She's a disgrace. She has single-handedly turned this into a freak show that will most likely result in a disastrous extension of the Bush administration. She has no dignity.

I truly believe she is setting herself up for an independant run. She's moving farther and farther from the Democratic Party, and she's trying her hardest to damage the Democrats as much as possible.

If the behavior she's exhibiting in this primary race is even a slight indication of what her presidency would be like then George W. Bush would be in serious danger of losing his "Worst President in US History" title.

WE'RE NO ANGELS--the U.S. currently consumes approx. 140 billion gallons of gasoline a year, more than any other country...

Forget ETHANOL and all the smog it causes...

In fact, the problem isn't so much the "newer low-emission cars"--the Hybrid simply gets better mileage...--it seems to me the problem is all the older cars on the road...

But how difficult would it be to turn these older cars into electric cars that charge right off a built-in grid...

It would be child's play to build an "electric channel" into freeway lanes (where there's good drainage), which electric cars could charge off of...

This where offshore wind farms have unlimited potential...

Clinton's solution to rising gas prices cannot be summarized by her proposal of having taxes on the profits of oil companies temporarily replace the tax consumers pay at he pump. Her long-term program is much more complex. It's on her site for those who want to take the time to read it.

Some voters are lazy. They're locked into their personal problems. She's been listening to them. And she responded with something that isn't too exhausting for lazy voters to understand.

It's simplistic. It's economic effect hardly exists but its psychological effect on the growing desperation of lower income families is real.

And, thematically, it fits in with the "anti-elite" aspect of her campaign, pretty much dictated by Obama's verbal faux pas.

On my side of the Atlantic, a former French presidential candidate named Corinne Lepage spoke about the way western countries are pitting their desire for motorized mobility against the hunger of the world's starving masses. There is TOTAL silence on that issue from all three candidates.

If "conscious" citizens are self-centered enough to overlook that issue, they should be tolerant toward the low-income voter who sees a tiny bit of respite in the temporary elimination of the gas tax.

Kathy,
It's not that we think it is her only solution (as lazy as you think we are), but it is that she is using it relentlessly to drum up last minute votes like the used car saleswoman that she is.

She has done this one way or another in every state pulling out every trick in the book....whether it be drinking shots, fear, gimmicks, race card, bittergate, islam, or gas tax.....it is the same story over and over every primary.

And what is really unfortunate is that "unconscious" people like me see how she is mannipulating the masses and "conscious" people like you keep defending her circus.

"Viola"?

Lets see, according to "economists" a temporary cut in the gas tax will have no effect on prices since the oil companies will simply raise the price again. And it will increase our dependence on foreign oil because people will buy more gas. At the same price? And you wonder why people don't trust economists, or the media that reports this junk without ever challenging it.

Obama sure is running a new kind of campaign. He's got his supporters inspired to constantly trash Clinton whenever possible. Misogynists of the world unite!

How is Obama portrayed as "raising above racial politics" while still consistently getting 90% of the black vote. This is the 1968 Bobby Kennedy versus Eugene McCarthy race all over again. Like Kennedy, Clinton is carrying working class white and hispanic voters. Obama has added the African-American vote to McCarthy's elitist college educated constituency.

Face it, if Obama were getting the same percentage of african american votes that Clinton is getting among women he wouldn't be in the race. Or put another way, if women were voting for Clinton in the same proportion blacks are voting for Obama, this race would be long over. And does anyone seriously think blacks would be voting for Obama in these numbers if he was white? I doubt anyone would make that argument. The reality is most blacks understand that electing Obama would further break down barriers to their advancement. And they are voting that way. There is nothing wrong with that. Too bad some women don't see things so clearly.

You are correct, serious energy solutions are unlikely, as the gas tax holiday debacle of Clinton and McCain puts a blight on further serious remedies of the United States economic woes. Hopefully Clinton and McCain's blatant pandering will be understood by the people and neither one of these jokers will get elected, or selected in November.

The American people have a clear choice.

Someone who has admitted to lying (Bosnia sniper fire) if offering a gas tax rebate that she knows has no chance with George Bush Versus someone who held himself accountable and took hits for a stupid pastor that he has no control over.

