Brokaw Calls For New Gas Tax

On 'Meet The Press' this morning, in his last appearance as the interim host, Tom Brokaw suggested his guest, President-elect Obama, take advantage of surprisingly low gasoline prices nation wide by taxing the price back up to 4 dollars a gallon, since, as Brokaw said,"the American people were prepared to pay that."

I don't know anyone who was prepared to pay 4 dollars a gallon. In all my years of standing at those god forsaken pumps at thousands of different crappy stores filled with beer and soda refrigerators and junk food I have never had so many conversations with so many fellow Americans about the price of the juice we were pouring in our tanks. No one was understanding or prepared for it. Everyone was suspicious and angry about it. How Tom missed that is obvious. He is cushioned from the reality of everyday life and probably hasn't pumped his own gas in decades.

Brokaw's thinking seemed to be based on the discouragement of those Americans who drive larger, less fuel efficient cars. This is garden variety thinking on environmental fears of global warming and a bogus national defense argument. One would think Tom, being from South Dakota would understand the needs of rural farmers and ranchers who are reliant on such vehicles to manage their businesses. These folks rely on truckers, as well, to transport those goods to their respective means and ends. This all adds to the prices of these various products derived from these commodities. I was profoundly befuddled by Brokaw's naivete about basic economic forces in regards to fuel price. I think it is obvious that the spike in energy costs, beginning with Hurricane Katrina, were the catalyst leading to the current mortgage failures. People on the economic edge were lent money when fuel costs were low. After Katrina, gas prices spike over 2 bucks a gallon. The rest is history. It wasn't long before prices rose across the board and family budgets were strained to the point, in many cases, of deciding between paying the mortgage or buying groceries and keeping the lights on.

As he signed off he thanked all of "us," the people who watch 'Meet The Press' in his grand fatherly way. Without a twinge of irony he advised incoming host David Gregory that this program is important beyond the Potomac. It is important to Middle America, which is their code for hicks in the sticks, rednecks, farmers, the great unwashed. It is the equivalent of "colored" for his generation, the progeny of "the greatest." To Brokaw, I am sure, none of this means much. He loved his NBC news, sure. And maybe he is civil to his contemporaries at the competition. But, the fact that he would jack the price of gas back up to four bucks without the slightest reservation is truly disappointing.