Gas Tax Holiday

My new, more efficient and versatile vehicle!

I've been hearing a lot about this gas tax holiday. McCain and Clinton are for it, while Obama is against it. I personally cannot think of any advantages of this plan. Basically, it calls for an elimination in the federal gas tax between Memorial Day and Labor Day - a time when Americans use the most gas. That's a reduction of about .20 cents per gallon.

I don't know about you, but a measly .20 cents on $4/gallon is a drop in the bucket. I don't think my bank account would notice the difference. I think that demand might go up, which would just cause gas prices to actually go up at least that much or more. In the meantime, the loss of tax revenue would take a toll on our roads. Even though the elimination of the federal gas tax wouldn't have much of an impact on the average person, three months of lost revenue would have quite an impact on funding highway construction and repairs. I just drove on I-80 and couldn't believe the condition it was in. Its a major highway, yet the ruts and potholes were unbelievable.

Its not what people want to hear, but the solution is not finding clever short term solutions to fix the price of gas. Reducing the demand is the only way we can beat the oil companies and force them to lower prices. Driving smaller, more efficient vehicles is a start, but driving less is probably an even better solution. I know that's easier said than done though.