I think whoever we choose we will deserve that person.

I'm surprised no one on this blog has even mentioned the ridiculous idea of having a "windfall profits tax" on big oil. For me, McCain's gas holiday is probably the 2nd or 3rd worst idea I've heard this campaign season(tied with Clinton, but perhaps behind Obama's proposal). As most economist will tell you, taxing profits will lead big oil to raise the price of gas and other commodities to make up the difference. It will also increase our dependence on foreign oil, and will likely cut domestic research on alternatives.

It's not all-right Ma. Clinton is a woman and Obama is a black man. That's all voter's see?

How about Porky is a pig and Daffy is a duck? Same difference.

It may be all you see Ma, but don't put it on the rest of us, thank you very much.

As most economist will tell you, taxing profits will lead big oil to raise the price of gas and other commodities to make up the difference. It will also increase our dependence on foreign oil, and will likely cut domestic research on alternatives.

The argument of the corporate economists for why making their companies pay taxes is a bad idea. The reality is the oil companies charge whatever the market will bare now. They can't raise the price just because they have to pay higher taxes.

It may be all you see Ma

Yeh, and its all the 90% of black voters who are voting for Obama see too, isn't it Daffy? Get real.

The problem with you people are that you just don't get middle class folks and you never will. So what if it is only a little bit of money? Average people crave SOMETHING and Obama is not serving up anything. If the Democrats nominate Obama they will lose AGAIN! Wake up and smell the Starbuck's non-fat, no froth latte.

...and it's still there...

Your half right, since any profit tax is likely to apply to domestic oil companies, big oil wont be able to raise prices. If they did raise prices, they would be giving foreign oil a price advantage, thus there increased market share of American energy. Even if domestic oil doesn't raise prices, they are still at a cost disadvantage with foreign oil. Which will eventually, give them a bigger market share. So its lose lose for both big oil and America.

"taxing profits will lead big oil to raise the price of gas and other commodities to make up the difference."

"Your half right, since any profit tax is likely to apply to domestic oil companies, big oil wont be able to raise prices."

Which is it? Lets be clear - someone is going to pay taxes. Right now the oil companies are making record profits so they can afford to pay more. Consumers are paying record amounts for gas. They can't afford it. Clinton's proposal is to temporarily transfer the burden of taxes from those who can't afford it to those who can.

The corporate economists keep coming up with conflicting excuses for why its a bad idea for their corporate bosses to pay higher taxes. That's what they get paid for.

The reality is that a temporary moratorium on the gas tax this summer will have almost no significant long term impact of any kind, good or bad. What it will do is use some of those huge profits the oil companies are making from the run-up in gas prices to give gas guzzling consumers a temporary break.

That is not a bad thing whether it is politically popular or not. If you don't address the long term problem by getting people to conserve and reduce gas consumption, that will be a bad thing whether there is a moratorium this summer or not.

"Which is it? Lets be clear - someone is going to pay taxes. Right now the oil companies are making record profits so they can afford to pay more. Consumers are paying record amounts for gas. They can't afford it. Clinton's proposal is to temporarily transfer the burden of taxes from those who can't afford it to those who can."

You misunderstand me, I was giving two different scenarios. One in which oil companies eat the loss from the tax(giving foreigners a longterm cost advantage), and one in which they raise prices(giving foreigners a price advantage). In either case foreign oil companies will be gaining an advantage of some kind.

As for your assertion that oil companies can afford to pay more taxes since there doing so well....do you then agree that when big oil is doing poorly and working Americans are doing well that we should then raise taxes for them, and give the proceeds to oil companies? Thats fair, right?

Look, if Americans are really committed to energy independence and stopping global warming, then leaving gas prices and oil companies alone is the best way to do it.

