18c pander

John McCain and Hillary Clinton are pandering to the stupid with the idea of temporarily repealing the federal 18c gas tax. Paul Krugman explains:

... the price to consumers will always rise until the quantity demanded falls to match the quantity supplied. Cut taxes, and all that happens is that the pretax price rises by the same amount. The McCain gas tax plan is a giveaway to oil companies, disguised as a gift to consumers ... The Clinton twist is that she proposes paying for the revenue loss with an excess profits tax on oil companies. In one pocket, out the other.

The sad thing is the media report this too as a "he said, she said" story. "She said repealing the gas tax will help people with long commutes. He said it's all just a gimmick that will increase prices in the long term".