Gas Taxes: Hillary vs. Obama

I drive relatively little. I make sure that I live close enough to school that I can walk, even when I have to carry 20+ pounds of school materials to and from work. I fill up my 1992 Nissan Sentra every two to three weeks, and average 21 mpg. I, less so than most Americans, am affected by rising gas prices. That is, of course, until we factor in how gas prices affect the price of everything else. From consumer goods, to airline flights, to shipping costs, Americans are victims of their own industrial success. Our lives are based on gasoline-powered machines, and it's because of this dependency that Americans are so concerned about $4.00 gas.

Into the fray step Hillary Clinton and John McCain, who both propose removing the federal gas tax during the summer travel months. Their theory is that the 18.4 CENTS per gallon is too onerous a burden. And that Americans have an inalienable right (alongside life and liberty) to pursue happiness by driving places they really don't have to.

Against this foolish plan stands Barack Obama who has correctly articulated a host of problems with this proposal: 1) the average family stands to save $30, which they could make up by buying one less spa visit for their dog; 2) this will actually increase the quantity of gas consumed and accelerate depletion of the world's reserves; 3) this removes any sense of personal responsibility for the American consumer, since the government is there to bail them out of the high prices their demand has created; and 4) the gas tax revenue goes to pay for infrastructure like roads and bridges that don't maintain themselves.

In response, Hillary Clinton argues that Obama is out of touch with America. Because she, who has been Senator and previously President and Governor's wife, is soooooooooooooo in tune with the American people. Note that she doesn't contest any of Obama's facts or his arguments. Instead she fights it the only way she knows how: distracting people from the issues and making them think that this educated black man doesn't respect their values.

At the same time, Americans are complaining that taxes are what are driving up gas prices. Tell that to Japan or Europe, where gas is $7-9/gallon. Or to the climatologists who argue that internalizing gasoline's negative externality should ratchet the price up dollars rather than cents. In California, the state with the nation's highest gas tax, it amounts to a meager 45.5 cents per gallon. Add that to the federal gas tax, and Californians are paying and it's still a reasonable 63.9 cents per gallon. On a $4.00 tank of gas, that's only 16% of the initial value. And when that money goes to pay for public transportation and safe roads that drivers, car manufacturers, and gasoline companies all benefit from, it's a small price to pay. Instead consider that gasoline companies are making excessive profits through no foresight of their own, and that American needs to develop alternatives. And in a democracy, these are all problems that we should be fixing rather than shifting the blame to the government.