McCain is heavily touting his proposal to suspend the federal gas tax this summer, and the RNC is attempting to exploit Obama’s opposition to a gas-tax holiday, contrasting it with his support for a such a plan in the past. But suspending the gas tax temporarily is unlikely to provide much relief for Americans. The cost decrease is likely to drive up demand during the summer vacation months, which is likely to send prices back up to where they were.
Meanwhile, Americans are paying much more for groceries today than they were a year ago, and that is something the federal government can do something about. Today’s editorial urges John McCain to take a higher-profile position against the ethanol mandate that has diverted a third of the nation’s corn crop into ethanol production and driven up food prices. Obama, from the corn-growing state of Illinois, supports the ethanol mandate, a policy that is making food more expensive for Americans. McCain opposes it. That’s a contrast he should be exploiting.
ALSO: Deroy Murdock’s got a scorcher on ethanol on the homepage today that’s well worth a read.