Exploiting pain at the pump
http://www.michronicleonline.com/articlelive/articles/2680/1/Exploiting-pain-at-the-pump/Page1.html
Bankole Thompson
By Bankole Thompson
Published on 05/7/2008
It is said that politicians are folks who promise to build bridges where there is no river. I am sure that if a survey were done today, we would find a lot of elected officials who have made huge promises and never did a thing to fulfill those promises to voters. On the other hand, there are a few elected officials who have shown voters they have a backbone and can push through and make their promises and programs realities.
Barack Obama
John McCain
It is said that politicians are folks who promise to build bridges where there is no river. I am sure that if a survey were done today, we would find a lot of elected officials who have made huge promises and never did a thing to fulfill those promises to voters. On the other hand, there are a few elected officials who have shown voters they have a backbone and can push through and make their promises and programs realities.
But what about the escalating gas price rising almost daily, forcing hard- pressed taxpayers to now cut short trips, and even functions that culd be job-related because of the price of gas?
Instead of a solution, what we are getting right now is what I call “gas pump politics,” a deliberate effort to exploit the pain that folks are going through when they drive to the gas station and have to choose between getting gas and paying for food in a messed-up economy.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain began the political jive some voters like to hear. He proposed a “gas tax holiday” from Memorial Day to Labor Day to give people a break.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton readily accepted McCain’s plan. The proposal would suspend the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax during the summer driving months. The tax is used to fund the Highway Trust Fund that builds and maintains roads and bridges.
After being called out by Democratic presidential front runner Sen. Barack Obama on her endorsement of McCain’s plan, Clinton is saying there is a difference between her plan and McCain’s proposal. Her plan would be financed exclusively with a tax on windfall profits from oil companies. But the problem with the Clinton plan is how will she get it passed when summer is almost here?
She does not have the executive powers to pronounce that proposal into existence, and it would have to go through the normal legislative process. Even the Bush rebate checks under the economic stimulus plan was promised in January and they are just now being mailed.
It took four months of federal bureaucracy to get that going. How can Clinton make such a complex proposal when summer is just a month away and expect to get it through? I see this as an attempt to caricature voters and exploit the despair of thousands who are now finding it difficult to drive long distances, or event short ones.
The candidates must be honest with voters, who experiencing pain at the pump, and not attempt to hoodwink them. The politics around gas price smacks of masterfully done trickery.
Obama was right when he called it “a shell game.”
Should the McCain and Clinton plan go through (which is unlikely), there would be revenue loss and highway maintenance which would mean a loss in construction jobs during the summer. But how many Blacks get those jobs anyway?
“For us to suggest that 30 cents a day for three months is real relief, that that’s a real energy policy, means that we are not tackling the problem that has to be tackled. We are offering gimmicks. When we are offering the same thing that John McCain is offering on the cheap, that means that we’re not presenting a truthful response to the challenges that we face in America. We can do better than that this time,” Obama said.
If the candidates are concerned about the pocketbooks of voters at the pump, they would propose a moratorium over the summer.
Compare the rates of gas in America to other nations; it’s cheaper here. And so the environmentalists make the case that the price increase here could put pressure for investment in alternative energy.
But right now people want relief. The candidates and the government should provide that relief, not a proposal they know very well is not practical and may be deceiving while the fat cows continue to reap billions in oil profits.
Next week, automotive correspondent Marcus Amick weighs in on Chrysler’s $2.99 for gas for three years to buyers of most Chrysler Jeep and Dodge vehicles. Watch Bankole Thompson in a roundtable discussion Sunday, May 11, on “Flashpoint,” airing at 10 a.m. on WDIV/Channel 4
It is said that politicians are folks who promise to build bridges where there is no river. I am sure that if a survey were done today, we would find a lot of elected officials who have made huge promises and never did a thing to fulfill those promises to voters. On the other hand, there are a few elected officials who have shown voters they have a backbone and can push through and make their promises and programs realities. “gas pump politics,”
Barack Obama
John McCain
It is said that politicians are folks who promise to build bridges where there is no river. I am sure that if a survey were done today, we would find a lot of elected officials who have made huge promises and never did a thing to fulfill those promises to voters. On the other hand, there are a few elected officials who have shown voters they have a backbone and can push through and make their promises and programs realities.
But what about the escalating gas price rising almost daily, forcing hard- pressed taxpayers to now cut short trips, and even functions that culd be job-related because of the price of gas?
Instead of a solution, what we are getting right now is what I call “gas pump politics,” a deliberate effort to exploit the pain that folks are going through when they drive to the gas station and have to choose between getting gas and paying for food in a messed-up economy.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain began the political jive some voters like to hear. He proposed a “gas tax holiday” from Memorial Day to Labor Day to give people a break.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton readily accepted McCain’s plan. The proposal would suspend the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax during the summer driving months. The tax is used to fund the Highway Trust Fund that builds and maintains roads and bridges.
After being called out by Democratic presidential front runner Sen. Barack Obama on her endorsement of McCain’s plan, Clinton is saying there is a difference between her plan and McCain’s proposal. Her plan would be financed exclusively with a tax on windfall profits from oil companies. But the problem with the Clinton plan is how will she get it passed when summer is almost here?
She does not have the executive powers to pronounce that proposal into existence, and it would have to go through the normal legislative process. Even the Bush rebate checks under the economic stimulus plan was promised in January and they are just now being mailed.
It took four months of federal bureaucracy to get that going. How can Clinton make such a complex proposal when summer is just a month away and expect to get it through? I see this as an attempt to caricature voters and exploit the despair of thousands who are now finding it difficult to drive long distances, or event short ones.
The candidates must be honest with voters, who experiencing pain at the pump, and not attempt to hoodwink them. The politics around gas price smacks of masterfully done trickery.
Obama was right when he called it “a shell game.”
Should the McCain and Clinton plan go through (which is unlikely), there would be revenue loss and highway maintenance which would mean a loss in construction jobs during the summer. But how many Blacks get those jobs anyway?
“For us to suggest that 30 cents a day for three months is real relief, that that’s a real energy policy, means that we are not tackling the problem that has to be tackled. We are offering gimmicks. When we are offering the same thing that John McCain is offering on the cheap, that means that we’re not presenting a truthful response to the challenges that we face in America. We can do better than that this time,” Obama said.
If the candidates are concerned about the pocketbooks of voters at the pump, they would propose a moratorium over the summer.
Compare the rates of gas in America to other nations; it’s cheaper here. And so the environmentalists make the case that the price increase here could put pressure for investment in alternative energy.
But right now people want relief. The candidates and the government should provide that relief, not a proposal they know very well is not practical and may be deceiving while the fat cows continue to reap billions in oil profits.
Next week, automotive correspondent Marcus Amick weighs in on Chrysler’s $2.99 for gas for three years to buyers of most Chrysler Jeep and Dodge vehicles. Watch Bankole Thompson in a roundtable discussion Sunday, May 11, on “Flashpoint,” airing at 10 a.m. on WDIV/Channel 4