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Tricky Dick strikes again.
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html
Dick Cheney's gas tax plan
You've heard the one about John Kerry's "support" of a 50 cent a gallon gas tax -- it's the subject of a Bush-Cheney ad even though it was part of a bill Kerry didn't even vote for. Today, the New York Times gives us one more reason to believe Bush-Cheney is being hypocritical on this gas tax charge against Kerry. It turns out that none other than then-Wyoming Congressman Dick Cheney introduced legislation in 1986 to create "a new import tax that would have caused the price of oil, and ultimately the price of gasoline paid by drivers, to soar by billions of dollars per year," the paper says.
"Let us rid ourselves of the fiction that low oil prices are somehow good for the United States," Cheney said then, shortly after introducing the legislation.
The Times reports: "Renewed attention on Mr. Cheney's plan, which Democrats dusted off and talked about on the Senate floor last week, offers another wrinkle in this year's politicized debate about gas prices, which hit a record-high average of $1.76 last week for a gallon of regular. While gas prices may remain a presidential campaign issue if they do not decline, they are still well below the inflation-adjusted high of nearly $3 in March 1981. To deflect charges that the White House has not done enough to bring down prices, the Bush campaign has attacked Senator John Kerry the likely Democratic presidential nominee, as favoring higher gas prices. 'Some people have wacky ideas like taxing gasoline more so people drive less. That's John Kerry,' a recent Bush campaign commercial said. The commercial singled out Mr. Kerry's support a decade ago for a 50-cent gas tax increase, part of a deficit-reduction package that Mr. Kerry never voted for."
"Yet the cost of Mr. Cheney's plan ultimately would have been passed on to drivers and other consumers through higher prices on gasoline and other refined petroleum products. In addition, he said in a February 1987 statement, he supported the tax partly because it would 'assist us in reducing our budget deficit.'"
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html
Dick Cheney's gas tax plan
You've heard the one about John Kerry's "support" of a 50 cent a gallon gas tax -- it's the subject of a Bush-Cheney ad even though it was part of a bill Kerry didn't even vote for. Today, the New York Times gives us one more reason to believe Bush-Cheney is being hypocritical on this gas tax charge against Kerry. It turns out that none other than then-Wyoming Congressman Dick Cheney introduced legislation in 1986 to create "a new import tax that would have caused the price of oil, and ultimately the price of gasoline paid by drivers, to soar by billions of dollars per year," the paper says.
"Let us rid ourselves of the fiction that low oil prices are somehow good for the United States," Cheney said then, shortly after introducing the legislation.
The Times reports: "Renewed attention on Mr. Cheney's plan, which Democrats dusted off and talked about on the Senate floor last week, offers another wrinkle in this year's politicized debate about gas prices, which hit a record-high average of $1.76 last week for a gallon of regular. While gas prices may remain a presidential campaign issue if they do not decline, they are still well below the inflation-adjusted high of nearly $3 in March 1981. To deflect charges that the White House has not done enough to bring down prices, the Bush campaign has attacked Senator John Kerry the likely Democratic presidential nominee, as favoring higher gas prices. 'Some people have wacky ideas like taxing gasoline more so people drive less. That's John Kerry,' a recent Bush campaign commercial said. The commercial singled out Mr. Kerry's support a decade ago for a 50-cent gas tax increase, part of a deficit-reduction package that Mr. Kerry never voted for."
"Yet the cost of Mr. Cheney's plan ultimately would have been passed on to drivers and other consumers through higher prices on gasoline and other refined petroleum products. In addition, he said in a February 1987 statement, he supported the tax partly because it would 'assist us in reducing our budget deficit.'"
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