Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has introduced legislation that would suspend at least part of the federal excise tax on gasoline for the rest of the year, and the entire tax if the price of gas tops $2 a gallon.  As Sen. Lott explained, "My legislation offers immediate and sorely needed relief for today's drivers who are suffering the financial consequences of this Administration's inaction on a national energy policy."

The biggest target of the proposed rollback is 1993's 4.3-cent per gallon excise tax increase.  Back then, America was struggling with a budget deficit and the Clinton administration argued that increasing the excise tax on gasoline was necessary to balance the nation's checkbook.  Vice President Al Gore broke a tie in the Senate to pass that bill, and later, money raised from the tax was funneled into the Highway Trust Fund.

Although the pro-tax side says a suspension would drain the Trust Fund, Senator Lott says money from the budget surplus would replace any lost revenue.  After all, Democrats raised the excise tax specifically to address the budget deficit, so perhaps we should wonder why the tax is still needed at all.

The average price of gas was $1.25 a gallon around Christmastime.  Three months later, the price had jumped more than 25 cents.  Soon, gas could cost over $2 a gallon.  Meanwhile, Americans are seeing more of their hard-earned money go straight out the exhaust pipe.

When gas prices rise, we don't just pay more at the pump.  We pay more for airline tickets, shipping packages, and even food at the supermarket, because everyone passes higher fuel costs on to the consumer.

Congress can afford to suspend the gas tax much more easily than Americans can afford to keep paying it.  More than ever, we need and deserve a holiday from the unnecessary burden of federal gas taxes.