McCain's fix for hard times
Gas tax would go away in summer, tax cuts would stay
By Liz Sidoti, Associated Press
Published April 16, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Mary Altaffer / Associated Press
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain signs autographs Tuesday during a commercial break of the taping of Hardball College Tour at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
Republican Sen. John McCain on Tuesday called for a summer-long suspension of the federal gasoline tax and urged several tax cuts as the likely presidential nominee sought to stem the public's pain from a troubled economy.
Timed for the day millions of Americans filed their tax returns, McCain offered immediate steps as well as long-term proposals.
The nation's financial woes have replaced the Iraq war as the top concern for voters, and McCain, who has said economics is not his strongest suit, felt compelled to address the problems as he looks ahead to the November general election.
"In so many ways, we need to make a clean break from the worst excesses of both political parties," McCain said at Carnegie Mellon University.
To help people weather the downturn immediately, McCain urged Congress to institute a "gas-tax holiday" by suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day. By some estimates, the government would lose about $10 billion in revenue.
He also renewed his call for the United States to stop adding to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and thus lessen to some extent the worldwide demand for oil.
Combined, he said, the two proposals would reduce gas prices, which would have a trickle-down effect, and "help to spread relief across the American economy."
Aides said McCain's Senate staff was drafting a bill on the proposal. It's likely to face strong opposition not only from Congress but states because the tax helps pay for highway projects in nearly every town.
Democrats have argued that McCain's free-market approach is out of step with people feeling the pinch. And, McCain has taken heat on taxes; he twice voted against cuts President Bush championed, but now advocates making them permanent because, he says, doing otherwise would amount to a tax increase.
Long-term desires
Among McCain's plans:
* Raise the tax exemption for each dependent child from $3,500 to $7,000.
* Require couples making more than $164,000 and enrolled in Medicare to pay a higher premium for prescription drugs.
* Offer people the option of choosing a simpler tax system with two tax rates and a standard deduction.
* Suspend for one year all increases in discretionary spending for agencies other than those that cover the military and veterans while launching an expansive review of the effectiveness of federal programs.
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Suggest removal
buzzman writes:
I like all of them-concrete solutionss-not "hope"
April 16, 2008
9:04 a.m.
Suggest removal
anteup writes:
Good observation buzzman. Of course there is going to be strong opposition, it's a democratic congress and McCain isn't a democrat! Does anyone think that congress will easily pass something that will help the voters if it makes a republican look good in an election year? So we put off hwy projects for a year, if we can't afford to drive on them why do them at all. It's politics first, the people second and if you don't believe that, I have some property....