What is most disturbing to me about the debate over the gas tax holiday is the reason and timing for suggesting it. First of all, it won't happen, so this is simply an attempt to curry favor with voters who support whomever throws them a bone - even if it is an imaginary bone. Second, it is an insult to voters (in this case Indiana and North Carolina) to think that their votes can be bought so cheeply . Everybody may not be as smart as Senator Obama nor Senator Clinton, but I don't think they are as dumb as Senator Clinton's proposition assumes that they are.
As a long time supporter of the Clinton's, her comments of the past few weeks (about Wright, Iran and the gas tax in particular), have been bitterly disappointing. This is someone I respected and felt would make an excellent leader but has now allowed herself - perhaps as the result of too many political cooks in her strategy kitchen - to engage in desperate, wild eyed pandering for votes.
How could she betray us by behaving like this?

It is astonishing to read Obama supporters comments. I have never witnessed so much emotional attachment to this man. This is truly a movement... whatever that means.
Obama supporters must act with heart and brain and understand that both Clinton and Obama are similar in political values. Yet, the Obama camp seems to jock Obama so hard that any criticism about him is wrong. I support Clinton and consider her to be the smartest candidate, yet I'm not emotionally attach to her. In fact, if Obama gets the nomination I'll be the first to support his candidacy.
So, Obama suppporters, get over the crying and whining. Let the candidates hash it out and let us vote.

Latte politics anyone? Lets just keep repeating nonsensical attacks like 'Volvo driving, limousine liberals' until the idiots repeat the phrases and attack smart honest ideas and candidates as elitist. Never mind the fact that all the nonsensical phrases and pandering in the world don't make up for policies that hurt those we claim to serve, they're just foolish enough to buy it.

Wow, Federico, I guess you keep getting your opinions handed to you by the comedy geniuses over at SNL and some of the jesters at Fox, who have created this concept that Obama supporters are some sort of cultish nuts [drinking the Koolaid]. There was not one post on this article that had the tone of a whiner nor did I read anything that seemed to have been written by someone who was crying. I'll vote for Clinton by default if she gets in, but I'd rather vote for Obama, who I believe in, than follow the old, politics-as-usual notion of voting for someone with a clothespin on your nose.

The wave of the future is Hydrogen Cars--the holdup is in getting the stuff to the gas stations...

Such problem is nonexistent regarding fueling airliners with Hydrogen...

Dirt cheap Hydrogen could be made with Solar Energy...

Something smells fishy...

OR IS IT JUST ME???????????????????

That isn't corporate economists making it up, that is reality. Corporations don't actually pay taxes, consumers pay taxes. And yes, the oil companies WILL raise the price in order to cover the cost of the new Windfall Tax. A corporations only job is to make money off of the product. As much as possible. Cost to corporation increases and then cost to consumer increases. Rest assured, we are not near the top of what the market will bear yet. When it is $5 or $6 or $7 we will still pay it. We won't rent as many movies or buy as many new clothes, but we will fill our tanks. Suburban sprawl has made that a necessity. We have to go to work, but we don't have to go out to lunch while we are there. Senator Clinton's plan is a bad one because it will not benefit the end user enough, and it will cause the price of gas to remain high or go up so that the oil companies can maintain their profits.

Posted by: Dawn on 05/05/08 at 4:34 PM

The problem with you people are that you just don't get middle class folks and you never will. So what if it is only a little bit of money? Average people crave SOMETHING and Obama is not serving up anything. If the Democrats nominate Obama they will lose AGAIN! Wake up and smell the Starbuck's non-fat, no froth latte.

........
That is not true at all and I don't understand why you people don't get it. If you get the Gas Tax Holiday they will raise the price and you get NOTHING ANYWAY!!! Obama wants to take the tax cuts that Bush gave to the rich away from them and give them to Middle Class America and that adds up to more then 30 cents a day..

Come on People Lets get real

I think he meant "voila";)

We are now entering an era of permanent and widening world oil shortage. Both Bush and Cheney travelled to Saudi Arabia in March and each of them independently reported back that the Saudis cannot increase their output.

The price of gas will rise to whatever level is required to reduce demand to meet our limited supply. As was the case when Obama voted for it in Illinois, the price of untaxed gas will just rise to make up the difference in order to constrain demand. Then the money that would have paid US workers to repair our roads will go into the pockets of OPEC and Chavez.

World oil shortage = start thinking about how much oil its takes to War (16 gallons per day per soldier) and the Govt's "obligation as dictated by National Security."

