Just a chief political trick that Gov. Daniels is wise to avoid (so far):
House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, is urging Gov. Mitch Daniels to suspend Indiana's sales tax on gasoline, which is hitting record prices of more than $3.30 per gallon.
Daniels so far is resisting the idea, saying that while he would "never say never" to suspend the tax, he did not consider it to be effective or responsible at a time when state government's revenues remain tight.
How cheap? Bauer talks about "greed" and "gouging" and the "exhorbitant price of gasoline," as if the phrase "supply and demand" isn't even in his vocabulary. The responsible discussion to have about the sales tax is whether it is a reasonable part of the state's mix of taxes. Any argument for an exception to it is an argument to just end it.
