Foolishness over gas tax

Ok, I have been trying very hard not to post negative-Hillary things. But I’m so fed up with this ridiculous notion of a federal “gas tax” holiday, that I have to link to at least a few pieces. First, this Tom Friedman op-ed which appeared several places (today in the Star Tribune, but they can’t post it online). And second, this analysis of what’s really wrong with Hillary’s political posturing.

From Friedman:

Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer’s travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country. When the summer is over, we will have increased our debt to China, increased our transfer of wealth to Saudi Arabia and increased our contribution to global warming for our kids to inherit. No, no, no, we’ll just get the money by taxing Big Oil, says Mrs. Clinton. Even if you could do that, what a terrible way to spend precious tax dollars — burning it up on the way to the beach rather than on innovation? The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: “Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.”