OUR VIEW: Proposed gas tax cut helps politicians, not motorists

May 01, 2008 10:48 pm

— Does anybody remember when the Republican party was labeled as the conservative party when it came to federal spending and frugal economic policies?
That has certainly changed since President George W. Bush and his Republican compatriots plummeted this country trillions of dollars into debt. And now Rep. Phil English of Erie, who represents most of Mercer County, wants to add to that.
English is one of several misguided federal officials who are pushing for a bill to repeal an 18-cent federal gas tax for 60 days, which would supposedly help lower the price of gas.
Excuse us if we don’t jump to our feet and applaud. It is one of the most ridiculous plans to come around since the federal economic stimulus checks which are now being distributed to taxpayers around the country.
How are we going to make up the money we lose from these “gifts”? In the long run, we are going to have to repay that money or else our children and grandchildren will have to foot the bill.
Maybe we could get another loan from China. The banks in that country hold so much of our debt paper that we could never afford to put any kind of tariff on the goods being shipped here that take away jobs from Americans.
The “stimulus” checks may make people smile for a short time as they pay off some bills or buy something they can’t usually afford — like gasoline — but in the long run they’re not going to ward off the recession they’re supposed to cure.
To cut the federal tax on gas will only hamper other needed federal programs.
It is an obvious political ploy as English tries to retain his seat in Congress. It echoes the idea proposed by Republican John McCain as he tries for the White House. Unfortunately, even some Democrats are considering the move just to attract votes.
The worst part is that if you take away the 18-cents-per-gallon tax, there’s nothing to stop oil companies from continuing to raise prices. So when the 60 days are up, that would boost gas prices even more.
If Bush and English really wanted to help, they would conduct an immediate investigation of the oil companies which have made billions of dollars off the backs of middle-class America through these price hikes. But that won’t happen. For some reason the price of milk is regulated, but not the price of gas.
One of the biggest boosts to the overall economy would be if Bush and his allies English and McCain would repeal the huge tax cuts that are granted to wealthy people in this country. That way many of the millionaires and billionaires who capitalize on high gas prices, would be giving a greater share back to the country.
That might actually help the middle class, which doesn’t seem to be of much interest to many of our country’s leaders.
English is pretending to throw a bone to the little people by saying he wants to dump the gas tax. In the long run, the only way we are going to right the economy is to dump officials like English.