The Trail: A Daily Diary of Campaign 2008

I hate to state the obvious, but driving something that's not a v10 supercharged 8 liter tank (down to 7-11?) would help with prices at the pump!

It's the law of supply and demand, previously the demand was lower, there was no problem, we could consume consume consume.

It quite simply isn't the case anymore, with the rise of China, India, Russia and Brazil, as the next big four, all hungry for oil, obviously demand will go through the roof, driving prices.

Do yourself a favor, next car, get one that fuel efficient, talking at least 30mpg you'll notice a greater saving than some short sighted and gimmick 'saving' for the summer.

In the meantime, walk, cycle, run, take the bus, car pool with your friends/neighbors, do your body and the planet a favor.

In response to Cindy, I think you should be a little more proactive than praying, God isn't going to visit OPEC during the night and threaten to slaughter their first born unless the price is lowered.
I'm sure God has a little more to worry about than our oil prices.
It has a universe to run, busy entity!

AMERICANS QUITE COMPLAINING,

TAX TAX CUT IS A GOOD IDEA.

WE IN UNITED STATES COMPLAIN ABOUT HIGH PRICE, INCLUDING ME.

BE THANKFUL THAT MCCAIN IS TRYING TO HELP US.

THE LORD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES.

THE LORD IS USING MCCAIN TO HELP MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES.

ALSO TO CONTROLL HIGH GAS PRICES, START CUTTING BACK ON EXCESSIVE DRIVING, THIS SUMMER UNTIL WE CAN GET THE PRICE OF GAS BACK DOWN.

LETS WORK TOGETHER TO DO THIS.

CUT BACK ON TRAVELING LONG MILES FOR VACATIONS, UNITIL WE CAN GET THE GAS PRICE DOWN TO UNDER 2.00 A GAL.

WE AMERICANS NEED TO DO MORE PRAYING AND PUTTING GOD FIRST.

IF EVERY AMERICAN WOULD PRAY MORE OFTEN THE LORD WILL PROVIDED LOWER GAS PRICES.

THE GAS TAX CUT IS ONLY IN THE SUMMER TIME.

ANYTHING HELPS

THE PROBLEM IS PEOPLE NEED TO CUT BACK ON EXCESSIVE DRIVING THIS SUMMER.

This is one way to get elected just prove your as ignorant or more ignorant than bush.The american people will go for it just like they swollow the media telling them who the next president should be.This country gets to be a bigger joke every day.

A dumber and GIFT at the same time:

'suspension of the federal gas tax on gasoline from Memorial Day to Labor Day of
this year.'

NO McCain we are not that dumb now we have woken up!

Thank-you the Republican National Committee for trying TO USE A BRIBE to gain support funds! Well done - you have shown the American people your soul and it looks 'a bit crook'.

Hey, where is the money coming from? It has all been spent on the Iraq war!

Getting rid of the gas tax won't do much. Okay. BUT.... Raising gas taxes won't really do much good either, because if Americans buy less then we are merely subsidizing cheaper gas, via a glut, to China and India. For those who buy into the whole Carbon lie, then whatever, you can't tell THEM anything.

Also, to the resident Socialists, nationalizing oil/gas production or introducing price controls would cause a 1970s style disaster.

Bashing the oil companies is dumb. Many people have their 401K or pension invested in the stock market and in corporations, of which oil companies are.... corporations! Corporations which not only employ rich overpayed CEO's but also regular working people, oil field workers, oil platform workers, commercial divers, etc.

We should be building new refineries and drilling in more places. Hopefully we will be able to grow this stuff in a few more years. There was an interesting Science news item recently about a cheap process to get gasoline like fuel from plants, and I'm NOT talking ethanol or biodiesel.

As for other energy, we should be building cleaner coal power plants, nuclear, and whatever else is feasible, but of course everyone says, "Not in MY backyard!" It's not just the barrel price of oil, but oil traders, speculators, world demand, political stuff, Chavez, Ahmadinejad, Al Qaeda, Russia, China, India, etc. This is a globe, people. You can't just blame oil companies and Bush. We are really short on refineries. You can't put crude oil in your car, you have to refine it. Refinery capacity needs to increase as well.

Good Deal! yes to smaller govt. yes to less taxes. contract out govt. jobs to private sector. No to Global Warming scam that make the democratic "elitist" richer and makes the middle class pay in the end.

What a stupid idea.

"Ooooh lets cut gas prices 18 cents a gallon."

How will McCain replace that lost tax revenue?

What projects will get cut by cutting the 18 cent per gallon gas tax?

BETTER IDEA...

The President and Congress cap the price of a gallon of gas at like $2.75 (or lower).

Can we do it?
YES WE CAN!

When the price a gas effects the price of everything else in our economy the price of gs most be controled and regulated.

So ExxonMobile may not profit $11BIL every 3 months. They're be profitting Billions every 3 months, just not as much.