Two things here:

Approx. 40% of "our crude" is domestic; these fellows are doing all right here...!!! Tax them and apply it toward the cost of our imports (like should we be nicely handing Big Oil its huge tax break...)

Scientists were delving into the idea of "storing" CO2 emissions in the ground, from where gas was mined...; why not use old oil fields to store a huge National Reserve...

The question of why we're not using Hydrogen Powered Airliners (so damn simple...) itself begs the question of Who Killed the Electric Car. Solar Energy could "drive" both; ha, ha--that one fellow sued to keep his Electric Vehicle Lease from being canceled--those puppies go approx. 180 miles per charge and California residents ride for FREE (home solar panels--much of the time)...!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That reminds me, time to check tire PSI again...better cold air in the tires than hot air on television...someone's laughing all the way to the bank on this oil business...yes, and a lucrative business it is...didya know you can make ethanol out of OTHER things besides CORN? Apparently THEY don't...

Did you know that Hillary will be hosting a monster truck contest in North Carolina tomorrow?

Have you forgotten that the black voters originally supported Hillary in droves... as Obama has proven himself, they have chosen to support him. If it were his race, they'd have supported him the whole time. Further, if black voters supported Hillary to the same extent it would just be her they loved? Why can't that be true of Obama -- oh, wait, he's black too. Is that seriously your argument?

Not only that, Mr. Wagner, but they are also developing algae that will release hydrogen naturally, so you don't even need the electrolysis to remove the hydrogen from water. I wish people would wake up to the oil swindle that is going on and demand a hydrogen economy (with a heavy dose of wind energy and solar power for the grid). We could get the hell off of the fossil fuels that are controlled by those countries who are hostile to our existence (except when we're making them rich)!

GOING ETHANOL is like jumping from the skillet into the fire (in terms of unnecessary trashing of the atmosphere)...

Energy Watch Group published an "Oil Report" (Oct. 2007) which concludes that world oil production peaked in 2006, with production starting to decline at a rate of several percent per year.

HELL, here it's very difficult for me to imagine that (somehow...) we're not being softened up for the assault on our undeveloped Alaskan Oil Fields...

LIKE THE OIL COMPANIES HAVEN'T DONE ENOUGH TRASHING OF THE PLANET ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read it on a blog, wonder who the heck is it talking about. Please help me figure out...

Therapy

20 years of bad judgments ago,
I had a dream of presidential gold.
To rack up Black love and votes,
The Rabid Church of Hatred I followed.

I put up with vitriol and pander to the rich rascal,
“At All Costs” is my only motto,
Aw…Grandma…although I love her so,
Under the bus her White A I must throw.

The White A in me implores not to sell my soul,
The other cheek says, “Hell with the Whites, I’m sold!”
My inner turmoil tears my mask apart,
So to digress I shall discuss Iraq.

Flanked by green-eyed Nancy and punch-drunk Teddy,
We swagger down the lap of victory.
To heal the nation I need the Presidency,
For my identity-crisis I need mo therapy.

Ron Paul tried to help this wretched country, I wonder why he bothered...?

What has happened here is that Hillary made a mistake and her campaign strategy won't allow her to correct the mistake. So, she's left with only one option, which is to defend it, and in the process she's making herself look like a fool.

She's not the first politician to have done this. John Kerry made a blunder during the 2004 election where he actually either did not hear or did not understand the question and then ended up spending the rest of the campaign explaining his answer.

I think if this issue has any weight in influencing your vote, it ought to be that she doesn't have the courage to simply admit that she was wrong. I can't blame her for that, because if she did it would explode her image as being ready from day 1... to make a decision not based on fact, not supported by people with the facts, and designed to create an impression with the American people about "the decider" that is truly a fact-free zone.

-Wexler

"Lets see, according to "economists" a temporary cut in the gas tax will have no effect on prices since the oil companies will simply raise the price again. And it will increase our dependence on foreign oil because people will buy more gas. At the same price? And you wonder why people don't trust economists, or the media that reports this junk without ever challenging it."

