Clinton's plan for a gas tax suspension: a) cannot make any substantial difference for anyone (even if you believed it was not harmful); b) has no support among economists (which she admits, see link below); and c) has no substantial support in Congress. The whole "plan" seems aimed at one thing: selling "working class" voters on the idea that she cares about them and Obama does not. Are people really that dumb? I have to believe that people see this for what it is -- another political lowlight. link
People only will buy that obvious pandering if no one points out how stupid it is. It makes sense on the surface, so it will glide along the surface until someone shoots it down. And if Clinton and McCain agree, it seems even more reasonable. I think this quote from your article sums her up: “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists,” Clinton told George Stephanopolous on ABC’s ‘This Week’ after he asked her to name a single economist supporting her plan. “If we actually did it right, if we had a president who used all the tools of the presidency, we would design it in such a way that it would be implemented effectively.” For those who don't know why this is a bad idea, listen to Obama tear it apart. (2 minutes long) Hillary has said that she would use windfall profit taxes on oil companies to pay for it so it wouldn't take money out of the highway fund... but she's already said she'd use that windfall income to pay for something else. heh
Obama's right to oppose the temporary gas tax freeze, but some of his reasoning/explanation is actually pretty disgusting.
At best, the temporary suspension of the fed gas tax would save the average American less than $50 over the three month period which it is proposed. It will take money directly out of the highway fund. Lastly, Obama said when they tried this exact same thing in Illinois years ago, the oil companies and gas retailers just bumped the price right back where it was and made more money. So it had no effect at all on gas prices. Total savings to consumers of gas... ZERO. Z E R O. Nada. This is exactly what Obama told Russert this morning. Which of those reasons didn't you like. They all sound pretty damn good to me. Hillary is pandering. And YES many people are that stupid to fall for it.
It has also been noted that taking funds from the highway fund in this way may cause a loss of jobs (those that perform the construction paid for by the highway fund).
hillary's plan is to take the money lost (via the gas tax) from the profits of the oil and gas companies. This is a bad idea on so many levels i don't know where to begin. however, if this were to happen, i will tell you that the oil companies will raise the prices of gas to make up for the offest and the (imo illegal) government taking.
Both Clinton and Obama are full of terrible economic ideas, most of which are some form of pandering or another. This one just stands out by being especially shameless.
YOu dont get as high as Clinton and Obama in politics without pandering. Just ask Ron Paul. He doesnt pander to anyone and he's a political lightweight. Smart, wonkish type people (which I believe applies to both HRC and Obama) dont win high office by being that way. They win by suspending their "smartness" and giving the public lots of federal $$$$, no matter how stupid it is. People want bread and circuses and vote for poltiicians pandering to those goals.
Bad idea when McCain proposed it forums.hornfans.com/php/wwwthreads/showflat.php? Bad idea now. It may be just my imagination, but it seems like Hilliary is turning into a Republican more and more as the convention approaches....
While it won't make a significant impact the message that is being sent by Clinton and McCain is that this is about today and not waiting for tomorrow.
Obama is doing something real to help gas prices... Nigerian oil rebels mulling over Obama truce appeal.
What is really lame is that Clinton made this proposal (which, because she is REALLY smart, she knows is ********) for the singular purpose of doing what she is doing now -- running ads in Indiana and North Carolina asserting that Obama is with Big Oil and against the regular guy. So it's not just pandering -- which would be refreshing at this point -- it's blatantly dishonest.LINK
It is sad that none of the candidates have a real plan to deal with energy prices and specifically a plan to be energy independent before their term is up. We put a man on the moon but can't figure out how to best use our natural resources to prevent a tremendous amount of wealth from going to people who don't like us.
