Other than this BS - But we also expect more from McCain, an independent thinker who rarely resorts to such political gimmicks. - the Oregonian's editorial makes a lot of sense and helps distinguish Obama from his phony opponents. How much longer will it take these blockheads in the media to realize McCain is not an "an independent thinker who rarely resorts to such political gimmicks"? The poor wretch has sold his soul and repeatedly pandered to anyone who will support him.

Where does The O get $40? Even that seems inflated. This proposed tax holiday would only last 94 days. The tax savings is only 18.4 cents per gallon. The average American uses 500 gallons of gas per year, according to the Department of Energy (admittedly, it's on the "kids' facts" page, but they don't have a "grown-ups' facts" page). That makes this tax holiday a $23.69 gimmick that won't improve anyone's quality of life. How much more definitive an example of "phony populism" could one imagine?

I kind of think voters deserve better than Obama's vote on the energy bill, but maybe that's just me?

Take your holiday Katy, good night and good luck.

James, so you're simply willing to dismiss that vote?

Just two words to think about here: global warming.

Proposing a tax holiday is a far cry from actually getting one passed. You can say a lot during an election with no intention of having it come to reality. I'll have to pay better attention because I thought Hillary was going to go after funding for infastructure, which would create quite a few jobs out here. I don't think she realy wants to take $10 billion from highways. I want to drive to Alaska this summer and it might make that possible! We all have dreams.

That energy bill did suck, your right but I am not upset that it got Obama's vote. There is a lot of room for improvement. I agree with his statements on this tax holiday. Anybody remember the word conservation?

it's beautiful: all over the web now, any economist with half a brain agrees with obama's take on this. even the mccain supporter can see this for the big fat red herring it really is. lop off 2 bucks a gallon, now that's a savings that might help, but even if it were that substantial, all it would do is kick the can down the road for a few months, and totally ignore the larger problem, which is that we need to be driving less anyway. this is a boneheaded, pandering proposal if there ever was one, and most people can see right through it.

Let's see: Cutting taxes on (and thereby increasing use of) a product we know pollutes the air, groundwater and....oh yeah, contributes to global warming, while at the same time cutting revenues for the underfunded federal Highway Trust Fund, which is mostly used to maintain and repair our existing infrastructure (like the Sellwood bridge).

Sounds like a perfect GOP recipe for more future fiscal disasters. I expect as much from John "no economist" McCain, but Senator Clinton should know better.

Katy, as far as Senator Obama's supposed support of the 2005 energy bill goes; didn't we already have that discussion earlier this month? http://www.blueoregon.com/2008/04/clinton-obama-a.html

Unlike the current White House occupant, Senator Obama has consistently backed dramatically increasing support for renewable energy production, and returning siting of production facility decision-making to the states. He and Senator Clinton are both co-sponsors of a bill to overule the 2005 Act and do the latter.

Don't know why that should be a problem.

Band aid solutions are all they have to offer?

This so-called tax break says something about the three major candidates for president. McCain and Clinton chose to pander in defiance of sound economists. Obama chose not to go that route even though he must have known the poorly-educated masses would buy into it. McCain and Clinton probably thought a version of one of H. L. Mencken's dicta would apply: No one ever lost an election underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

People may need quite a while to retrain themselves to actually ....you know.....think rather than react, but the big Obama gamble may wind up making us all a bit less cynical, and I really appreciate the effort regardless of the final outcome.

I have my reservations about Obama, but he is the only candidate of the three viable contenders offering some hope of elevating political discourse in this nation. I wouldn't bet my social security check on it, but I'll give him my vote.

Can someone come up with an idea dumber than a moratorium on gas tax? Unfortunately, this will appeal to many voters. American Idol rots the brain.

By the way, the voters do deserve better, but Kucinich and Edwards have dropped out.

re: "By the way, the voters do deserve better, but Kucinich and Edwards have dropped out."

Supporting Clinton or Obama is going to be difficult for progressives. Remember that the primary season is when Democrat candidates traditionally pander to the "left". One can only imagine how far to the right either one will go once the "debate" with McCain begins. The horror.

Nader has not dropped out.

Can someone come up with an idea dumber than a moratorium on gas tax?

How about voting for Hillary or McCain?

By the way, the voters do deserve better, but Kucinich and Edwards have dropped out.

