McCain wants federal fuel tax suspended

Trucking Headlines

McCain wants federal fuel tax suspended By eTrucker Staff Pacer Transport owner-operator John Evans of Monroe, La., fuels up in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where a per-gallon state tax of 19 cents is added to the per-gallon federal tax of 24.4 cents. U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the pre- sumptive Re- publican pres- idential nominee, is proposing that from Memorial Day to Labor Day the federal government suspend all motor fuel taxes and suspend purchases of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. McCain included the proposals in an April 15 speech at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Technically, McCain called for just a suspension on “all taxes on gasoline,” but another comment in his speech makes it clear that he intends for the summer tax holiday to apply to diesel as well: “The effect will be an immediate economic stimulus -- taking a few dollars off the price of a tank of gas every time a family, a farmer, or trucker stops to fill up.” Politicians and pundits routinely refer to "the gas tax" although they almost always mean the diesel tax as well. The federal tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon, the federal tax on diesel 24.4 cents per gallon. “Because the cost of gas affects the price of food, packaging, and just about everything else, these immediate steps will help to spread relief across the American economy,” McCain said. Leaders of a key committee in the U.S. House of Representatives slammed McCain’s proposal, saying it would have little effect on fuel prices but would cost states billions of dollars in highway safety and construction funds, laying off construction workers and worsening congestion. Because the federal per-gallon fuel tax has been fixed for years while the average per-gallon price of fuel has more than tripled, the federal tax is to blame for an ever-smaller portion of the price, said a joint statement by U.S. Reps. James Oberstar, D-Minn., and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairmen of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and its highways subcommittee, respectively. “Sen. McCain has said he doesn’t understand the economy. His gas tax proposal proves that point,” Oberstar and DeFazio said. “The McCain proposal would bring the Highway Trust Fund, which finances federal highway, highway safety, and transit infrastructure investments, to the edge of insolvency.” Moreover, McCain's proposal does not assure the price of fuel actually would drop, “making it likely that oil companies would simply pocket the difference," Oberstar and DeFazio said.