Gas Tax Holiday? Do the math, Obama's right.

McCain has proposed a "Gas Tax Holiday" to show his concern for the little people this summer. Sen. Clinton has jumped on that bandwagon, too. But not Obama. Here's why:

Okay, so the federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon.

I don't own a hybrid (damn!)...so based on the amount of city/freeway driving i do, i'm going to estimate my gas mileage at 20 mpg.

I'm going to say I drive an average of 100 miles per week. So between Memorial Day and Labor Day, I'll probably drive about 1300 miles. So let's see:

1300 miles divided by 20 miles per gallon = 65 gallons

I'll be buying 65 gallons of gas over the next 3 months.

At the current national average of 3.60 per gallon, that will cost me $234.00.

Now let's factor in the proposed "Gas Tax Holiday":

65 gallons multiplied by the 18.4 cents per gallon discount.

That brings my total down to $222.04!

WOOHOO!!!! I'm gonna save me $11.96!

But wait a minute. According to economist Jeffrey Perloff of UC-Berkeley, the suspension of the federal 18.4 cent gas tax would likely result in a 9 to 12 cent reduction at the pump. So I may only save $5.85. Well, gee, good lookin' out, guys.

What are you going to do with your savings? You could celebrate Memorial Day with a six-dollar burger at Carl's Jr! As for me, I'm going to donate $15 to the Obama campaign and get myself an Obama '08 car magnet.

Because like he said, the Gas Tax Holiday idea is traditional Washington politics. Let's play little word games, trick people into thinking we're doing something to help them, and come off looking like heroes. Not this time! See, he's not even president yet and Barack Obama is already making things better.

Go Obama!!