By the way, she also said (I was at her rally in Charlotte on Monday) that there is evidence that there has been manipulation of the oil market similar to what Enron did to California's energy market and she is calling for an investigation. That would be a great idea as well as good political theatre.

Yep, it's pander, but I have to tell ya, our food bank has sent out another call for donations ahead of schedule. People (mostly single moms) are already having to choose gas over groceries and are going to the food bank to make up the difference.

As summer comes, a lot of those single moms are going to have to hire babysitters or get daycare for their kids.

I know quite a few truck drivers or people who hire out as heavy equipment operators are having a hard time paying for fuel as well. Our local farms...well, we're losing our family farms, like a lot of places.

In addition to Hillary having the "wonkishness" (why is wonk a negative word?) she has demonstrated that beyond a shadow of a doubt she has the psychological strength to hold up under pressure.

While everyone in the media seems to be back to praising Obama and his response to Wright, I am struck by how worn out he looks and and hesitant he sounds. Pundits have been talking about his show of emotion. If that is true, the guy must not have any. He was flat and looked weak to me.

and then those who voted for this will get to explain why a gas tax holiday during the summer is sorta like giving tax cuts during huge spending.

For someone who has to drive a lot, it may be like changing their light bulbs. That saved  me about 50 bucks a month, which quickly was absorbed by other price increases. Heh, kinda like treading water.

We live 6 miles from the nearest gas station and bundle errands to make as few trips as possible. Luckily, we both work at home. Unlike most of our neighbors.

Family farms here are barely hanging on, save for the wealthy people who keep horse raising and training facilities. Interestingly, members of one local farming family has hung onto their dairy farms by raising horses (Friesians, expensive breed), selling products at farmers markets, doing a fall hayrides and pumpkin patches with their horses, and working with the county and state to develop a methane-digester de-centralized energy production facility on their land.

sticking to the here and now, NO a gas holiday next month is NOT a good idea

Well, it's a use tax, and that's a good part about it. It taxes the use of the roads which it helps maintain. That's sensical. To the extent that the money went to public transportation and not bridges to nowhere, that would somewhat negate the flat regressiveness of the tax, which is the most obvious downside. I think that I'd institute gas stamps of some sort analogous to food stamps (need based) or the EIC (the more you work the more you get, up to a point).

So it wouldn't be my absolute last choice, as long as certain measures were taken to counteract the regressiveness.

Demand would likely go up if the price dropped, thus allowing the oil companies to ask for a higher price.

I would guess, though, that a bill could include some limit to their ability to raise the price.

Raising the price, at this point, for the oil companies seems to be all profit for them. Cap it and drop the tax?