Sure, it sounds good. John McCain wants to remove the $0.18 per gallon Federal gas tax. What that should mean is that gas prices drop that much per gallon starting Memorial Day, right?

Well, not exactly. See, here's the thing. For all the money that oil companies are raking in, most of the gas stations aren't. They make their money of off bottled water (which, priced per gallon, is more than gas!) Their margins on gas are really low (see here for one example). But, there's nothing in the McCain proposal that says that the gas stations have to reduce the price.

Sure, they will but there's nothing to say that they won't lower it then raise it a penny or 5, who'd notice, especially over the summer when we expect gas prices to be high. However, even if the gas stations don't try to get an extra penny or nickel from the missing federal tax, it's really a drop in the bucket.

Not to mention the loss of that revenue which goes for taking care of the infrastructure of our nations roadways. And we'd need to make up the $9,000,000,000 dollars (billion) somewhere, which, as taxpayers, we pay one way or another.

It's very much like paying Peter with money stolen from Paul, a shell game of epic proportions. Good politics because too many folks tend are willing to go along with "sound good" policy regardless of what such policy really means.