That's really not so hard to understand Its Alright Ma, let me explain. Remove the tax, the price drops ever so slightly, so people (some people anyway) will buy more. But since the supply won't increase just because the tax has been removed, the price will then increase (for the exact same reason that it has been increasing for the past 6 years).

"The reality is the oil companies charge whatever the market will bare now. They can't raise the price just because they have to pay higher taxes."

They can't raise the price because they're charging all the market will bare (sic} now. Are you for real? They were charging all the market would bare years ago (remember all the outcry something like 2 years ago because they were charging nearly $3/gallon?). But that hasn't kept them from raising the price. In fact it seems that the price increases have been accelerating. They *will* continue to raise the price, and we will have no choice but to pay it, because they have effectively forestalled any real progress on moving to alternative fuel sources for many years.

"The problem with you people are that you just don't get middle class folks and you never will."

Dawn sometimes it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt. I for one have been middle class all my life. Most everyone I know is middle class. I may have moved up the economic ladder in the past several years, but I am still distinctly middle class. I suspect that the majority of the people posting here are also middle class.

Clinton doesn't care about the experts because obviously she feels that her "gut" is a better guide. I think we have a pretty good idea where listening to one's gut, rather than the experts, gets us. Regardless of what "average Americans who crave SOMETHING' regardless of how meaningless and unhelpful it might be feel.

If the gas tax holiday for the summer driving season is such a great idea, I assume that Clinton or McCain has introduced a bill into congress and they are working feverishly to get it passed? Or do they intend to wait until they're elected president to get us some relief for this summer's driving? If they aren't working feverishly to get a bill passed, then it should be clear that they realize that it is a bogus idea, and they are just pandering to the poorly informed.

Some people consider it to be a musical instrument, but only those who can't afford violins.

That's really not so hard to understand Its Alright Ma, let me explain. Remove the tax, the price drops ever so slightly, so people (some people anyway) will buy more. But since the supply won't increase just because the tax has been removed, the price will then increase (for the exact same reason that it has been increasing for the past 6 years).

Which is it? If the price is lower than it isn't the same. And if the price is the same, why would people buy it? And where do the oil companies get more gas to sell to people. Its a phony political argument.

The reality is that if you eliminate the gas tax about one third would disappear into the supply chain and the other two thrids would be reflected in reduced prices. And both parts would be replaced by a windfall profits tax on the folks who are making out like bandits - the oil companies.

"They *will* continue to raise the price,"

Only to the extent the market allows it. They set their prices to the maximize their profits.

"She's a disgrace. She has single-handedly turned this into a freak show that will most likely result in a disastrous extension of the Bush administration. She has no dignity."

More positive messages from the Obama campaign. Of course Obama doesn't know that his supporters are engaged in an ongoing campaign of character assassination on the internet. Just like he never heard Reverend Wright's liberation theology before.

If it were his race, they'd have supported him the whole time.

If Obama hadn't been in the race the black vote would largely have gone to Clinton. But the possibility of electing a black president is what is bringing the black vote to Obama. And, frankly, anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional.

As for your assertion that oil companies can afford to pay more taxes since there doing so well....do you then agree that when big oil is doing poorly and working Americans are doing well that we should then raise taxes for them, and give the proceeds to oil companies? Thats fair, right?

Finally, the real argument against getting rid of the gas tax and taxing the oil companies instead - its unfair to the oil companies. Don't tell Obama supporters that all those fancy economic arguments are just a cover for protecting oil company profits.

A temporary fix on gas tax does not help at all. If anything it stalls the need for the consumer to continue to cut down demand. I find it hard to believe that real demand is driving prices to these levels, and when the price falls, it will fall a lot.

Back in the 70s there was windfall profit tax on oil companies and they spent a lot of money within the economy to avoid those profits. It worked. I think that they need to reinstate those kinds of incentives for oil, big pharma, and several other multi nationals to invest here in the US. If they moved out of the country like Haliburton did, I would immediately cancel all of their existing government contracts, and slap a tariff on all business that they bid here in the future, as well as eliminate all related subsidies.

A temporary fix on gas tax does not help at all.