Some voters deserve better, but the majority will get what they deserve. Feingold and Kucinich were substantial people, but the majority of people claiming to be progressives and democrats (note the small "d" is not a typo) wrote them off without giving them a chance and opted for corporate Democrats - mainly Hillary and Obama. Feingold was the only senator to vote against the horrid Patriot Act when the other 99 voted "Yea" without having read anything more than the title. Kucinich has a better record having the guts to stand up to the Likud/Kadima lobby and opposed the war crimes committed by the IDF in Southern Lebanon in 2006 when Feingold came up short. At least Democrats had enough sense to reject Joe Biden.

Joe Biden is an inter sting character: very bright, very informed, very articulate. I would want him as POTUS if I were one of the masters of the empire.

that's "interesting character"

Joe Biden is an interesting character: very bright, very informed, very articulate.

Unfortunately, he is also capable of being dumber than any senator has a right to be. I wrote him off after a Sunday talk show when there was a lot of frustration with the way things were going in Iraq and he said that what the president needed to do was to talk to the American people and explain what was going on. This after Bush and his administration had been on a mendacious bender talking nothing but BS about Iraq. And, Biden also voted for the war - clearly one of his dumbest moments.

Bill,

I think from the viewpoint of the empire, the war was not dumb, even if it was immoral and illegal. The occupation, as administered by the Shrubbery, has definitely been dumb. I'm guessing that Biden, along with Clinton and many other Democrats thought that Cheney and Rumsfeld knew enough about Iraq and imperialism to pull off the caper. He was wrong about that.

I think from the viewpoint of the empire, the war was not dumb, even if it was immoral and illegal.

From the viewpoint of anyone caring about this nation, this war on Iraq is probably the dumbest misadventure and crime against humanity ever committed by the United States.

I'm guessing that Biden, along with Clinton and many other Democrats thought that Cheney and Rumsfeld knew enough about Iraq and imperialism to pull off the caper.

When it came to voting for the war, there were many commentators on the scene who probably had forgotten more about Iraq and the Middle East than Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Bush and any senator ever knew and they were opposed to the war. If they had just paid a little attention to the likes of Robert Fisk and Hans Blix they would have questioned anything that came out of the mouths of the people in the Bush Administration. And, if they had known the contents of the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions and the United States Constitution, as they should have known them, then the only honorable, legal and moral decision was to oppose the war (caper?). Consequently, as bright and as knowledgeable as Biden and others may be, their votes also showed them capable of moral bankruptcy and/or lacking in moral courage. Just like those brilliant graduates of the University of Chicago - Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and fellow alumni.

Bill,

I have the same view on Iraq as you do. I was railing against the trumped up excuses for war on cable access TV for nine months before the invasion. But the folks who run things in this country don't care much about the interests of the rest of us, or about international law, and they care even less about the people of Iraq. If the ruling class had been against invading Iraq, the invasion would never had happened. They turned against the Shrubbery only after it was clear that the occupation was a disastrous failure.

You Know, People everywhere deserve better. At lease Clinton is TRYING and came up with SOMETHING for right now. I don't understand the criticism of Clinton's proposed Gas Tax Break. It may not supply savings for a LONG TIME, but what is wrong with a little savings now while we wait for a bigger better Gas Tax Plan later??

Jacob, What's wrong with a little break on gas taxes is that, by the time the refineries take their cut we will see a lot less than the $.18 per gallon, if anything. Additionally, any savings will entice Americans to increase driving, which means more demand and higher production, which will result in higher prices, which means that we may not experience a savings at all, while roads and bridges (some of them scary and unsafe) will experience a large drop in funding that will have ramifications for the future. At the same time, it will enable us to "forget" for a summer that oil supply is dwindling, that biofuel production has become a disaster to the environment and the world's food supply, and we really have not found any viable alternatives for the mobility that our society is built upon. I'd rather see Hillary employ a team of the world's auto makers and the world's best scientists to come up with a safe alternative fuel source for cars. Or bring back the electric car. Or pose huge tax breaks for hybrids (which the federal govt has all but repealed). The gas tax holiday is just dumb policy. However, it's probably a moot point, since it's not going to happen this summer under Bush, or probably ever. It's just political posturing and Obama's refusing to play. Good for him. He's got my vote.