their roof and live more cheaply...

Here in Colorado, Xcel Energy will pay half of your cost for installing home solar energy systems. Its still expensive even after getting half off, but its a start. I am having a 6+KW system installed this summer and am pretty psyched about it. I will be selling electricity back to utility, and am going to put in an electric on demand water heater. We get over 300 sunny days a year here, so hopefully I will be producing plenty off electricity all year.

[GoldenEraBucs]

The McCain/Clinton gas tax holiday is such an irrsponsible election year BS plan on so many levels. People will save like $30 bucks. It will do nothing to reduce the longterm problem of importing too much expensive foreign oil. Its shameful really. A ploy that sounds good to the average uneducated American consumer to get their votes, but it will really make things worse. ...Like we need more bridges falling down in the country.

Thirty dollars is about right if you assume that the entire tax break will be passed on to the consumer (it won't).  

The average American drives roughly 1300 miles a month.  The average MPG range is 15-40.  If you take the mid-point, that gets you a savings of $9-$11/month.  Then multiply that over three months, and you get the $30 you stated.

But wait, here's the really stupid part of the tax break, it rewards those who drive gas guzzelers and those who drive more than the norm.  If you drive a 12 MPG vehicle, you will save more than someone in a hybrid.  If you run up mileage, you save more than those who don't.  When global demand is the primary factor in the price of oil and gas (if you believe the oil companies) McCain and Clinton propose and idea that encourages more demand.  Stupid.