Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton lined up with Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, in endorsing a plan to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for the summer travel season. But Senator Barack Obama, Mrs. Clinton’s Democratic rival, spoke out firmly against the proposal, saying it would save consumers little and do nothing to curtail oil consumption and imports.
While Mr. Obama’s view is shared by environmentalists and many independent energy analysts, his position allowed Mrs. Clinton to draw a contrast with her opponent in appealing to the hard-hit middle-class families and older Americans who have proven to be the bedrock of her support. She has accused Mr. Obama of being out of touch with ordinary Americans who are struggling to meet their mortgages and gas up their cars and trucks.
This is pandering of the worst kind. The federal gasoline tax is for infrastructure maintenance. How many of this country's failing bridges does Senator Clinton want to see collapse so that Americans can continue to drive their SUVs for one more summer?
We are now seeing the results of not heeding the warnings that go all the way back to the gas lines of the 1970's of the pitfalls of our dependence on oil -- not just foreign oil, but oil in general. We have lost eight years of research and efforts to find alternatives to petroleum and its derivatives becuase the Supreme Court installed a Texas oil man in the White House, and now we are seeing the consequences.
Making gasoline cheaper by allowing our infrastructure to fall apart is not the answer. It might help get Mrs. Clinton the nomination, or it might make John McCain consider her as a running mate, but all it does is stave off for a few months the difficult decisions and adjustments we're ALL going to have to make in how we live.
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