You can’t call Obama a populist but you can call him a…
Not a Populist…and not a Democrat ?
PRINCETON, NJ — While Americans favor suspending the federal gas tax for the summer by a 54% to 42% margin, they differ in their support by income: 65% of lower-income households and 55% middle-income households are in favor, while 51% of upper-income households are opposed.Gallup
Not for nothing but aren’t those numbers highlighting the stereotypical demographic that the Democrats supposedly care about ?
A Hypocrite.
Obama took a different view on the issue when he was an Illinois legislator, voting at least three times in favor of temporarily lifting the state’s 5 percent sales tax on gasoline.
The tax holiday was finally approved during a special session in June of 2000, when Illinois motorists were furious that gas prices had just topped $2 a gallon in Chicago.
During one debate, he joked that he wanted signs on gas pumps in his district to say, “Senator Obama reduced your gasoline prices.” CBS
A thinker ?
I’ll play fair. Many experts say the tax suspension is likely not to have an impact at the pump. I personally doubt that since the tax suspension is a real and set monetary number.Are prices likely to rise over the summer like they always do ? Yes but no matter what the per gallon price is slashing the tax bite per gallon DOES reduce the price.
Others will point out that there are experts that say the tax suspension hurts the country financially. I understand the thinking there but I just have to ask: Isn’t it the place of government not to kill us ?
May 20, 2008 at 8:02 am
I found your post some what confusing…
Why is Obama not a Democratic because he opposes the tax holiday scam? This was proposed by McCain so by Hillary jumping on his bandwagon I would think that would make her not the Democrat.
Upper income people tend to only support reducing progressive taxes which would benefit them more and not regressive taxes which would benefit lower income people more. The poll results are not a surprise here.
I think using the term hypocrite is the wrong word when referring to Obama changing his stance on gas tax holidays. You may say he is flip flopping but we all know McCain And Hillary are the king and queen of that.
In case you do not understand why the gas tax holiday is a scam and would not reduce gas prices to help the poor you just need to understand supply and demand in our capitalist system. There has not been a significant drop in the consumption of gas relative to the increase in gas prices over the last two years. If there was a federal gas tax holiday we would not see a 18 cent drop in price because the oil companies and everyone else down the pipe would take a cut. This would happen because they know consumers are willing to pay the currant price already. There would be almost no benefit to us but it would guarantee another record year in profits for Exxon.
“Isn’t it the place of government not to kill us ?”
What does that mean in regards to your post?
May 20, 2008 at 4:45 pm
MJ I blog for interaction and to hear the views of others. I do not try to pretend to be a journalist so my wordings are sometimes on the fly and meant to illicit a response. I dare say it sometimes illicits edged responses and other times a bit of confusion.
I was going with the stereotypical blue collar = Democrat thing, ergo going against the poll findings and those who would benefit most -it seemed appropriate.***edit. The question mark was on purpose.
Hypocrite was more on the fly. I concede flip flop is more fitting.
I understand supply and demand and made the disclosure of the expert opinions. Quite simply though no matter what the per gallon price, if 18.4 cents need not be collected that is 18.4 cents you don’t pay.Taxes follow the price. Along those lines though are you saying the profits of Exxon are not driven by the same supply & demand structure ?
As for the last I just don’t like taxes. I used killing in the sense that taxes are playing a major role in hurting businesses. I mean small ones by the way. Just think of a landscaper he/she is getting their ass handed to them.
May 20, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Sorry, guess you did not understand my comment or how supply and demand works. Let’s try to explain it this way… Let’s say one year ago gas was $3.25 (or whatever it was) and today the price is $4.00 (was $3.99 when I filled up today) and remember there has only been like a 1% decline in consumption in this time period. This means consumers are for the most part still wiling to pay the currant price of gas. Now today the federal gas tax is lifted so you would think the price of gas tomorrow would be 18 cents less, yes? Nope! Remember consumers are willing to pay $4.00 so the oil companies and everyone else down the chain to the gas station itself will take a cut to maximize their profits. We would see maybe a 5 to 8 cent drop only which would be eaten up by rising oil prices in no time. This is why Obama has said we would see only a saving of like $30 over the summer so the tax holiday is just not worth it.
Americans need to understand oil prices are not going down below $100 a barrel again and may just continue to rise even if we pump Alaska dry. The only way to reduce our gas costs will be to use less. We need a whole movement in this country to smaller fuel efficient type cars, more use of public transportation, and population shift back to cities (any centralized area in general) and away from suburban sprawl. Even things like eating more locally grown food makes a difference (no need to transport by truck long distances). Our lifestyle will change for sure so we need to adapt sooner rather then later.
May 20, 2008 at 7:57 pm
MJ… I appreciate your additions. I especially like the closing paragraph in comment #3. Not to put words in your mouth but I found a link that speaks to what you’ve put forth. http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1689.html
Thanks again for thinking and sharing bye