Angelika Currently, the Republican presidential candidate has been determined, while Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are still in a neck-and-neck race for the Democrats. John McCain can be confident of his official nomination at the Republican National Convention in the summer. For the Democrats, this time the superdelegates will actually... Rundbrief 02/2008 ... as I already predicted in the last newsletter, will play the decisive role.

Without the superdelegates, Clinton cannot win the nomination, even if she overwhelmingly defeats Obama in the remaining primaries. Clinton is fighting like a wild lioness in a cage and is taking on increasingly unappealing traits. To appeal to white workers, a group from which Obama has received the fewest votes so far, she sometimes jumps onto a pickup truck and rides with a worker to a gas station, only to lament about the high gas prices. Or she drinks a beer in a bar in Indiana, where the next primaries will take place on Tuesday, simultaneously with the state of North Carolina. I have never seen anyone so in love with power. Hillary and Bill want to return to the White House, no matter the cost.

Hillary's latest mantra is that she--like John McCain--wants to suspend the gas tax (a mere 18.4 cents per gallon) over the summer months so that prices temporarily drop and everyone can pump more gas into their huge cars again. A gallon (about 3.8 liters) of gas currently costs around $3.60 on average, which is extremely high by American standards. Gas prices tend to rise in the summer anyway, as demand increases because everyone drives on vacation and refineries reach the limits of their capacities.

Experts suspect that the gasoline price will soar above four dollars nationwide; in San Francisco, we're already paying that anyway. Economic and environmental experts are pulling their hair out. Firstly, the math doesn't add up, because if the tax is removed and people drive more, demand increases, which drives prices up even further. Secondly, this action obviously doesn't solve the problem in the long run. Conservation and driving less are necessary, and for that, gasoline prices should actually be raised through a tax, as it's the only way to force consumers to change their behavior. Thirdly, the gasoline tax is used to maintain the country's infrastructure, which is desperately needed, as bridges and roads are partly in a miserable condition.

To be fair, I must mention that Clinton wants to pass the tax onto the oil companies through the back door, while McCain seemingly doesn't care about how to fill the gap. Additionally, both of them overlook in their adventurous proposals that such decisions cannot be made without the approval of the Senate and the House of Representatives. I hope that the voters see through the game.

Obama categorically rejects the proposal by McCain and Clinton regarding the gasoline tax. However, Obama currently has entirely different problems, as his somewhat radical pastor, from whom he has just distanced himself, is traveling across the country in a media-effective manner and delivering speeches that are making life difficult for Obama. And once again, we have reached the point in the American election campaign where it is only about platitudes, even though there are important issues like the economic crisis, the Iraq war, and healthcare for all that need to be discussed.

• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Caught By a Red Light Camera
  	American housing market in crisis
  	Amerikanische Duschen" translates to "American showers" in
  	Mandatory health insurance for employees
  	The title "Parken am Rande des Wahnsinns" translates to "Parking
  	Die without inheritance tax in the year 2010
  	Easter in Dolores Park: Hunky Jesus

  
  

• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Caught By a Red Light Camera
  	American housing market in crisis
  	Amerikanische Duschen" translates to "American showers" in
  	Mandatory health insurance for employees
  	The title "Parken am Rande des Wahnsinns" translates to "Parking
  	Die without inheritance tax in the year 2010
  	Easter in Dolores Park: Hunky Jesus