David Cay Johnston: “the Presidential years are referred to as the ``silly season'' and certainly this Presidential year is the silly season.…”

“the Presidential years are referred to as the ``silly season'' and certainly this Presidential year is the silly season. The competition for the award for the most improvidently proposed bill is very keen in the Chamber, Mr. President, but surely the 4.3-cent gasoline tax decrease has got to take the cake for this year. Mr. President, all this Congress we have heard about the balanced budget. I endorse the balanced budget. I am part of that bipartisan group of Senators that is trying to get a balanced budget passed. But now that we finally propose it, it is not being accepted by my friend, the majority leader. On top of that, with budget deficits continuing, with no plan approved for the balanced budget, we now have a proposal to cut taxes. Surely, Mr. President, this has got to be in the category of bread and circuses of ancient Rome when proposals are put out not for the good of society but in order to please the voters. Now, the American voters may not be very smart on some issues, but they are not stupid, and they know that this is not good policy. At a time when we are trying to cut all kinds of programs, all across the board, to come in and then cut taxes on gasoline is surely not good policy. Gasoline in the United States is somewhere between one-half and one-fourth as expensive as it is in Europe. In France, in Germany, in Italy, in those countries you pay three and four times as much for gasoline as you do in the United States.”