Denise Tiller, Midwest Voices 2008

Both McCain and Clinton are pushing for a gasoline tax "holiday" over the summer, but their idea is all about politics and doesn't offer a significant savings to Americans.

The Federal gasoline tax is only 18 cents a gallon, so I would save about $3.6o a week on my 20 gallons of gas. That's about enough to pay for a latte at Starbucks. Even over a 10 week period, a $36.00 savings is not significant--it's not even a tank of gas. All the big oil companies will do is raise the price even more.

One major problem with this approach is that we actually need the gas tax revenues to pay for road and bridge repair. We can't afford to lose of summer's taxes. Clinton at least proposes a tax on oil company profits to make up the difference, but again, they'll just raise prices some more.

The other problem is that we need to lower our consumption of fuel, not raise it. We should all be terrified because people in India and China want cars and can afford them now. They are going to be sucking up more and more of a limited resource. The US isn't going to be the big customer anymore.

In a way, we've been lucky. The price of gas is so much higher in Europe. Back in 2005, it was $5.79 a gallon in England and according to my daughter in London this morning, it's just too darn high now. But sadly, prices like that are necessary to shock us into cutting back our consumption and buying more fuel efficient cars and investing more in public transportation.

The problem with raising prices is that the current price is hurting everyone, especially the poor. Back in 1974, gas was 53 cents a gallon and the minimum wage was $2.00. I could fill up my Fiat with 10 gallons for $5.30--a little more than two hours of work at my minimum wage job while I went to college. Now that 10 gallons of gas will cost over $35 and take a little more than 6 hours of work at minimum wage to purchase. We may need to come up with a "gas stamp" like a food stamp so poor people can afford to drive to work.

Our dependence on fossil fuels needs more than a band-aid approach.

Denise Tiller, Midwest Voices 2008