The American Spectator

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Among the Unbelievers

5.8.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 3)

In the middle of the night when I sometimes question my visceral rejection of Obama and everything about him I realize it has nothing to do with race because I would vote for Dr. Sowell and other Black conservatives in a heart beat. But Dr. Sowell soars above the crowd.
-- Jack Wheatley
Royal Oak, Michigan

GORE-ISTS FOR THE TREES
Re: Lisa Fabrizio's It's Either Too Hot or Too Cold:

Al Gore just was quoted saying, to paraphrase, "The cyclone in Burma was an example of increasingly powerful storms due to global warming." Never mind that many actual meteorologists, climatologists and scientists have said that the intensity and frequency of these storms have no relationship to global warming. Forget that new and re-examined data reveal that the earth is in a cooling period that may last 30 years and that ocean and atmospheric temperatures are falling.

Al Gore persists and is aided and abetted by the media in his quackery. He barely got through school to get a degree and yet he is quoted as if he actually has advanced degrees as a climatologist. In fact he is a glorified fortune teller who has been proven wrong in his predictions repeatedly. The worst is that he wants us all to pay for his dreams in the form of a carbon tax to be administered by the United Nations perhaps. Naturally the UN will have the Al Gore Carbon Credit Extravaganza as one of its prime contractors. Al Gore could teach P.T. Barnum a lesson or two.
-- Howard Lohmuller
Seabrook,Texas

THE LAX MAN
Re: Marco DeSena's McCain Goes on Tax Holiday:

The McCain Tax Holiday would not help anyone in Tennessee because our legislature has already passed a law that raises the state tax a penny for every penny the federal tax might be reduced. States already views the federal gas tax, or at least 92 percent of it, as their money anyway, it just has a lot of strings attached to it. Some states will have to borrow funds or cancel projects to maintain their basic maintenance if this is passed. After going through last summer worrying about bridges falling because of a lack of road infrastructure dollars, it now seems incredible that putting even more pressure on road construction money seems to not only a good thing but some sort of secondary stimulus.

The McCain plan to end the federal gas tax for the summer would surely kill both the House and the Senate versions of the Transportation Authorization Bill. It is doubtful that either version could fund their respective provisions with the array of taxes proposed even if there was no summer gas tax holiday. Federal Pay-Go rules would certainly shrink the estimated cost of each with a tax holiday. No consensus on the House and Senate versions means continuing resolutions at a lower rate of expenditure. I don't think either party wants to have the trust fund go broke before the 2008 election.

The federal gas tax has not been raised since 1997 and in my state, the state gas tax has not been raised since 1987. Inflation is giving the driver a tax break every year. At the same time the costs of financing and insuring a vehicle are rising above the Consumer Price Index. From 1990 to 2005, the average new vehicle cost went from $16350 to $24,275. This increase is below the background inflation rate and represents a savings of $1364 in 2005. The national ratio of population per lane mile of road has increased from 28.6 to 35.1 from 1980 to 2004. It is no coincidence that this fraction is rising during a period of increasing awareness of congestion and its impact on productivity. As transportation productivity declines, any hope of a stimulus from a momentary abatement of taxes is unlikely.

One of the better states in the union, when it comes to highway department efficiency, is South Carolina. It a perpetual donor state and struggles to build its own infrastructure plus helping more affluent states like Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Tax Holiday would force some states to become more efficient but would punish those doing the right thing.
-- Danny L. Newton
Cookeville, Tennessee

Pandering by any other name is still pandering, which is exactly what a "gas tax holiday" is all about. And let's not forget, Americans are already pandered to in the form of $300-$1200 "stimulus" checks, which should really be called "incumbency protection" checks.

Even shamelessness has its limits.
-- Arnold Ahlert
Boca Raton, Florida

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL INCUMBENT
Re: Ilya Shapiro's Buckley's Revenge:

I'm not sure this subject is worth any ink at all.

Who would not fight, cheat and steal among America's career criminal class (politicians) to keep the world's best part time job? Let's take a second to analyze this job situation.

Qualifications: ego as big as all the outdoors. Pay: whatever you can steal and legislate, such as unlimited car payments, a pension plan that makes you a millionaire and free medical care at only the best medical institutions.

Letter to the Editor

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