Roadrunner taxes

John McCain is pandering when he tries to use repealing the federal gasoline tax as one solution to high gasoline prices. I know roadrunners are native to Arizona, but they've got to be taxed too. Maverick isn't alone, of course, Hillary Clinton tried to saddle the same horse during the primaries.

It's a use tax, plain and simple: 18.4 cents on diesel and 24.4 cents on gasoline. A small part of your gasoline bill that goes straight into the Highway Trust Fund. There have been wild-eyed proposals to raise it to European levels and force conservation, but we all know that's impossible politically in this country.

Higher prices mean less driving. According to MSNBC, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters "said in a statement Monday that the drop in driving miles demonstrates that the federal gas tax is no longer sufficient to finance the nation's transportation infrastructure."

Maybe everyone's forgotten that bridge in Minnesota already. In fact, the National Conference of State Legislatures just called for a tax increase.

A little rationality in the campaign, please.