Help who? It helps people who buy a lot of gasoline. Does it solve all our problems? No. We need to get people out of their cars, we need to make vehicles more efficient and we need to reduce dependence on foreign oil. But for people who have really been slammed by the fast run-up in gas prices it will provide some relief. That may be "pandering" as Obama claims, but it is also compassionate to help people who are hurting. Suspending the gas tax isn't going to have any long term effect on the big picture, but it will provide some immediate, temporary relief for gaz guzzling consumers.

One last comment - do you suppose you could get 200 economists to sign onto the idea that you can double the gas tax and it would have no effect on the price of gas? Somehow I doubt it.

Clinton said,"We’re going to go right at OPEC," she said. "They can no longer be a cartel, a monopoly that get together once every couple of months in some conference room in some plush place in the world, they decide how much oil they’re going to produce and what price they’re going to put it at," she told a crowd at a firehouse in Merrillville, IN.

"That’s not a market. That’s a monopoly," she said, saying she'd use anti-trust law and the World Trade Organization to take on OPEC.

Clinton has cast herself as a warrior for working people against the oil industry and malicious "speculators," and made that -- along with her push for a gas tax holiday -- central to her closing message in Indiana.

Obama is in the pocket of big oil. Vote for Clinton.

Where I live, they waive the State sales tax for one weekend in August so parents can save a few dollars on the purchase of school supplies? So is my state 'pandering' to parents? No, they are just trying to help ease a financial burden. Is Hillary 'pandering' to voters or does she believe some action toward giving relief at the gas pump is desirable to inaction? The figure I have heard is that it would amount to several billion dollars in taxes over the summer months and that would be billions in the pockets of consumers. But given a choice between a person who is at least trying to take an action and a person who is not, I prefer someone who is trying to do something. The problem with Obama is that he rarely comes up with an original idea, but rather mimics the ideas of Hillary, so you can bet if the idea had caught on, he would have been for extending it through Christmas. Obama is lame!

Are there still anti-trust laws? I thought that the country was so in the pocket of big business that any and all mergers were sanctioned if not outright encouraged by the last 4 administrations. I thought that the Fed handing Bear Stearns to Chase Bank was a radical new step in the process, but clearly the thinking is that in order to compete globally, size matters.

Exactly how the US is going to dictate policy to the world as the impact of her economy on the world lessens, is one for the political scientists. Maybe the US will evolve into an economy of solders, protecting international corporations from the public will, as well as from the rule of law.

Let's stop treating the symptoms and go after the core causes for the fading economy.

Cool, someone just sent me this... Pass it on...

Beginning June 1, 2008!!!

Join millions of consumers in a NATIONAL BOYCOTT OF EXXON MOBIL PRODUCTS until they lower the price of gasoline and diesel at the pump to $2.50 per gallon.

If YOU are sick of THEM manipulating the oil market so THEY can build indoor ski resorts in DUBAI – then JOIN THE BOYCOTT!!!

Terms of the Boycott:

1) Beginning on June 1, consumers agree not to purchase Exxon Mobil products until gas and diesel prices are reduced to $2.50 per gallon, or lower.

2) This is NOT a boycott of vendors or service stations which sell Exxon Mobil gas and diesel. Protect the livelihood of local vendors by continuing to purchase snacks, coffee, soft drinks, hot dogs, repair services, etc. JUST BOYCOTT THE GAS, DIESEL AND OIL!

3) The $2.50 price is only a starting point. Once Exxon Mobil gas and diesel falls to $2.50 per gallon consumers will begin patronizing Exxon Mobil and will refrain from boycotting oil and gas companies for a period of at least 14 days. Companies can use this time to adjust their financial projections based on lower future profits. After 14 days, if consumers are not satisfied with the rate of reduction of oil company profits, they will begin a national boycott of British Petroleum. Then 14 more days, then Royal Dutch Shell, and so on and so on.

4) If there is a “gas tax holiday” while the boycott is in effect, the target retail price will be lowered to insure that the consumers, not the corporations, benefit from this tax break. Exxon Mobil must sell gas for $2.32 per gallon ($2.50 minus 18 cent gas tax) and diesel for $2.26 per gallon ($2.50 minus 24 cent diesel tax).