IS IT UNCONSTITUITIONAL for the President and COngress to CAP GAS?

Why would it be?

And if it is it will take month to reach the Supreme Court, before they can rule on it.

So in the mean timethe American people win.

HOW COULD ANYONE VOTE AGAINST CAPPING GAS?

They'd lose their seat in Congress, if they came out against capping gas.

SO John McCain can take his 18cents a gallon and shove it!

Give Americans what they want Federally controlled price ceiling for a gallon of gas!

Since we are going back to the 60's for Obama to defend a person who did some nasty things, and a person Obama knows a little bit - why don't we put the same pressure on McWar to actaully discuss his role in the crooked Keating 5 scandal (which only took place 20 years fater Bill Ayers.

Are you guys in the press so enamoured of being able to ride in the back of his bus, that his crookedness, his wife's theft are off limits!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We should be making it more expensive to drive, not less.

This idea gives tax breaks to people who drive, but nothing to people who are walk or bike regularly. Not to mention that, the more expensive your vehicle is, the more you save.

This is the single worst economic idea of 2008, thus far. Keep 'em coming, Senator Eight-House McCain.

Everybody's having fun watching the Democrats, but when McCain was selected as the Republican nominee, it was basically curtains for the Republican party. There is no amount of slime capable of sliding him into office.

Gee, he could co-sponsor the bill regarding a new GI Bill, but instead he picks an obnoxious repeal of the gas tax. We need to INCREASE THE COST OF GAS, not reduce it for any reason.

People in this country need to realize the days of driving Suburbans and Hummers and other 6-10 mpg vehicles is OVER. OVER. And John has no clue. Maybe it is another of his "senior moments". Ah, well, what can you expect from a 71 year old who mixes up Shia and Sunni over and over again.

What an unbelievable shallow twit this guy is.
Let's just keep on shoveling money into the petroleum companies and shut off the taxes that go to fix the roads.
This guy might even make Bush look like he had a thought or two in 7 years!

McCain McSucks!

This is nothing but pandering to the voters by McCain. Running against taxes has been the primary Republican strategy for decades. Good economy or bad economy, taxes must be cut!

The real problem the concept of "driving season". Americans want to go on wastefully consuming hydrocarbons as though they are in unlimited supply and burning them causes no problems. Taxes on gas should be raised, not cut. The higher prices will eventually have an effect on consumption as they have in most of the rest of the world. We need to use taxes and strategic government appropriations to speed the conversion of our society to one that is efficient enough to be competitive in future decades.

If you think it is hard to pay the bills now, just wait until more energy efficient economies leave us in their dust.

Lets see, $.18 per gallon times the twelve gallons my VW uses in a week, $2.11 a week saved. $.18 times the gas used by the Lincoln Battleship, or the Jeep Carrier (couldn't help it), well,...?

Yep, another tax break for the rich. If you get hummer gas mileage and commute fifty miles a day one way, not paying even more taxes is really useful.

And if you bike, walk, or ride the bus?

Sorry Charlie, it ain't your Party.

McCain is being stupid. Ix-nay on talking about Axes-Tay! You can have the moderate Democrats who won't vote for Obama if you don't remind us that Bush stole from the middle and gave to the rich, and that the Republicans base their whole philosophy on this social theft.

Memo to McCain staffers: try to drive it through his head that "the Al Qaedas" are SUNNIs. I understand that most GOP people don't really care the difference between the sects of Islam, and don't care who did actually attack us on 9/11. His problem is that he needs some independents to help him out.

We tend to actually know things, like who Al Qaeda is, and what his position on abortion is, and how stupid his gax tax idea is.

When the Democratic race is over, his goose is cooked. People will actually start covering his ignorance of the Middle East, etc. Maybe until then he can think up smarter tax breaks that help his wealthy GOP base... Hey! An idea! We'll let wealthy folks in Texas buy old rice fields, and pay them royalties on the land their mansions sit on!!!

Oh, crap. We already do that. My bad.

I'll try to keep this so simple if a US Representative can Understand it:

The Problem across the Board, is OUR WAGES ARE TOO LOW!

Just guessing here;

But, do you think it might have anything to do with all the Visas and Illegal Invaders unfairly competing against the American Workers? :-/

This seems more like a gimmic. I don't mind paying taxes. Thats what keeps the roads smooth and the firetrucks running.

I'd rather him try to solve the root cause of the problem rather then try slapping a bandaid on the effect.

How about helping out our vets with the GI Bill instead??

Way to go, deprive the government of money but keep the oil companies rich!

Moronic.

It will be interesting to see what happens to this bill in the light of election year politics. Whatever happens will be illuminating.

Gax? Is this some sort of Dr. Seuss-themed bill? Or a typo?

Getting rid of the gas tax would only lower prices at the pump by 5% but it would further weaken our infrastructure. McCain is totally bankrupt on economic ideas. He's even admitted that he doesn't know much about the economy. This proposal proves his point.