Wrong answer on gas prices, Texas Lege

Suspending state gas taxes for the rest of the summer is not the right answer to high gas prices, despite this claim:

Relief from soaring gas prices may soon be on the way.

The Texas House tentatively adopted a measure Tuesday that would suspend the state's 20-cent gas tax through the summer.

That would mean an immediate 20-cent drop in the price per gallon.

"The more cars you have, the more relief you get," said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a San Antonio Democrat who added the proposal to an omnibus tax collection bill.

That’s in part due to the idea that this would cut state road funding enough to have Gov. Rick Perry bring up his pet toll road projects one more time. But, that’s the lesser reason. The primary reason is it doesn’t deal with the issue in the right way.

What is the right answer, then?

It has several parts. One is letting people feel the pain until they look for more fuel-efficient cars. Two is related to that, getting them to feel the pain until they push Congress to increase fuel-efficiency standards. Third is getting them to realize that this isn’t going away.