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May 1, 2006
More on GOP's $100 Givaway
In my post below on the GOP's proposed $100 giveaway to address high gas prices, I neglected to note the irony that the Democrats' proposal to suspend gas taxes for 90 days is actually much closer to a small government, supply side response.
The NY Times reports:
many Republicans opposed the Democratic plan because they feared that oil companies, which pay the gas tax, would not pass savings on to the public, or that the laws of supply and demand would push the price up again.
But one of the tenets of supply-side economics is that reducing taxes and regulation on businesses--i.e. the supply side--benefits everyone.
Meanwhile, the story gives additional details on the GOP plan, which includes "an accounting change forcing oil companies to pay higher taxes on fuel sold from stockpiles."
A Republican elaborates:
David Winston, a Republican pollster who advises the Senate Republican leadership, called the rebate an intuitive way to show voters that Republicans were on their side. "It is like putting the American family budget ahead of oil company profits," Mr. Winston said. "How do you help the American families out? Well, give them some money."
I guess he must be one of those Ted Kennedy Republicans.
Posted by Philip Klein at May 1, 2006 10:41 AM