Clinton Gas Tax Holiday: Hillary Attacks Economists

UPDATE: Former Clinton labor secretary, and now Obama supporter, Robert Reich, asks some Clinton economic advisers about her comments this morning:

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."

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."

That's the problem: Politics as usual.

The gas tax holiday is small potatoes relative to everything else. But it's so economically stupid (it would increase demand for gas and cause prices to rise, eliminating any benefit to consumers while costing the Treasury more than $9 billion, and generate more pollution) and silly (even if she won, HRC won't be president this summer) is worrisome. That HRC now says she doesn't care that what economists think is even more troubling.

Meanwhile, Politico's Ben Smith notes that Clinton's campaign is arguing that the gas tax distinction is a character issue:

Clinton has been sharpening her argument that policy distinctions between the candidates -- on health care, on banning foreclosures and on the gas tax -- are really a character issue, making her in touch and Obama out of touch.

Clinton aide Howard Wolfson put it as clearly as the campaign has on a conference call just now. Obama, he said, is "somebody who just doesn't seem to understand that middle-class families are hurting, working-class families are hurting, that they need relief. He would rather side with the oil companies over the interest of middle-class families."

Original Post:

Sen. Hillary Clinton is sticking to her policy proposal of a gas tax holiday, and the breadth of her now-famous statement that members of Congress are either "with us or against us" has been extended to economists. Today she joined George Stephanopoulos for a "This Week" town hall.

When asked to name a credible economist who backed her idea to use a windfall profit tax against oil companies to fund the suspension of a tax on gasoline, Clinton responded:

"I'm not going to put my lot in with economists"... Clinton added that the tax holiday would work "if we actually did it right."

She continued the line of attack, criticizing more generally "this mindset where elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantage the vast majority of Americans."

Watch it:

Clinton's proposal has met widespread resistance from policy analysts of all political persuasions.

Comments

[jonesgen57]

08:51 PM on 05/06/2008

The Clinton gang are con artists selling snake oil. Those who vote for her are suckers. If she wins every American will be a fraud victim.

[ankjack]

08:20 PM on 05/06/2008

My impression of Hillary Clinton:

Here boy! Here, you white boys! Chase the stick! It's over there, see? I'm one of you. Let's have a beer and a shot. Pay no attention to my voting record in the Senate, just fetch the stick, kay (you stupid peasants)? I don't throw my lot in with economists - not when people are so easily distracted. Nevermind that the gas-tax holiday will never pass - good thing, too, or I'd be SCREWED when gas prices actually went up. But hey! Why bother talking facts with people who are so anxious to be lied to?

[birdandcat]

07:45 PM on 05/06/2008

well of course Sen Clinton doesn't rely on economists. Back when she was a young lawyer at the Rose law firm and her Hub was the Gov of Ark, she made a couple of commodity trades that turned , I believe, a 1000 dollars into 100k. Now any economist in his right mind would tell you that this is not sound policy. But she went ahead and did it and it turned out just fine. Of course it helps if you have an adviser with abilities to see( or make ) the future happen.
too bad we can't wire public policy the way some folks can wire the commodity markets

[Coyote2]

05:50 PM on 05/06/2008

Clintons' in hock to the mob; if she wins, mob rules.
.

[BassMent]

05:09 PM on 05/06/2008

Clinton and McCain are both living in bizarro world. Neither of them are president! Nor will they be this summer! They're arguing about a plan that cannot possibly become law this year! What, she thinks Bush is NOT going to veto a windfall profits tax on oil companies?!?!? It's completely surreal.

She might as well be saying, "I don't care what the elite experts say... I will give every American a bright pink leather satchel, filled with tacos, tacos made of gold and silver!! And smothered in hot fudge!!!!"

It. Makes. No. Sense.

[oursin2008]

04:55 PM on 05/06/2008

No offense but the so called (blue collar whites) that keep voting for Hillary are very dumb. How can you people sit there and think that the Clintons give a damn about you. Come on but , are these not the same people who were responsible for the dreaded NAFTA, you know that bill that supposedly sent all your jobs overseas. Bill Clinton has a huge set of balls to even speak to the people who put him into office, only to be stabbed in the back. Yeah the nineties were great, but only if you weren't one of the people who were downsized. How can anything this man says to you invoke anything but rage. That very same man came before you said everything you wanted to hear some 16 years ago, and here he is at it again. I once thought people in this country were smarter than that but, I like Bill and Hillary know that is not the case. Why allow yourselves to be their puppets

[omahkohkiaayo]

07:03 PM on 05/06/2008

Billary, both of them, like the Bushes, are simply malignant narcissists and megalomaniacs who will do or say anything for power. Further, the 1990s were grossly overrated in terms of U.S. economic performance as were andy of Billary's purported contributions to the economy etc. Ever heard of the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy? It means after this 'therefore' because of this. Because an economic recovery followed Billary's installation into the White House 'therefore" the economic recovery (and any budget surpluses or declining deficits that typically accompany economic recoveries) must have been due to Billary. this is a basic logical fallacy.

How much good could have been done for the poorest of the poor with the political capital that was used to save Clinton's political hide from myriad scandals? How much contempt did Clinton exhibit for those who voted and worked for him with his reckless and self-indulgent sessions with Lewinsky et al? How much did Clinton potentially compromise national security putting himself in a position to be blackmailed and how much national security was actually compromised when Lewinsky's unsecure phone was tapped by the Mossad yielding all sorts of blackmail material that led to a FBI mole hunt for a deep-cover mole code-named "Mega" being called off and a pardon for Mossad-asset and wanted financier Marc Rich?

[citizenofmars]

12:26 AM on 05/06/2008

Hillary is EIGHT BELLES...

