Tax My Gas, Please!

I'd support either of the 2 democratic candidate, I'd even support a republican, for almost any one is a big improvement over our current Liar-In-Chief. That is, until McCain, the candidate who I thought is the candidate closest to my free-market ideals, starts spouting "Gas-tax Holiday" proposal.

Let me try to get his logic correctly. We Americans are addicted to oil (as the Liar-In-Chief pointed out, not lying for once), so Senator McCain will kindly give us a Gas-tax-free summer so that we can become more addicted, until of course the OPEC or the refiners decide to take that 18cents government put up for grabs and put it into their own pockets instead. After all, it's clear that the public could afford that same 18 cents before and the demand for gasoline is inelastic in the short term.

But why stop with oil? Why don't we give smokers a cigarette-tax holiday or drunks a liquor-tax holiday? Heck, how about Senator McCain give drug addicts a legal-drug holiday at the same time? Aren't these Senator McCain's constituency too?

Ok, I got it. Gasoline is essential to our daily commute, to the American economy. It's the sworn duty of every politician especially every self-respecting candidates to attempt silly antics in the name of making this American addiction more affordable to his constituent addicts. One day McCain proposes Gas Tax Holiday, the next day more democratic congressmen try to talk America's dearest allies into cutting oil price by threatening they will block American Arms export deals. I'm sure the middle-eastern drug-cartel king, Oops, Saudis are losing sleep about it.

If Americans really want gas prices to come down, there's one way to make it happen for sure.
That one way is not complicated, it will not add to national debt (not that the congress really cares about it, but the taxpayers will care, one day). But it requires sacrifice across board, painful adjustments. Americans were ready to sacrifice after 9/11, but their LIC told them to go shop (bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger energy bills), and then go to Iraq. Now Americans do not want to sacrifice any more, they still have to pay.

What is that one way? Well, instead of lowering gas-tax, raising it; double it, triple it, better ten-times it, make it $1.80 instead of $.18; put a 30% sales tax on gas, the revenue from gas goes to train, public transportation, energy conservation investment, alternative energy investment, R&D on hybrids, electric and hydrogen cars, even given back to consumers ( or manufacturers) as energy conservation (R&D) tax credits. Better yet, the world's biggest oil importing Nations, USA, EU, China, India, Japan join in this effort, forming the new cartel OPIC (Organization of Petroleum Importer Countries). Gas prices will be higher immediately, but within 1 year, gas prices will come down and come down permanently.

You say, 1 year is surely not long enough to see results from our investments. You are right, but 1 year is long enough to change habits of a nation, and send a message to our OPEC friends (as our LIC never tires of saying). This message reads like this: OPEC is no longer the only cartel in town. It can cut production manipulate prices all it wants, but the golden goose will just die faster (accelerated with the help of us the OPIC), for once oil demand fall, it will fall permanently. And when the demand falls, the price follows.

Will this work? if any of the candidates has the guts to put this to test, he/she has my vote.