Hillary Clinton continues her dishonest campaign to say anything that might benefit her politically--no matter what the truth happens to be. The current debate over her and John McCain's proposed federal gas tax holiday is a case in point:
washingtonpost.com:
"...We have to agree with Sen. Barack Obama, the only candidate who has refused to play this game. 'It's not an idea to get you through the summer,' he said. 'It's an idea to get them through an election.' His opponents no doubt hope that Mr. Obama's stand will prove to be political suicide. We think it qualifies as political courage."
Also See:
- Gas Tax Holiday Is A Bad Idea | The Progress Report:
SUMMARY: Rising gas prices are hitting Americans hard, while oil companies rake in record profits . As the economy falters, calls to deal with the price of gasoline have reached the halls of Washington, D.C. "[L]awmakers are considering ideas they might have nixed months ago, including temporarily lifting the federal gas tax and halting deposits of oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve." Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) have called for a summer moratorium on the federal gas tax. McCain has not specified how to make up the $11 billion; Clinton has proposed a tax on windfall profits from oil companies to recoup losses to the federal highway fund. Economic analysts of all stripes have responded with horror, pointing out that " the benefits will flow to oil companies, not consumers." Even if a suspension of the gas tax led to lower prices, the rich would benefit the most, since "the more a family earns, the more they drive," notes Sam Davis of the Center for American Progress. Len Burman of the non partisan Urban Institute calls the proposal "a huge windfall for refiners." New York Times columnist Tom Friedman argues, " This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks." Newsweek's Jonathan Alter agrees, stating, "Suspending the federal gas tax is a crass ploy for votes." The Atlantic Monthly's James Fallows calls cutting the gas tax "destructive nuttiness" and "embarrassing." Economist Gilbert Metcalf called it "very short-sighted," noting, "If we want people to invest in energy-saving cars, we need some assurance that the higher price paid for these cars is going to pay off through fuel savings."
- Dumb as We Wanna Be | New York Times | Thomas L. Friedman:
"The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: “Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.”
Good for Barack Obama for resisting this shameful pandering."
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