Obama is wrong about the gas tax

Think Clinton’s plan to suspend the gas tax temporarily is a bad idea? A similar measure in Illinois — which Obama backed — seems to have helped consumers.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has repeatedly accused rival Hillary Clinton of “pandering” for advocating a summer gas-tax moratorium, calling it a “classic Washington gimmick” that would do little to help consumers.

“That’s typical of how Washington works,” Obama says in a new TV ad airing in Indiana, where primary voters go to the polls Tuesday. “There’s a problem. Everybody’s upset about gas prices. Let’s find some short-term quick fix that we can say we did something even though … we’re not really doing anything.”


Obama dismisses Clinton’s proposal to suspend the 18.4 cent per gallon federal gas tax as: 1) a political gimmick that will not deliver any significant relief to consumers, while diverting us from the serious energy reforms we need to undertake; 2) an opportunity for oil companies to raise prices to capture the missing tax increment; 3) an inducement to drivers to drive more, thus leading to more consumption and higher prices down the road; and 4) a drain on highway trust funding, which is sorely needed to repair our crumbling infrastructure.

This is powerful criticism because it resonates with a long-standing talking point against Clinton — that she is a political phony willing to do anything to get elected.

But in this case, each of Obama’s attack lines is either factually incorrect, or based on flawed logic. Could he be attacking Clinton just to deny her any political benefit? That would be as cynical and “old style” as anything Clinton has thrown at Obama lately.

Salon.com