McCain ignores the environment and claims Obama is insensitive to the poor

Full Story Here

The GOP nominee-in-waiting rapped his Democratic rival for opposing his idea to suspend the tax on fuel during the summer, a proposal that McCain believes will particularly help low-income people who usually have older cars that guzzle more gas.

“I noticed again today that Sen. Obama repeated his opposition to giving low-income Americans a tax break, a little bit of relief so they can travel a little further and a little longer, and maybe have a little bit of money left over to enjoy some other things in their lives,” McCain said. “Obviously Sen. Obama does not understand that this would be a nice thing for Americans, and the special interests should not be dictating this policy.”

McCain cleverly manipulates this decision in his statement “I noticed again today that Sen. Obama repeated his opposition to giving low-income Americans a tax break”. I’m sorry, but I was unaware that the tax on fuel affects only the low-income Americans. It gives all Americans a tax break. It just so happens that it might have a greater effect (depending on their driving habits) on those with lower incomes and thus tighter budgets.

But what is more important here is McCain’s shortsightedness in an attempt to steal support from Obama’s low-income base. McCain ignores an enormous underlying problem in suspending a fuel tax, as he puts it “for low-income Americans”, and at the same time ignores environmental responsibility.

With the continuously rising gas prices and no sign of the situation changing from this upward trend, is giving relief to Americans and encouraging them to live life in the same manner they had when fuel was cheaper really the solution for helping both them and the environment? With a tax on fuel, the gas prices at the pump are artificially inflated and thus encourage and place Americans at a better position to change their habits and lifestyles to accommodate the even higher gas prices in the future, now.

While people know that their carbon footprint is increased with each mile they drive, few Americans have made an effort to cut back on driving or fuel usage on this premise alone. What has caused the [only recent] decline in the amount of SUV and large Trucks sold in the US, as well as the recent [slight] reduction in the amount of leisure miles driven per household? You’ve guessed it, skyrocketing gas prices!

Unfortunately, left alone without economic pressures on the gas and car market, it seems Americans are either too lazy, stupid, stubborn, or selfish to change their gas-guzzling ways. From single-car hour-long commutes, to driving a couple blocks to the store when one could just as easily walk, to unnecessary suburban sprawl, Americans are showing time and time again that given cheap gas, we will take all we can get and use it as inefficiently and irresponsibly as we see fit.

With that said, suspending the tax on fuel for the benefit of the low-income class will not better prepare them and the rest of America in the long run to budget for inevitably higher fuel prices. It will not do anything to facilitate the need to purchase a more efficient car (which due to this being a case of low-income, the process should be started as soon as possible so as to give an adequate amount of time to budget for such a purchase before the problem really gets out of hand). Suspending the tax will keep the low-income as complacent as possible with the current cost in fuel and encourage them (and the rest of America) to go drive wherever they want, whenever they want, and still have that “little bit of money left over to enjoy some other things in their lives” that McCain is so concerned about. Then, once they have spent that little bit of money that McCains proposed suspension saved them (Because as we’ve all learned from the recent American financial debacle, Americans are great at spending… not so good at saving), they will not only have to face the inevitable continuous rise in gas prices still, but they will have less time and money to budget accordingly and change their habits and lifestyles in a way to better suit the more efficient usage of fuel and travel. The higher the gas prices get, the harder it will be to acclimate ourselves to the prices.

So who suffers in the long run from a suspension in the gas tax then? The low-income people McCain is so concerned about, the environment, and thus the rest of America. And although there is no silver bullet to the rising gas prices and their clash with the American lifestyle, suspending the tax just suspends and compounds the problem. In concert with other programs and methods, the changeover to a less wasteful lifestyle in regards to fuel can be easier than everyone makes it out to be. Tax on fuel will help to facilitate the change needed.

The move to a more efficient and reduced carbon lifestyle is not something that needs to be put off any longer or until it is too late both environmentally and financially to do so. Help is required by the government if the American public is unwilling to act responsibly. Furthermore it is the governments responsibility to prepare it’s citizens for the future. This means higher gas prices; Facilitate change now, don’t sweep it under the rug and try to solve a long term problem with a short term solution.