Obama calls gas tax holiday a 'stunt'

MUNSTER, Ind., May 2 (UPI) -- Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., campaigning in Indiana before Tuesday's primary, Friday called proposals for a gas tax holiday an "election year gimmick."

Obama told workers at the Munster Steel Co.: "It's a political stunt. And that's what Washington ends up doing time and time again."

Obama told the crowd that suspending the tax between Memorial Day and Labor Day would at best save them 30 cents a day, The Indianapolis Star reported.

"A quarter and a nickel. You can't even buy a cup of coffee at 7-Eleven," he said. "And you would only get those savings if the oil companies don't decide to go ahead and jack up their prices to fill the gap of whatever was left after the tax was suspended."

Income tax cuts for the middle class are a better way to help Americans pay for gas, healthcare or a college education, Obama said.

U.S. House of Representatives leaders told Clinton the gas tax holiday proposal is dead.

Obama also said Friday there is "no doubt" Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina -- in which he and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., are vying for the Democratic presidential nomination -- would be "tight races."