Imagine you are stranded on a deserted island for the past few months. You have been surviving on grubs, bugs, and the occasional fish, none of which are easily acquired. Surviving, but by no means thriving, because let’s remember you are on a deserted island! One day you hear the sounds of a “Search and Rescue” party headed to shore. You think, “Great, my problems are over.” But before the boat reaches shore, it stops, throws a chicken sandwich on to the beach and heads back out to sea.
What’s the point? This is the best analogy I can use to describe the Clinton/McCain-supported gas tax breaks. While a chicken sandwich is great when you have been eating grubs and bugs, it is still an incredibly short-sighted approach to the problem at hand. Yes, it is going to fill you up, but after the meal you are still stuck on the island!
Hillary presents herself as the candidate who is in touch with the average American and is going to “make immediate bread-and-butter fixes for struggling Americans” (Alec MacGills and Steven Mufson, Washington Post) In contrast, we are supposed to believe that Barack is a liberal elitist who is out of touch with the needs of everyday Americans. While I do not question Hillary’s commitment the middle and lower class (she is after all still a democrat, in name at least, if not in actions best for the party), it seems laughable to think that her vehement commitment to the summer suspension of the gas tax is anything more than window dressing meant to win political points.
I am no economist, but plenty of pretty smart economists suggest that in the best-case scenario the tax suspension will lower the price of gas only couple of cents (not 18 as Hillary and McCain would like you to assume). The more likely outcome is that it will exacerbate the current state of affairs by straining the already limited oil supply. I guess that would be something like if that boat the dropped off your chicken sandwich actually scared away most of the fish that normally populate the waters near your island.
It’s time we demand that our politicians take us off the island, not throw us chicken sandwiches. This means that amongst other things, we need meaningful changes with regard to responsible energy policy, greater push for accountability from the oil companies, as well as an increase in individual awareness and responsibility in the most consuming country in the world.
The MacGills, Mufson article in the Washington Post describes what economist thinks will happen if you want a more-detailed description.
Filed under: Politics | Tagged: gas tax holiday
