Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer showed his hand: The gas tax holiday floated by vulnerable Senate Democrats like Mark Kelly and Maggie Hassan isn’t about helping the American people, it’s about helping these Senators “in tough races” get reelected.
Today, the Washington Examiner Editorial Board ripped the plan in no unclear terms:
“The Democratic Party’s political warriors are evidently soiling their armor over their most recent round of internal polls. Not only are they abruptly repealing the very mask mandates they recently reimposed on their voters (mandates they insisted until just five minutes ago were scientifically necessary to prevent mankind from perishing), but now they are doing something that would normally cause Democrats to break out in hives: They are offering a massive tax break that benefits the fossil fuel industry.
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This has to be just about the most transparently desperate gimmick in recent political history. It demonstrates not only that Democrats don’t really believe all that global warming claptrap, but also that they have no principles on the issue of taxation and will do anything to avoid losing their powerful positions.
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We hope as much as anyone that Democrats have an epiphany on issues of taxation and suddenly want to lower taxes instead of increasing them. Even if it is just an insincere election-year effort to stop the bleeding, at least Kelly and Hassan are being forced to think of their constituents and not just the major special interests that donate to Democrats.
But we are at least heartened to see how scared and panicky they must be to propose something this gimmicky.
Statement from NRSC Spokesman T.W. Arrighi: “After years of promoting bills that raise fuel costs for Americans, no one actually believes that Mark Kelly and Maggie Hassan give a rip about current gas prices. Their proposed gas tax holiday is brazenly political and no one in Arizona or New Hampshire is buying their sudden crocodile tears.”
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