The Smug Baldy Speaks

Over at RedState.com, gamecock raised a bunch of crazy ideas, but let’s start with this. I ask you - does this statement by John McCain somehow frame a difference between himself and Barak Obama in purely moral terms?

HOW TO HELP LOW-INCOME AMERICANS
McCain: Obama’s insensitive to the poor
GOP candidate cites rival’s opposition to suspension of fuel tax
RASHA MADKOUR
Associated Press

CORAL GABLES, Fla. –Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Sunday called Democratic rival Barack Obama insensitive to poor people and out of touch on economic issues.

The presumed GOP nominee 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.”

How does gamecock’s claim smell of bullshit? Let us count the ways:

1. The Gas Tax is 18.4 cents per Gallon: The average car has a gas tank that holds between 10 and 15 gallons of fuel (even the old, broke down gas guzzlers that McCain claims the are driven by the poor). That means, that on a single tank of gas, the McCain proposal will save the consumer between $1.84, and $2.76. Yes, that’s real money, but when we’re looking at gas prices that are about $1.50 more per gallon than they were in April 2007 (when the price was around $2.60/gal), consumers are paying somewhere between $14 and $21 more per tank than they were last year. McCain’s “holiday” reduces this increase to something between $12 and $18 per tank. I suspect that making gas $18/tank more expensive than it was last year isn’t really “a nice thing for Americans” as McCain claims.
2. Republicans Have A Shitty “Sensitivity” Track Record : Republican policies under George W. Bush have been anything but sensitive to the poor, and John McCain, who supports the same wrong-headed policies gets to share in their moral bankruptcy. What happened to the poor in Darfur? What about the poor in New Orleans? Where do Republicans stand on the minimum wage, or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or other public funding that would assist the poor? Last year, rich white elderly guy’s guy John McCain voted, along with 27 other sensitive Republicans and zero Democrats, to abolish the minimum wage standard. Now McCain is holding up this “holiday” as a shining beacon of his sensitivity to the poor? Pardon me if I don’t buy that particular snake oil.
3. Giving Insignificant Breaks On Taxes That Disproportionately Affect the Poor Isn’t Sensitive: McCain himself said that the tax holiday wouldn’t do very much, but that there might be some psychological benefit of seeing your gas bill go down a little. That may be true, but the notion of this being a sensitive to the poor ignores the fact that any tax will disproportionately impact low-income families since they are the ones with the least ability to afford paying them. The same case can be made for retail taxes on groceries, pharmaceuticals, or utilities. NOBODY likes paying taxes, and Republicans are always keen on telling us how they want to keep Americans from paying new taxes, but their righteous anti-tax indignation is somehow absent every time a proposal is raised to eliminate taxes on low-income families. If you make $10 Billion/year, you pay the same at the pump as someone who makes only $10,000. Who do you think that 18 cents really hits, anyway? Retail taxes are the poor man’s burden, and making those burdens insignificantly lighter is disingenuous - especially if we crow about how “sensitive” we are. Instead, we should strive to eliminate retail taxes on basic necessities like food, energy, and health-care products altogether.

OK - 3. There are at least 3 ways that gamecock was full of crap.