INDIANAPOLIS | With a holiday travel weekend approaching, Democrat Jill Long Thompson reached across the aisle Tuesday in her latest attempt to pressure Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels into suspending the state sales tax on gasoline.
"Sen. John McCain is in town today for a fundraiser with the governor, and I hope the two of them have a chance to talk about prices at the pump," said Long Thompson, who is seeking to unseat Daniels in November. "Senator McCain actually understands that there is a big problem out there for families, and he proposed a suspension of the federal gas tax to help."
McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in waiting, was in Indianapolis on Tuesday. But Daniels is on vacation this week and did not attend the fundraiser.
The governor calls McCain an old friend and endorsed his presidential campaign last year. But when it comes to a gas tax holiday, such as a plan backed by McCain, Daniels is more in line with Democrat Barack Obama, who has called the idea a "gimmick."
Long Thompson wants an immediate 60-day suspension of Indiana's 7 percent sales tax on gasoline. She sought to distinguish her push from the federal proposals decried by her party's presumptive presidential nominee.
"This is very different from what Senator Barack Obama is talking about because this is a sales tax on gasoline," Long Thompson said. "We are one of only seven states that charges a sales tax on gasoline."
A spokesman for Daniels' re-election campaign declined to respond to Long Thompson's call to action, instead pointing to a new television ad in which the governor says, "We can't change world gas prices, but we can cut property taxes."
A Daniels' blueprint approved by legislators this spring is expected to reduce homeowner taxes in Northwest Indiana by about 25 percent this year.
Long Thompson, a former congresswoman from northeast Indiana, said her plan to shelve the gasoline sales tax through August would cost the state about $122 million. Consumers would save about $3.50 per $50 fill-up, or about $30 over two months.
In April, both McCain and Hillary Clinton proposed suspending the 18.4 cent federal gasoline tax, which funds highway projects.
