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Gas Tax Holiday = Money Laundering
I couldn't say it any better than NYT's Friedman so here is the link:
"This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money
from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for
ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our
country."
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Comments (5)
Guess my link didn't work. 2nd try.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/opinion/30friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
April 30, 2008 5:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why is no one talking about building public transportation systems? Why aren't we talking about getting people out of their cars and onto efficient mass transit systems like the rest of the developed world?
April 30, 2008 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Part of that has to do with the fact that regular cars/trucks are actually the smallest part of our petroleum consumption.
Another part is that Public Transit is largely unprofitable and our governments (federal and state) have moved dramatically towards privatization - which means government funding of anything has built-in profits for the contractors that do the work. I think I read somewhere it took Chicago's CTA 20+ years just to break-even.
In a nutshell commuters are not the gas guzzlers. Large civil construction projects, distribution lines such as highway trucking and rail lines are, (not to mention air travel). I think the net gain of putting people in rail cars vs. their own cars would be negligible.
Don't forget the impact of home heating fuel (aka diesel) has on demand seasonally - and consumers aren't charged a federal highway tax for it.
But for the record most countries with well developed and accessible public transport have gas prices (and taxes for that matter) that make our problems seem puny in comparison.
In a really painful and evil fashion - the best way to get the average person off the oil-tit... raise prices until they turn to cheaper alternatives. Much like cleaning up inflation - its' not a victimless reformation, and the little guy is usually the one to pay the most.
April 30, 2008 6:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Listened to T. Boone Pickens on NPR today. The man is investing in one of the largest wind farms in Texas and this is a full blown 'oil man' He restated the obvious that we are entering into the post carbon world but it will take time to get there. The worst, oil price and energy wise, is yet to come and he faults leadership at all levels. Hillary/McCain leadership of this kind on this issue is simply denigrating, idiotic and dangerous.
April 30, 2008 7:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's likely to win them votes, which is sad and ever so predictable. Remember a majority of voters fell for Bush's promises of middle income tax cuts.
April 30, 2008 8:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
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