Reply #28: I disagree [View All]

[worldgonekrazy]

This move alone is, of course, not enough, but it still has a lot of upside to it. Basically it aims to shift part of the burden of higher gas prices from the consumer to the oil companies. If that isn't populist, I don't know what is. So in an ideological sense it fits the bill of what the Democrats ought to represent, IMO.

Then, when you look at it from a political angle, it is downright ingenious. The Republicans will have to vote for it if it does manage to make it to the floor, or else they run the serious risk of a major backlash from consumers enraged by high gas prices. But it is a Democratic bill, so people will think to themselves "geez, the Democrats are saving me a lot of money." Big political win there. Plus, after this "gas tax holiday," will they then revert to severly undertaxing big oil? One of the major reasons for this bill, I think, could be to sort of sneak more taxes on to the oil industry. When the gas tax holiday runs out, the taxes on the oil industry might continue, unless it is specifically written in to the bill that they are to expire without any possible provision for extension.