To the point, earlier this year, McCain, obviously pandering to Americans upset over the high cost of gasoline, said that he felt a three month gas tax holiday would help Americans. The fact that even without such a holiday the Federal Highway Fund is nearly out of money, shows that the idea was a great political move, but stupid public policy.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials said the average American would have saved $28. Additionally, that same press release said:

Our nation's transportation infrastructure is quite literally the platform of our economy, and it is already deteriorating at an alarming rate. Now is not the time to propose red herrings instead of real solutions. If anything, concerns over high energy costs should be dealt with through comprehensive energy policy, not sacrificing our transportation infrastructure.

Unlike emerging markets like China, our infrastructure, including but not isolated to the highway system, is aging. Why is the fund out of cash without a holiday? Because the high price of gasoline has resulted in Americans driving less, about 3.7% in May, for example.

Not only is it clear that a gas tax holiday was a stupid idea, but it's also clear that in fact --- wait for it --- we need to increase the tax rate. Oh, oh, those words, "tax increase" have immediately turned off anyone reading this.

The press release above says it all:

The current user fee of 18.4 cents per gallon has remained unchanged since October 1, 1993, despite inflation and the skyrocketing cost of construction.

Common sense should say that if the cost of rebuilding something has gone up, the Fund required to effect those repairs must have increased money as well. Therefore, if we want to keep our transportation system running, which, as said above is "quite literally the platform of our economy," despite the pain of the increased tax rates, a tax increase must be done.

Common sense, which many Americans like to ignore if it affects their wallets, says so.

On the other hand, John McCain has publicly stated that his economic knowledge isn't up to snuff:

The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should," McCain said. "I've got Greenspan's book."

McCain's tax plan if he becomes President includes income tax cuts. Unfortunately, the majority of those cuts are for the wealthy. Americans hear "tax cuts" and don't do their homework; McCain's plan, as outlined by the LA Times (linked above) clearly helps the wealthy; Obama's clearly help the middle class, but increases taxes on the wealthy. Ooooh, tax increases, but on the wealthy: as he said married Americans making under $250,000 would be unaffected.

Do the majority of Americans need to care about a tax increase under Obama? No.

Let's not forget that Obama was also against the gas tax holiday. But who was right in that call? Both Obama, and common sense.

Americans, do your homework. Don't hear the talking points and vote without thinking. And use some common sense, will you?