5) There is no central organization behind this boycott. Consumers do not recognize the authority of any organization to engage in negotiation on the consumer’s behalf. Consumers will maintain the boycott until the target price is reached.

6) This is the first completely de-centralized national consumer boycott of the internet age. There is no single website or organizer or petition. Spread the word with your own website, blog, email, Youtube video, letter to the editor, etc. Encourage your friends in other countries to target transnational corporations with a GLOBAL CONSUMER BOYCOTT. Design and distribute your own bumper stickers and tee shirts and use the money you make to buy yourself a solar panel!

If no one has printed bumper stickers in your area yet, write - JUNE 1 - on a half sheet of white paper and tape it in your car window so we can wave to each other on the way to work.

Why Boycott Exxon Mobil? Because we can’t boycott all the companies at once so we must boycott them one by one. Exxon Mobil is first as it’s the largest gas and oil company in the USA. Their total profit for 2007 was more than 40 billion dollars or roughly $1,300 PER MINUTE! Exxon Mobil, and the politicians who work for them, will argue that it is not possible to reduce the cost of gas and diesel in the current market. But they figured out how to get gas way above $2.50 a gallon, let them figure out how to get it back down.

Thanks to all who pointed out the viola/voilà mistake. Fixed.

I honestly believe that Clinton is pandering. I remember reading an interview with an economist in Salon within the past week or two that he believed the gas tax needed to be increased! Trends in consumption don't change until it starts hitting people's wallets, as it has been for the past year or two, and now trends are starting to change as people (at least for those who have the means)are trading in their obnoxious hulking gas guzzlers for smaller, more fuel efficient cars.

Honestly, how many of you agree that pretty much our entire economy was built up on the assumption on an abundance of cheap (easily recoverable) oil? How many small towns have been devestated by the outsourcing of their manufacturing forcing people to move to cities looking for work either because of the outsourcing or kids coming of age in small towns, realizing its either walmart/MacDonalds, the military, or getting a business/communications/computer science degree and going to work in a city. So we end up with developments built for 50-80 miles outside of major metropolitan areas and people commuting in obnoxious hulking gas guzzlers, commuting for 2 to 3 hours a day blasting the heat, AC, and powering an array of expensive electronics that they can barely afford.

I think that the whole argument with peak oil was with cheap, easily recoverable oil. A recent interview with the CEO of Shell revealed he felt we were within 10 years of that peak. And this country hasn't planned for dwindling stocks of cheap oil. Its going to take time, money, and decent politicians (hahahaha, an oxymoron) with the foresight to look ahead 20-100 years into the future. Many towns haven't constructed their roads to accomadate bikes (fortunately I live in a town that has and it saves me so much money not having to drive to school and paying for a parking pass...i is a poor phd student), built enough sidewalks, or just didn't have the funds to construct adequate public transportation (something my family has always relied on...Pittsburgh working class!). Or developments being planned as close to shopping areas as possible with networks of bike/walking lanes installed linking the developments to the commercial areas. But the latter requires people to change their mentality so that when that option is available and the day's errands don't require a vehicle to transport a number of large items, they take it and enjoy a brisk walk to the post office or wherever. Or don a bookbag made by a virtual slave in bangaldesh and ride a bike to the grocery store to pick up some frozen banqut meals.

Furthermore, I think the problem is exagerated when you consider, what I believe at least, to be an addiction worse than that to oil...I mean our addiction to convenience. Its just not convenient to walk to the grocery store several times a week to get your groceries(obviously if you have large family that would be completely counter-productive. So, drive instead and pick everything up in one trip. Its just not convenient to walk or bike anywhere when you can get into your cushy car and drive to where you need to go in a fraction of the time needed using your legs. God forbid anyone breaks a sweat, gets a little chilly, or takes life a little slower! And honestly, I think this can be extended generally to our lifestyles and our dependence on fossil fuels in general ie friggin vending machines everywhere charging us an arm and a leg in convenience charges and sucking up massive amounts of energy to provide people too lazy to plan the day out with an icy cold beverage whenever they're a little thirsty. Can you tell I don't like vending machines?

