Holiday from economics

1 May 2008 By Martin Hutchinson

The gas tax holidays of Senators McCain and Clinton are economically nonsensical. They’d increase consumption, worsen dependence on the Middle East, raise oil prices and speed global warming. Clinton s Exxonbashing further distances her from the economicallysensible Obama.

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Senator Hillary Clinton, like Republican presidential hopeful Senator John McCain, has called for a gas tax holiday between Memorial Day and Labor Day. In Clinton's case, it would be paid for by a windfall tax on the oil companies.

ExxonMobil on Thursday recorded $10.9bn in firstquarter profits, up 17% from the previous year. In a statement, Clinton remarked: There is something seriously wrong with our economy when Exxon's record $11bn in quarterly profits are seen as a disappointment by Wall Street. This is clearly Dick Cheney's wonderland.

Barack Obama has refused to endorse the gas tax, describing it as one of the same Washington gimmicks that are out of touch with the struggles of working Americans. That view was endorsed Thursday by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

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