President Bush has signaled that he is open to a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax, increasing the possibility that one will be adopted this summer. If enacted, will it help? The Washington Post collects opinions on both sides, and points out that Illinois’s recent experiment with the proposal reportedly helped moderate prices somewhat. (Also check out McQ’s compilation of some of the back-and-forth over the wisdom of the idea.) Suffice it to say it seems unlikely that you’ll see a sudden 18 cent drop in gas prices nationwide. More amusing however, is Harry Reid’s blustering about the problem:
It would of course, be nice if we had a magic wand that would lower gas prices. In the market however, the way to lower the price of a commodity is to produce more of it. Yet instead of trying to produce more gasoline, Democrats in Congress have fought tooth and nail to block any further drilling in the U.S., have done nothing to expand refineries, and have even acted to block the import of oil from our largest supplier — Canada. It doesn’t take a magic wand, Senator. It just takes leadership, and a willingness to stand up to environmental extremists.
