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U.S. presidential candidates call for gas tax 'holiday'

 
9 1,345 views May 1, 2008

U.S. presidential candidates call for gas tax 'holiday'

U.S. presidential candidates call for gas tax 'holiday'

Concerns about rising fuel prices have spilled into the U.S. presidential election campaign with both Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton calling for a gas tax ‘holiday’ this summer. They want to see the current 18.4 cent per gallon tax on fuel lifted for the period between May-end and Labour Day.

Democratic rival Barack Obama has called the plan a short-term “gimmick” but it may prove popular with working-class voters in the states of Indiana and North Carolina where Clinton is currently campaigning. Clinton has taken the issue a step further and has called for an additional tax on oil company profits, which continue to reach record levels, to help fund the tax break on regular petrol, reports the Associated Press.

"Middle-class families are paying too much and oil companies aren't paying their fair share to help us solve the problems at the pump," Clinton said in North Carolina.

Obama has said the tax holiday would save the average American just $28 and would rob funding from vital infrastructure projects around the country and could actually cost jobs.



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Comments (9)

  1. By chris Posted: 5/1/2008 11:18am PDT

    yeah i'm with barack on that one. the federal gas tax amounts to less than 10% savings on your pump prices but at the same time funds federal infrastructure projects like reworking interstates.

    but the part about taxing big oil more... now THERE is an idea. theres no reason for them to be profiting as much as they are. in fact, what you should do is tax the oil companies to bring their profits back into check, and send all of that money to alternative fueling programs at the big 3. the big 3 in turn have to guarantee that the development and production of that technology and any products using it must stay within the USA for the next 15 or 20 years or something like that. BRILLIANT! so smart in fact, you can guarantee that it will never happen.
     
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  2. By Ivan Posted: 5/1/2008 11:31am PDT

    Chris I admire your optimism. There's no way oil companies will "give up" a single cent from their profit, if you read the news they are disappointed with lower-than expected profit this quarter (Exxon missed 1cent/share). WIth so much money, they can literary do w/e they want, there is no stopping them now.

    Don't expect the gas prices to go down. I was looking for car with V6, maybe turbo boxer engine, now even those are out of my reach. Hello honda civic.

    As for the gas tax, this is the dumbest idea I've seen yet, Obama is right.
     
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  3. By chris Posted: 5/1/2008 1:16pm PDT

    Ivan; the government can do what ever the hell they want. IF the oil companies dont like it, they can leave the biggest market on the planet. Big Oil is powerful in government because they have so much money to lobby senators and what not.

    but with the average american (and likely the senators too) just SEETHING about the price of gas increasing "due to market concerns and supply concerns", and Big Oil pulling in record PROFITS, not just revenue but PROFIT.. I think now is the time that you could pass any law you'd like against big oil.

    call it a Profit Redistribution Program. I mean, the oil companies can't complain (as much) if you're taking their profits and using it to fund the development of more products that will use their own products. Hell, if they knew decent business they'd be doing it themselves. I forgot where I heard this but I believe it's Exxon that holds the patents to some really lucrative battery tech. I wonder why. Big Oil isn't about oil, it's about energy. It just so happens that for the last 100 years, oil is the most lucrative energy market.
     
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  4. By Kyle Posted: 5/1/2008 2:56pm PDT

    This stupid gas-tax holiday thing is nothing but a short-term gimmick to try and buy votes and would cause more long-term damage than good. Kind of like the ludicrous ethanol craze and the economic stimulus act. Don't get me wrong, I will appreciate that $600 but thinking longer-term, there are a ton of things this country needs that could have been funded by that money. I'm with Obama on this one too.
     
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  5. By chris Posted: 5/1/2008 3:05pm PDT

    good call kyle; the federal government is hemorrhaging cash right now,.. and the republican response to everything is tax breaks.

    we're blowing trillions of dollars on iraq = tax break
    the middle class is dead = tax break
    our economy hasnt been this bad since the 30's = tax break
    our dollar is deflated = tax break

    and the list goes on. the scary thing is that more people will change their votes because of it. funny how much 28$ will buy.
     
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  6. By Soupie Posted: 5/1/2008 11:53pm PDT

    you Americans should be so lucky. We pay equivalent of about $4.50 a gallon up here for gas in Canada. I would kill for suck a "holiday"
     
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  7. By MyWheelsOnWalls.com Posted: 5/2/2008 1:34am PDT

    Gas companies make to much of a profit? Please people think along the lines of economies of scale. The whole worlds population is their customer from plastics, fertilizer and the obivous petroleum.

    They have 6 billion customers so ofcourse their profits may seem huge but if you put that into terms of a percentage they will be right inline with every other business out there.
     
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  8. By Renton Posted: 5/2/2008 6:42am PDT

    It is a bad and stupid idea. It won't do any good.
     
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  9. By chris Posted: 5/2/2008 7:08am PDT

    soupie; our gas has a 30% tax rate (or some where around there; I've got that stupid pie chart from PetroCan burned into my head),..... in a country thats larger than the USA but with 10% of the population; its the only thing holding our highway system together.

    Its the same thing with the USA. they need these taxes to keep the federal infrastructure together. thats WHERE the money comes from. a gas tax vacation means no construction this summer. that's an even more of a devastating proposal for canada.

    MWOW: the problem is that the oil companies are making record profits as the price of oil hits record highs and supplies hit record lows. There's no excuse for that. I dont think lowing the price is the answer, I may not agree with all the crap about global warming, but it's definitely something we need to address. like I said: profit redistribution :D
     
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