Hillary Spurns Economists On Gas Tax
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Economy, Energy, Gas, Hillary, Taxes
Robert Reich notes something Hillary said during her appearance on ABC’s This Week today…
When asked this morning by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos if she could name a single economist who backs her call for a gas tax holiday this summer, HRC said “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists.â€She’s not going to put her lot in with economists?
Oh, really…
I know several of the economists who have been advising Senator Clinton, so I phoned them right after I heard this. I reached two of them. One hadn’t heard her remark and said he couldn’t believe she’d say it. The other had heard it and shrugged it off as “politics as usual.â€That’s the problem: Politics as usual.
Sure, but like this is any surprise coming from Clinton?
One last note from Reich…
[...] I’m not suggesting economists have all the answers. But when economists tell a president or a presidential candidate that his or her idea is dumb – and when all respectable economists around America agree that it’s a dumb idea – it’s probably wise for the president or presidential candidate to listen. When the president or candidate doesn’t, and proudly defends the policy by saying she’s “not going to put my lot in with economists,†we’ve got a problem, folks.By the way, Clinton’s gas tax proposal would save people an average of 30 cents a day over 3 months. And that’s only if prices remain steady and gas companies don’t raise prices, which is unlikely given this little economic principle we call “supply and demand.” Because if people think gas is cheaper, they’ll consume more of it, deplete supplies and therefore drive the price up.
And so it goes…
This entry was posted on Sunday, May 4th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Economy, Energy, Gas, Hillary, Taxes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
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