Comments on: McCain Calls Gas Tax Vacation

By: Steve Plunk

Steve Plunk — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:19:30 +0000

Sorry, Jeffrey W Baker's point is true, it's NOT there to pander to the public.

By: Steve Plunk

Steve Plunk — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:49:20 +0000

What? Move to Canada? Let the serious people do the talking please.

Jeffrey W. Baker's point is true, it's there to pander to the public. But the filling of the reserve in recent years has had an undesirable effect on the market. That distortion can be halted for a while until the current frenzy has dissipated.

It never made a lot of sense to fill this reserve when prices were so high and why was it effectively empty? If we released all purchases for the last month back into the system and didn't buy any for a month we would see not only a stimulus of cash savings for consumers but also a change in consumer confidence. Both are sorely needed.

A release doesn't cost the government anything and could save the government by reducing the cost of the oil it purchases for filling the reserve.

If we really wanted to be "strategic" about oil we would get a real energy policy that promotes everything from new drilling to nuclear to conservation to solar, wind, geothermal, and whatever else can be thought up. Except ethanol, that's turned into crap pretty quick.

By: Emmanuel Winner

Emmanuel Winner — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:54:06 +0000

Let's move to Canada - the Right is doomed! The news coming out before November is that John McCain was brainwashed in Vietnam as a POW and has been ating as a deep mole in the US government for 30 years! Now his commie masters are about to trigger his programming to destroy us utterly during his presidency, after which we will be forced to become socialists. And - worse yet - while a POW, McCain was allowed the spiritual comfort of an Islamo-Marxist Imam, as he will reveal when he takes his Presidential vows with his hand on the Koran, then announces his committment to 'global revolution' in his inaugural address! We have no choice here! Those who love America must leave it quickly, before catastrophe occurs!

By: Bithead

Bithead — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:22:04 +0000

Is it the six blocks they have to go between refinery and filling station that is driving our costs up?

In your case, it's government that's the problem.
Demanding specialty blends, demanding that these blends change with the seasons, and of course taxes. Have you ever noticed the amount of taxes that go into a gallon of gas, there? I suggest you point at Sacramento as the source of your problem.

By: McCain/Big Oil ‘08 | Comments from Left Field

McCain/Big Oil ‘08 | Comments from Left Field — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:11:11 +0000

[...] Memeorandum: Hullabaloo and The New Republic. Gristmill, The Huffington Post, Mercury Rising and Outside The Beltway Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and [...]

By: jainphx

jainphx — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:11:50 +0000

Gosh sometimes were to smart by half. Price controls? When have they ever worked. The free and open market should be just that. Oil companies make roughly 8 cents a gallon profit, the government( local and Federal) make any where from 50 cents to a dollar a gallon, kind of one sided isn't it. America has oil coming out of our collective wazoos, but we can't even drill for it let alone refine it. How is it that Cuba with partnership of China for crying out loud can drill in the Gulf (and strike 80 Billion barrels Est.) Mexico drilled and struck pay dirt, but we can't for crying out loud, this is beyond stupid it's detrimental to are very existence. Lets instead create a depression with rising food prices, independent truckers parking and walking away from their trucks, food can't get to the market, food being used for fuel instead of purpose intended, we are now importing refined gasoline because were not allowed to build a damn refinery. So let's argue about Oil co. Profits instead of allowing them to use these same profits to drill and build refineries, but no thats just to damn simple.

By: anjin-san

anjin-san — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:36:56 +0000

Most of the regional price differences have to do with transportation costs of getting the product there.

Riggggggggggggggth.

Here in the Bay Area, we have quite a few refineries. We also have probably the highest gas prices in the country. Is it the six blocks they have to go between refinery and filling station that is driving our costs up?

By: Triumph

Triumph — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:54:33 +0000

If McCain wants to win this thing, he needs keep quiet on domestic policy. His ideas are so crackpot that he is going to have trouble getting anyone to take him seriously.

Unfortunately, the same goes for his foreign policy. A better strategy would be to just harp on about how Obama is a radical muslim, anti-American Christian, Black Nationalist.

By: brainy435

brainy435 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:49:26 +0000

"Economically, though, it’s unlikely to do much good. For one thing, 18.4 cents a gallon on gas or 24.4 cents on diesel isn’t going to matter all that much unless you’re a long haul trucker or otherwise drive a ridiculous number of miles."

Yeah, what idiot would think that lowering the price of the transportation of goods would in any way help the economy?

By: BernardFinel.com » Tuesday Roundup

BernardFinel.com » Tuesday Roundup — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:02:59 +0000

[...] James Joyner writes, “A suspension of the gas tax is good politics and an interesting, if not particularly novel, bit of symbolism.” [...]

By: Jeffrey W. Baker

Jeffrey W. Baker — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:10:22 +0000

The strategic petroleum reserve does not exist to pander to Joe and Jane Escalade on their way to the Golden Corral buffet off I-42 up in Lumpenville. It's "strategic", as the name suggests.

By: The Spirit of Fred Thompson Lives in John McCain » The American Mind

The Spirit of Fred Thompson Lives in John McCain » The American Mind — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:30:28 +0000

[...] more thoughts here’s Philip Klein, Jerry Taylor, Winghunter, Bill Dupray, and James Joyner. Save and Share: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and [...]

By: Steve Plunk

Steve Plunk — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:05:29 +0000

I just read McCain's plan would suspend new orders for filling the strategic reserve. A start but releasing would be better.

By: Steve Plunk

Steve Plunk — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:37:16 +0000

Releasing from the strategic reserve could very well drop the price more than the tax. The sudden release might drive speculators out of the market and result in lower prices with stability. Likewise creating a real national energy policy that includes aggressive exploration, exploitation, and refining could also return some sense of sanity.

There are plenty of good things that could be done yet our congress will not do them. Ignoring this problem will not make it go away. Either take the right steps or a recession will lessen demand and bring prices down.

By: Ugh

Ugh — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:13:46 +0000

IIRC from my econ degree, the general though on things like sales taxes is that, if they were removed, buyers and sellers would split the resulting surplus (e.g., prices would come down but not by the full amount of the tax).