THESE are the times that try men's souls...

to paraphrase Tom Caine..."These are the times that try men's souls. The electioneering soldier and the lapel-pin patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country."

The polidiots are proposing a summer gas-tax holiday to appeal to the electorate. Yes, gas prices have risen to hurtful levels. Why not give us a break on gas taxes?

Well,the current uptick in oil prices doesn't reflect a tight supply - it reflects speculation triggered by the news from Nigeria & Britain on temporary supply problems (pipeline attack, strike). However, given a gas-tax decrease, people will then drive more this summer, and this increased demand will guarantee even worse prices come fall(or post-election...since we could expect any tax holiday to extend through election day in November).

Robert Reich suggests that the Treasury try bolstering the dollar instead. Because the slide of the dollar is behind a lot of the rise in oil prices, this would do more good long-term. But that's a boring, rational strategy that wouldn't pander so effectively to the voters, so don't expect McHillary to give up on the tax holiday.