May 23, 2004

Who Would Like a 49-cent per Gallon Gasoline Cut?

Rising gasoline prices got you down? You paid $2.05 a gallon for a fill-up this week, which cost you $1.95 a gallon two weeks ago?

Forget that this usual, summertime spike provoked you last year – and the year before that etc. You don’t like it, and someone is to blame! You will feel much better if you find a culprit.

How about the president? He has a crystal ball that surely told him a price hike was coming – and a magic wand that could reverse reality if only he wished.

Or, maybe, the oil companies. Or Saudi Arabia. Or OPEC. Or refineries. Or your neighborhood gas station. Whatever. Just roll back the prices.

Would a price cut of 14.3 cents a gallon help? How about 16.7 cents? Maybe 18.4 cents?  Shucks!  How about all of the above?

Let us cogitate a bit.

Gasoline prices go up every year as families fan out for vacations. This time the phenomenon is exacerbated by a roaring Chinese economy gobbling up oil. The good old law of supply and demand kicks in.

American vacation perambulations may be more hectic than usual because of foreign-travel fear – what with terrorists and all.

More to the point, this is a presidential election year when gripes are invented, nourished, petted and turned loose.

At the moment, President Bush’s magic paraphernalia are laid up for repairs. Candidate John Kerry’s kaleidoscope is out of focus. No matter, creative politicking is alive and well.

Bush went broke prospecting for oil, but his vice-president made a bundle by whipping a major oil-well management company into profitability. It is bad politics to fail or succeed in the oil business – or any business, for that matter.

Kerry proposes the president divert oil being purchased by tax dollars for a Strategic Reserve -- 105,000 barrels per day -- to corner gas stations and thereby drive down gas prices.

This would be one-half of 1 percent of our daily consumption of 20 million barrels. Kindergarteners call this "show and tell."

Unfortunately Kerry’s memory is short-term in the long-term.

The oil reserve was put in place after the catastrophic 1973 Arab oil embargo against the United States.

 President Carter’s objective was to have a six-month supply of gasoline and heating oil on hand should Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq deny us.

During the last presidential election -- the summer gas spike being hard upon the electorate – Candidate Al Gore pestered President Clinton to open the Strategic Oil Reserve to alleviate pump shock.

A zillion tax dollars later, gas plummeted a cent a gallon. Whoopee do! With success like that, who needs root canals?

Bush resumed recharging the oil reserve in September 2000 asserting "it should not be used for short-term political gain at the cost of long-term national security."

He expects to have the reserve capped at 700 million barrels – a six-month supply -- by the end of this year.

Now, back to those gasoline price cuts mentioned above.  

Florida’s tax on gasoline is 14.3 cents per gallon. Charlotte County’s tax is 16.7 cents. The federal levy is 18.4 cents.

Florida forgives sales taxes on children’s clothing and school supplies in August. Not much, but a tacit admission that taxes are suppressive.

Counties often waive certain taxes to woo desirable business.  

The least the federal government can do is to waive its gas tax during the summer. This alone would cut the $2.05 pg to $1.87.

Better yet, let all government forgive their gas taxes for the summer.  

Of course this is a political no-no.  Tax tax, spend spend, elect elect is a fiscal cornerstone next only to income taxes.

Perhaps, just perhaps, we might elect governmental representatives smarter than political demagogues.

Oil wells in Alaska and offshore Florida are risk worthy. As are oil refineries and coal-burning power plants.

These can be ecological friendly. Modern technology extends beyond television, computers, cell phones and gas-guzzling automobiles.

Common sense transcends partisan politics. So they say.

Lindsey Williams is a Sun columnist who can be contacted at linwms@lindseywilliams.org