By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Board

Politicians for years have thrown out the bad idea of reducing or even killing the federal gas tax. Gets attention, right? That's what John McCain was itching for recently. But McCain's pandering would come at a cost.

The GOP presidential candidate-in-waiting has proposed suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

So what would happen after that?

-- Big Oil would boost the cost of fuel at the pump, providing more profits for the industry.

-- Road and bridge projects across the country would lose billions in funding from the fuel tax.

-- Construction companies would have less money to keep their crews busy, leading to layoffs.

McCain didn't mention these aspects of his gas-tax holiday.

No wonder Congress has rejected past calls to kill the gas tax, as it should this time. Like many taxes, this one actually pays for something useful for the American people.

Now, where's McCain's plan to make sure the automobile industry produces more fuel-efficient vehicles?

You know -- a step that would really do something to cut the cost of gas at U.S. pumps.