Proposals to cut gas prices abound in '08 race

WASHINGTON — Get rid of the federal gas tax — at least for the summer. Tax Big Oil to help the rest of us out. Get drilling in that Alaska refuge. Soaring gasoline prices are suddenly the nation's No. 1 crisis, and all the presidential candidates are offering cures.

Never mind that economists and energy experts see little value in such measures, at least in the short run. Or that even some top congressional leaders are raising eyebrows. It's election season, and presidential contenders and other politicians are jumping on the bandwagon.

The slew of proposals includes a summertime suspension of federal gas taxes, backed by John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton; a windfall-profits tax on oil companies, supported by Clinton, Obama and many other Democrats; a cry for new refineries, nuclear power plants and drilling in the Alaska wilderness, sounded by President Bush and his GOP allies; calls by those in both parties to stop buying oil at $117 a barrel — only to pump it back into the ground for strategic reserves.

"I think we are in a political crazy time. Some of this stuff being proposed borders on the irresponsible," said Frank Verrastro, director of the energy and national security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In particular, said Verrastro, the talk of suspending the federal 18.4-cents per gallon federal tax on gasoline and 24.4-cents per gallon tax on diesel fuel during the summer driving season "is just absurd. Economics 101 will tell you if you cut the price, you increase demand. That means you tighten the market. Then the price goes back up. It goes to oil companies."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., weighed in against the scheme Thursday, telling reporters that "there's no reason to believe that any moratorium on the gas tax would be passed on to the consumer."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also opposed the plan as a "ridiculous idea." He argued "the last thing we need to do is encourage people to drive." Many of today's bold ideas on energy are echoes of past proposals of earlier political seasons when gas prices were also rising or supplies short. And while they may have enjoyed some popular appeal, they've mostly been rejected — only to be recycled again.