Taxes Are What We Pay for Civilized Society Department: Gas Tax Holiday Has Minimal Effect on Democratic Campaign, Thank Goodness

Last week the Democratic presidential campaign reached a new low when Hillary Clinton proposed a summer-long gas tax holiday. She should know better . That’s the bad news.

The good news is the reaction the plan got. A number of prominent Democrats spoke out against the idea, like George Miller, the California representative who is a stalwart of Nancy Pelosi. Some influential media also came out against the idea, pointing out that the gas tax holiday would counter attempts to conserve gasoline and undo our petroleum dependency, while oil companies would likely gobble up the saving for themselves, leaving prices at the pump high.

Perhaps even more importantly, it seems that the voters in Indiana weren’t swept away by the idea either. Hillary Clinton’s slim win there is not what she had hoped for, particularly after 10 days when Barack Obama had to struggle to cut himself loose from his former pastor. He appears to be have not badly damaged by that, and she was not helped much by the stupid gas tax idea.

All right, super delegates. Time to come out and say who you are voting for, so that the party can make the convention in August just a major rally in a roll to victory. If the convention becomes a battle field, though, look for a McCain win and more real wars to fight with real people dying for the chimera of American—and oil—security.