Daniel Lovell has won more than two dozen awards for his columns, editorials and investigative journalism. He is actively addicted to the Internet, soda and New York Yankees baseball.
Politicians are arguing now over whether it's wise to give Americans a break on gasoline taxes during the summer. It's no secret gas prices have shot through the roof recently, and the theory is that dropping the gas tax would put a few more dollars in our pockets and alleviate at least some of the pressure we've been put under in the last few weeks.
I was disgusted yesterday to see the Post-Standard slam the plan, claiming the government ought not make buying gas easier for motorists. That illustrious editorial board believes that only by applying pressure -- and making driving hurt -- will we finally be forced to change our driving habits. Perhaps we'll use more public transportation, or we'll all drive hybrids. Or maybe we'll pressure our politicians and the auto industry to create new standards and automobiles that run on something other than oil. The paper also argues that the "average" person would only save a few cents a day, or a couple of dollars a week. These are positions shared by presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
While the theory seems to make perfect sense to those who have spendable cash, it ignores that our country is not made up theoretical people; our populace is filled with ACTUAL people, who lead real lives. Very few of us are actually "average," and as such will not reap "average" benefits from a moratorium on the gas tax. It also ignores the actual numbers.
American motorists pay about 47 cents per gallon in federal, state and local taxes. That means I spend nearly $9 per tank of gas on taxes alone. I drive about 400 miles each week, just getting to work. If there were no taxes on gasoline at all, I'd put more than $12 a week more into my pocket. Probably more.
Sure, I could move closer to my office, or I could find a job closer to my house so I could ride a bike to work every day, right? Wrong. The world doesn't work that way. And the Post-Standard, which just last year embarked on a plan to shed 100 employees from its newsroom, should know better. One can't just "find" a job in any location of his choosing. Nor can one necessarily find suitable and affordable housing just anywhere. And there are those out there -- like me -- who have car loans that would make it near impossible to just trade in their car for a new hybrid. So where do we stand? I'll tell you.
Folks like me have no choice but to drive to work each day, in the car we've got. And to get there, we have no choice but to pay whatever exhorbitant amount is posted for gasoline. And you can add to that the increasing cost of traveling the Thruway, thanks to the Thruway Authority. And we'll work harder, just to afford to get to work, to put food on the table and keep the roofs over our heads.
I've cringed in the past when I've heard Obama called an elitist. But in this case, the moniker fits well. The only people who could possibly think that doing whatever is necessary to help alleviate the pinch of rising gas prices is a bad thing are those with enough money to absorb those increases without consequence.
And clearly those who believe that American motorists must be punished -- or at least must willingly accept punishment -- for using gasoline lack understanding of the global economy, which shows that it is the increased demand for oil from other nations that is driving oil prices so high -- not just American SUVs.
And the higher gas prices can surely be blamed in part on the limousine liberals who look down their noses on us working stiffs, who ran aggressive campaigns to ensure American companies could not drill for oil in Alaska -- which perhaps could have at least lessened our depency on foreign oil while we sought alternatives.
Unfortunately, it appears that those with means will continue to also have the loudest voices. And those of us with real jobs will continue working, paying the taxes and struggling to attain a standard of living just beyond our reach. Twelve bucks a week wouldn't change that. But every little bit helps.
