We could always, you know, take money from the Iraq war and use it in the manner you advocate. A gas tax holiday won't save people enough money to feed children, and if children are starving I highly doubt that it's because someone is paying a lot for gas.

Also, economists have a much better idea of how things like tax rebates and tax cuts work than you or I, I tend to trust them over some absurd assertion that high gas prices = starving children.

If the Gas Tax could have any effect on starvation and rising food costs, why on earth would you recommend only a 3 months holiday?  This is where Clinton latest talking point go so far off-course to show the blatant sham that it is.  She is now ties it to a Windfall Profits Tax - which makes no sense in strategy, schedule, or policy.  The Gas Tax Holiday stands absolutely no chance to be passed if tied to a Windfall Profits Tax - doing so only dooms it to fail in the time frame that she claims is so urgently needed.  So when is this "holiday"? Apparently next summer, not this one.

The Windfall Profits Tax is something most democrats endorse, especially Obama.  This is an area where we thought the two had identical policies, but apparently not.  Now it appears Clinton's version of this tax is simply temporary - a 3 month window where we exchange it for the Gas Tax.  It would be one thing if she was advocating a permanent shift, but then she would no longer be talking about a 3 month holiday.  

The problem with the gas tax was not that it was economic populism.  The problem with the gas tax was that it was a useless gesture that would save the average driver only about $30 over the entire summer.  That's $7.50 per month.  Twenty-five cents per day.  Even the poorest in our country would be little helped by $30 over four months.

Further, a good many of our poorest citizens don't own cars.  They rely on walking, public transportation, or getting rides with friends and family.  The gas tax break wouldn't put another penny in their pocket.

We do need to address poverty in this country.  It's a staggering and unconscionable moral problem.  But the gas tax break isn't and never was the way to go about it.  It's a meaningless political gesture, and nothing more.

We need a leader who will invest intelligently in our country's future, not simply throw money at a worthless whim.  That is how we will deal with poverty in our time.

If we want to reduce hunger in this country, we need to address unemployement and underemployment.  I don't want to get into immigration policy except to say that poor and minorities are the most adversely affected by inadequate immigration policy.

Even without addressing that issue, we could go a long ways just by increasing the amount of foodstamps a person is eligible to receive.  The current amounts are beyond paltry.  

Also, in the olden days, food stamps could only be used to buy domestic product.  I believe that was phased out although I think it was the right idea.

but I think we need to raise the gas tax (also on diesel) by about 500% (up to over a dollar), we then would give flat rebates to everyone below the 65th percentile for income in their county.  This rebate would be calculated out to be about 85% of the revenue from the increased tax with the rest of it going to transit (includes road/bridges/buses/trains) repair/construction.  A special rebate would be given to semi truckers that would reduce the tax to a 200% increase.

About your general point, I would say that we listen to economists when they know the most about a subject.  Paul Krugman had a blog post up about how economists know a lot about how the gas tax will impact the economy and can say definite things about it.

They are less definite about health care reform (I agree with Krugman here), and seem wobbly on the income gap (I am in your camp about this).

The problem is by eliminating the tax, demand would go up and prices would immediately go up, raising prices to pre-tax elimination levels.

An estimated $3 trillion dollars will be spent on the Bush/McCain Iraq war. That would feed a lot of hungry people.