Gasoline Chamber

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Political wrangling over gas continued Friday as Democrats and Republicans debated Senator Bob Dole's proposal to repeal a 1993 gasoline tax. Despite economists' predictions that gas prices are likely to fall on their own, Republicans are making the most of the recent 20-cent increase in gas prices in order to turn voter attention away from a minimum wage increase and towards GOP efforts to decrease taxes, says TIME's John Dickerson. "Dole had been getting beaten up on the issue of minimum wage for five weeks," says Dickerson. "This take some pressure off and lets him tell everyone that the Democrats raise taxes and Republicans get rid of them." The proposal also counters the charge that Dole is against the working man, says Dickerson, because he framed the repeal in universal terms of helping all people feeling the pinch at the pump. Dole himself made an unusual appearance before the Senate Finance Committee Friday to reiterate his plan for repealing the 4.3-cent per gallon surcharge before Memorial Day, one of the busiest driving days of the year. Democrats said the 1993 tax increase, which brings in $2.8 billion a year, is critical to reducing the federal budget deficit. "We need this revenue. I hope we keep it. We'll not get it back," said New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. But while Democrats insist that any repeal should only be discussed in terms of the overall budget, Republicans would like to use it as leverage on the minimum wage issue. President Clinton has said that he would consider the repeal and has ordered the sale of 12 million barrels of oil from the national reserve in an attempt to counteract the recent surge in prices.