Dream of gas tax holiday faltered over job losses

WASHINGTON -- The political vision of a summer gas tax holiday died a quick death in Congress, losing to a view that federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel will have to go up if they go anywhere. Despite calls from the presidential campaign trail for a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day tax freeze, lawmakers quickly concluded -- with a prod from the construction industry -- that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs.