Setting aside the issue of our badly crumbling infrastructure, it was less than a year ago that we were treated to the collapse of the I35 bridge, these sorts of proposals are VERY bad economics. Gas is expensive because oil is scarce. Subsidizing (or cutting a tax on) something which is scarce only masks the price signal the economy is trying to send. In our case, that signal is saying, find a way to use less gas -very much less gas. Obscuring the message only delays the adaptation. The only winners of such a holiday are those with oil to sell, the price will find a new equilibrium somewhere between the old price, and the naively expected notax price. Essentially the tax holiday subsidizes the oil exporters.

   But this is wayyyyy too complicated for a 30second sound bite that appeals to the emotions. And voters have the simple complaint "Im paying too much".

Dubya never bothered to ask loyal, god-fearing, patriotic Americans to make any kind of personal sacrifice for his moronic and ill-fated war on Iraq (except for those admirable kids who sign up to serve, and the families back home who worry sick about them).

The least he could have asked, and the least we could do (even those of us who never supported Bush's Iraq war!) is pay the costs of that war as we go.  A 'war tax' on gasoline at the pump would be the most sensible method -- a reminder each time we fill up that kids are dying halfway around the world to keep that pump supplied with petroleum, and a reward to the heroism and, yes, patriotism of those who have structured their lives to consume little or no gasoline.

But, of course, the Bush Administration has no desire to remind Americans of any such reality.  They would rather put the cost of the war on a credit card that our children, poor bastards, will have to spend their professional lives paying off.  

I don't hear many people bitching about that obvious injustice.  Most North Americans would rather live in a fantasy world in which they think we can get something for nothing.  Unfortunately $4-a-gallon gasoline, like dead American soldiers shipped back from Iraq, doesn't fit that tidy little worldview.  

So the logical next step?  Why, eliminate that inconvenient 18-cent federal tax on a gallon of gas!

Sigh.  Another "teachable moment" lost to political expediency.

Jesus H. freakin' Christ.  We are a country full of spoiled brats stepping on the accelerator as we approach the cliff.  I like to think that we can respond to the better angels of our nature, but the evidence to date is not very encouraging.  McCain may be our next president for the simple reason that he is the candidate most willing to play along with our self-absorbed fantasy.

They used to be the party of fiscal responsibility.  But parse what McCain is proposing and it essentially says that we should keep funding the military (out of income taxes) but stop paying gas taxes.  This is what economists refer to as stealing from Peter to pay Paul.  If you want rational market behavior, make sure the price reflects the cost.  If you want irrational market behavior, pay the costs out of one pocket and set the price elsewhere - which is exactly what McCain is now proposing.

The Ds have never really embraced that principle, but the Rs used to - or at least paid lip service to it.  Now they're not even trying.  One more reason they really need a thorough ass-whooping in this next election if they're ever going to rediscover their roots.