you want a gas price holiday?
I am going “there” to let you know how I feel about all this talk from Hillary Clinton and John McCain about a gas tax holiday. I think it’s ridiculous. Yep. I went there.
We are within 24 hours of voting in the primary elections, and for the first time in ages, NC has an opinion that the entire nation actually cares to hear. When’s the last time that happened, eh?
What I think much of the US fails to know about NC is that we are an incredibly complex little state. A state that is much bigger than people give us credit for, with a tremendous population boom that has no end in sight.
On top of our tremendously growing population, we are a diverse people, mixed heavily of all different nationalities, backgrounds, religions and socio-economic standings.
We have farmers fighting for their due credit, respect and compensation. We have growing energy concerns and a couple major nuclear plants. We have the hub of technology and education that is the Triangle and the hub of finance that is the Charlotte Metropolitan area. We have a dying furniture and textile industry, leaving many babyboomers without job stability or adequate retirement. We have tremendous transportation issues, from whether and how to create efficient mass transit, to making roads safer for bicyclers, to severe droughts and infrastructure issues for such growth, to housing and building and bridge concerns, to reducing emissions and commute times for our residents.
And those are just tidbits of all that NC is but has yet to be fully recognized for.
After hearing a variety of arguments in many directions, I do not see how having a gas tax holiday (if they could even get congress and the President to back it) is helping working-class Americans, as so many NC residents are. Don’t bother thinking I am also “out of touch” or “elitist”. I myself am from two working-class American families that have worked far too hard to have earned as little as they do.
I found this clip on 2sides2ron that really highlights why I think that supply and demand are all the evidence we need to see that a gas tax holiday is a short-term relief for a large-scale problem… and in reality, the bandage will only make the problem worse.
So get out there tomorrow and VOTE, no matter whether you agree with me or not… or don’t complain. Don’t complain about immigration. Don’t complain about our factories closing down and getting shipped overseas. And don’t complain about how much you are paying at the pump.
No matter how you stack it. The gas tax holiday is plain and simple NOT going to help ease the pressure on anyone. If you were to fill your tank a little more than once a week for the 3 months this thing would be in effect ad you have a 16 gallon gas tank, you would save a grand total of $42.56… over 3 months.. and that is assuming that the perception of cheaper gas will ot increase demand and put more pressure on the system, driving the prices up anyway. So is about $50 over the next 3 months really making a difference for anyone? The ones that will fel this difference will be WalMart, who spends millions of dollars a month of fuel for their trucks. That would be quite a savings for them over the next few months. This move would greatly help corporations, and marginally help regular people. It is as transparent a move by politicians to pander for votes from the poor as I have ever seen. Typical bait and switch, tell the people it will help them, and really give all the benefits to the wealthy corporations and at the same time take much needed tax money that would otherwise go to road improvement funds. Sounds like a great deal to me, $50 for me, better profits for oil companies and other corporations and crappier roads in the future.. where do I sign up for that??
Well-done. Glad you went “there”.
You tell it, Ashley Sue. Very well said. I am glad you went there. Not to make this TOO political, but I will go a little further to say that I don’t believe Clinton believes the gas tax holiday will really pass in Congress anyway. Nancy Pelosi has indicated in no uncertain terms that the support is definitely lacking, for the most part, and yet Clinton persists in pandering to the voters. Clinton just wants votes from the working class, plain and simple. She’s thinking about her short term personal goals– not the long term best interests of the country. I would add to Jake’s comment that the “road improvement fund” is not just a pool of money sitting somewhere– it is money that is being actively used in the form of paychecks for construction workers– to the tune of 7,000 construction jobs in NC and 5,000 in Indiana. If she really cared about the “working class,” she would think about those workers and their families.
Thank you guys for adding more depth to my own opinion. Only truly “giving a break” to the gigundo corporations (hence, the big-business dilemma) and actually screwing the working class that are construction workers for our states’ DOTs are whole new complex layers to this whole “gas tax holiday” sham.
[…] Ashley Sue doesn’t think it’s a good idea either. […]
Thanks for linking to my blog. I hope your readers will come back for more. I also manage the International Carnival of Pozitivities, a blog carnival for people living with HIV/AIDS around the world.
Would you care to discuss Universal Health Care, catastrophic illness and the current health care crisis in the US? Just let me know when to chime in.
Ron