So anyway, all this rambling means that the problem will take the efforts of government, business, and all the fat lazy americans getting off their butts and walking a little more. A gas tax holiday is b*llsh*t.

Oh yeah, almost forgot one thing. And as always there will be those poor hudled masses whose only crime was being born into poverty, who endlessly and needlessly get screwed over, overlooked and forgotten by our government. People whose lives could be made more secure if we stopped giving guns to Egypt, tanks to Turkey, cluster bombs to Israel, and the slow death and torment experienced day in day out by the Iraqi people. Ok, I'm done this time.

I honestly believe that Clinton is pandering.

And I honestly believe that message is just the latest example of a coordinated effort of character assassination that has been a central feature of the Obama campaign against Hillary Clinton. It will go down in history for being the first campaign to successfully hide the source of its negative attacks by distributing them through Facebook and other non-traditional media.

I remember reading an interview with an economist in Salon within the past week or two that he believed the gas tax needed to be increased!

There is no doubt the long term solution requires forcing people to pay more of the real cost of their choices. Increases in the gas tax, if spend appropriately, would do that. Of course, that is a huge it. It is far more likely to be spent promoting people driving more by building even more roads that are unfriendly to anyone not protected by a ton of steel.

But that has nothing to do with temporarily shifting the cost of those roads, which is where almost all the gas tax goes, to the oil companies this summer. Which is what Clinton actually proposed.

Actually Its Alright Ma, I'm not an Obama supporter. I'm not making an effort at actively supporting (petitioning, donating, etc) anyone at the moment to be honest. Nor do I care about how she intends to alter the flow of money with a gas tax holiday and taxing the oil companies this summer. Its a cheap trick, period. Its not going to fix anything in the long run. Its not addressing the roots of our energy problems.

And when it comes to road construction, that seems to be a local problem. Here in my town, they have been smart at road construction as they're been building mega-homes for all the rich old white people and bankers. As the forested areas are cleared out for developments and new roads are constructed, they've built either bike lanes on the road shoulders or separate paved lanes several feet from the actual road for people to walk or bike on. This is the kind of solution that allows for an alternative means of getting around (the latter being much safer). But it will take a change in mentality for people to start DEMANDING this for their towns and quite frankly, it seems that generally, people don't start changing their habits until it starts to hit their wallets (those in the higher income brackets). Crack convenience dude.

The price of gasoline is going so high. People are starting to demand that we have oil drilling in Alaska and offshore, as well as all over the land. We rather have affordable gasoline than some silly bird or fish. We rather have affordable gasoline than some wildlife refuge in a place I will never visit. People's needs come before some stupid bird or fish's needs. Put people first. The revolution has started.

Its not addressing the roots of our energy problems.

Of course it isn't. Has anyone suggested it is? You can make a long list of things it doesn't do. What it does is temporarily address the economic pain caused by high gas prices for people who buy a lot of gas.

And when it comes to road construction, that seems to be a local problem.

No. It isn't, that is what the federal gas tax is used for.

Crack convenience dude.

Exactly. And if you give them more money by raising the gas tax they will just spend it on more "crack".

I'm not an Obama supporter.

So what? Do you really think you have to be a supporter to be carrying his message? The basic discovery of Goebbels was that if you tell a lie (or the truth for that matter) often enough people will repeat it. And the more often they repeat it the more strongly they will believe it. Propaganda 1001.

I think McCain's tendency to pander, and his ties to lobbyists should also be considered. For instance, in late 1998, John McCain sent a letter, which the NYT has described as “unusually blunt,” to the head of the FCC warning that he would try to overhaul the agency if it closed a broadcast ownership loophole. The letter, and two later ones signed by Mr. McCain, then chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, urged the commission to abandon plans to close a loophole vitally important to Glencairn Ltd., a client of Vicki Iseman, a lobbyist. The provision enabled one of the nation’s largest broadcasting companies, Sinclair, to use a marketing agreement with Glencairn, a far smaller broadcaster, to get around a restriction barring single ownership of two television stations in the same city. (NYT, Feb 23, 2008)