Gas Tax Holiday - What Will They Think Of Next?

America has become the land of short term fixes. Instant gratification. Free money! Free gas! Woo hoo! What ever happened to gold ole fashion hard work, a can do attitude and long term stability. How about accountability for your actions? Ok, now I am ranting. Back to the topic.

This is not intended to be a politically charged, finger pointing, he said she said. So I will just refer to them as "They". Now, "they" want to "give us a break" by taking out the 18 cents per gallon we pay for gas from Memorial Day to Labor Day. On the surface, it seems great. But when you look at the per car cost savings and what that savings impacts on a bigger scale, its not such a good idea.

That 18 cent tax actually goes toward building new roads and infrastructure to make our lives easier in the long run. Hear that, long run. That means NOT right now. Back to the topic.

Now I drive a big gas guzzling SUV and I drive my car as part of my occupation. I mention this not to anger Eco-friendly hybrid drivers, but because I could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the gas tax holiday. And still, I'm against it. Why? Because the gas I consume this summer times 18 cents will figure to about $60 dollars. That is not going to make a difference in my life. To those that are driving gas conscious 4 cylinder cars will save about half that.

But think about how may gallons of gas Americans will consume over the summer. Millions and millions of gallons of gas and the Government will not get their 18 cents per gallon. Like the Govt or hate em, like paying taxes or hate it - we NEED this tax revenue to build our roads.

Then consider this. Getting back to instant gratification, if Americans are given a cost savings on just about anything, they will actually consume MORE and really not save a penny. Who wins now??? The fat cats at Exxon Mobile and other oil companies. Also remember economics class? Supply and Demand? If the demand for gas goes up, they will just RAISE prices even MORE. We need that 18 cents to go to towards roads! Gas has gone up over 60 cents since 3/1/2008. Source here. It goes up so much so often lately, we've grown accustomed to it. Demand will make it go up more.

I am not trying to encourage you to write to congress, or vote for any specific politician or anything like that. Just to be more conscious about the story buried beneath the headline.

Steve Schwartz is a licensed REALTOR in NC and SC specializing in Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Lake Wylie, and Charlotte and the host of over 7 Real Estate websites including his REALTOR websites, http://www.thepurpledog.com