Lifting gas tax...bad idea!

Both Hillary Clinton and John McCain say they would support a three-month lift on the gas tax to help ease rising fuel costs this summer. (NY Times article)

However, Barack Obama calls the idea "pandering" and a poor, temporary solution that will only get us deeper into the oil crisis. He's dead on.

Lifting the tax will cause gas to decrease about 18 cents per gallon immediately. However, the simple laws of supply and demand come into play just as fast. With cheaper gas, more people will be willing to drive, causing more demand. This will cause prices to rise higher than they would have in the first place over the summer, likely wiping out that 18 cent break.

Because a substantial portion of this tax goes to the U.S. Department of Transportation, another question arises about our federal infrastructure. With last summer's bridge collapse in Minneapolis, can we really afford to cut costs on upkeep with our roads? Anti-big-government politicos like to criticize bureaucracy until a disaster occurs due to a lack of it.

Clinton suggests the holiday, but also says the U.S. should raise its taxes on the oil companies themselves to make up for it. It seems to me that this temporary "relief" is just a band-aid on what will definitely become the nation's worst fuel crisis since the late 70s.

The former first lady loves to talk about her experience. However, it appears that its Obama with the knack for economics, something we haven't seen from a president in decades.