Now: It’s the Economists Who Are Stupid.*
Robert Reich (Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, now endorsing Obama) has some good points to make on the subject of HRC’s push for the “gas tax holiday.” Economists have been advising her that it’s a bad idea and will make things even worse in the long run. Her response, "I'm not going to put my lot in with economists,” is disturbing. He writes:
"In case you’ve missed it, we now have a president who doesn’t care what most economists think. George W. Bush doesn’t even care what scientists think. He rejects all experts who disagree with his politics. This has led to some extraordinarily stupid policies.
I’m not saying HRC is George Bush. And 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."
It’s also disturbing that both she and Bill have spoken out against gas tax elimination in the past. She is on record as supporting the gas tax back in 2000 when she was running for Senate, and publicly stated:
“[…] one of my fundamental disagreements during this campaign with my opponent was when he called for the repeal of the gas tax. Now, the gas tax is one of those few taxes that New York actually gets more money from Washington than we send. And we are totally reliant on it to do things like finishing I-86 in the Southern Tier, or the fast-ferry harbor works up in Rochester, as well as the work we need to do here in the city. So you can count on me to support infrastructure, […]”
Here’s Bill Clinton at a press conference in 2000 explaining that a gas tax holiday would not pass the savings on to the consumer:
Q. Mr. President, in light of the fact that OPEC has decided to increase production, do you see it as a mistake for the Senate to proceed with a bill that would suspend the gas tax? […]
A. […] the problem I have with it, apart from what it might do to the Highway Trust Fund and the spending obligations that have already been incurred by the acts of Congress, the budgets, is that I'm not sure that the savings would be passed along to the consumers in addition to that.[…]
So... voted for the war... would nuke Iran... recently turned pro-gun... thinks McCain would be a better choice for President than Obama... has been caught on tape completely fabricating stories about her "experience"... wants a gas tax break instead of infrastructure support and jobs, pro-free trade (in spite of lies claiming the opposite)... doing her best to take down the Democratic party...
{groan}
Tags: Clinton - Hillary - Obama - Tax
*(derived from something I saw in a comment out there in blogworld…)
4 comments:
Yep. Hillary Lieberman Lives!
{sigh}
Robert Reich Rocks, btw. :)
Ain't it the truth!! (both counts). Can you believe Lieberman was on the ticket with Gore? Gaaah. What a pod person.
But we continue to give the American people more credit than they deserve. This is a voting block that was upset because Obama doesn't always wear a flag pin. THIS is what concerns people. It's exasperating.
My point is that while I think Obama is dead-on about the gas tax issue, Clinton is being somewhat successful at painting him as someone who doesn't care about average Americans. This is because whenever Americans hear anything about a tax being suspended or repealed, they're all for it, no matter how stupid that decision might be.
It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out but I still say that when you have a population where 80% have read 1 book or less in the past year, you can't expect much.
While economists should be heeded, it is glaringly apparent to many that continued growth, the goal of economists, is no longer tenable.
Check this article.
"The Hippies Were Right All Along About Happiness"
article published in the Financial Times 19 January 2006
http://tinyurl.com/637dd6
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