[ggmome]

11:53 PM on 05/05/2008

After Googleing the "Clinton Chronicles" and watching the entire video, I am shocked and appalled that anyone would drink the Koolade the two Bubbas are feeding the 'working class' of this Country...

Instinctively, I didn't consider 'them' for a third term, first the devaluation of Obama's wins, then the LIES, and mis-statements, mis quotes, and flip flopping, then the unadulterated divisive racial tactics they employed to pander the votes of the 28 percenters. But what angered me more was the Clintons sucking up to the Bushes, and actually using Rove's turds from his manual on how to steal an election. Today 1.1 million voters being purged from the rolls of Indiana Voters, in PA the DOJ voter Monitors, (Roves SS) being called in. Are signs to me they will 'steal' Indiana as they did PA. Not to mention the 80 Precincts in NYC (Harlem and Brooklyn) with ZERO votes for Obama.

In other words, there is NOTHING these Crooks won't do for this Presidency. Why? Because this is their last chance to further their Criminal Activities...

Go to Google, by entering Clinton Chronicles, and you will see just how CROOKED the Clinton's are The $30 savings on Gas Tax is a diversion... Throw away the Kool Ade! To some of you stop playing the race card! WAKE UP and smell the stench of these two.

Just to think I defended them when they were in the White House, God, forgive me..

[Lagniappe]

12:25 AM on 05/06/2008

Previously published in the NEW YORK POST


August 16. 1999

HILLARY'S WATERGATE SCANDAL

By Jerry Zeifman
IN December 1974, as general counsel and chief of staff of the House Judiciary Committee, I made a personal evaluation of Hillary Rodham (now Mrs. Clinton), a member of the staff we had gathered for our impeachment inquiry on President Richard Nixon. I decided that I could not recommend her for any future position of public or private trust.

Why? Hillary's main duty on our staff has been described by as "establishing the legal procedures to be followed in the course of the inquiry and impeachment." A number of the procedures she recommended were ethically flawed. And I also concluded that she had violated House and committee rules by disclosing confidential information to unauthorized persons.

Hillary had conferred personally with me regarding procedural rules. I advised her that Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter Rodino, House Speaker Carl Albert, Majority Leader Tip O'Neill and I had previously agreed not to advocate anything contrary to the rules already adopted and published for that Congress. I quoted Mr. O'Neill's statement that: "To try to change the rules now would be politically divisive. It would be like trying to change the traditional rules of baseball before a World Series."


Hillary assured me that she had not drafted and would not advocate any such rules changes. I soon learned that she had lied: She had already drafted changes, and continued to advocate them.

[Lagniappe]

02:54 PM on 05/06/2008

BTW,,Chris Matthews worked for Tip On'Neill .

[hector24]

05:10 PM on 05/06/2008

obviously ggmome doesn't understand the word "alleged" nor does it understand the word "motivation"....but i'm sure ggmome understand the word "moronic dumbshit"

[Araxiel]

10:16 PM on 05/05/2008

Having taught economics at the university level, my sense of this issue is that all the "elite" economists are correct. Clinton will obviously say or do anything to get votes. She is shameless, as is her husband. There isn't, to paraphrase what George Wallace said a generation ago, "not a dime's worth of difference" between Clinton and the the Republicans. Richard Nixon was more credible than Clinton, and he was pretty low on the honesty scale.

In addition to all this, just how does Clinton explain how she will actually get the 14.3 cents per gallon tax suspended? It won't happen. The economic costs for doing so will more than erase the $30.00 savings to the average driver.

Shame on you Hillary Clinton for being such a liar. Definitely not presidential material, only the illusion of presidential material.

[ThomasM]

01:42 PM on 05/06/2008

Seems Obama was Wrong about the gas tax.!!!!

The only scientific study done on the pass-through of the tax holiday savings to Illinois consumers (and those in Indiana, as well, whose citizens enjoyed a similar holiday) found that it actually worked to a large extent.

The study is titled "$2.00 Gas! Studying the Effects of a Gas Tax Moratorium," by Joseph J. Doyle Jr. and Krislert Samphantharak. Download the PDF here. The authors concluded that "the suspension of the 5% sales tax led to decreases in retail prices of 3% compared to neighboring states. And when the tax was reinstated, retail prices rose by roughly 4%."

This suggests that the tax holiday delivered at least 60 percent of the tax savings to motorists.

[Lagniappe]

02:28 PM on 05/06/2008

I thought that Hillary was rejecting input from those "elite" economists?According to her meme, even if they are right,they are wrong ,

[Maewest35]

09:55 PM on 05/05/2008

When asked what she did about the Wal Mart's benefits for workers when she served on the company's BOD, she replied, “Well, you know, I, that was a long time ago ... have to remember…”
SOUNDS LIKE BOSNIA

You can’t have it both ways. You can’t promote an image of being an intelligent woman who has a pile of facts at her fingertips AND READY FOR DAY ONE but at the same time, you suffer a sudden bout of amnesia when asked to answer for your record. And it would be an inconvenient record to defend.

And the board Hillary Clinton sat on was rabidly anti-union, was exploiting sweatshop labor around the world, discriminating against women workers, forcing workers to labor off the clock and destroying communities that did not want them. This should not be a shock: Clinton was a partner in the Rose law firm, one of the most active anti-union law firms in the country.

Her behavior then, when the spotlight was not on and her record did not matter to voters, should tell voters a lot more about her principles and values than the carefully orchestrated image she protrays now. The voters deserve to know.
Let's hope she won't forget about this gas tax after the Primary

[Araxiel]

10:20 PM on 05/05/2008

I can never understand the MSM's avoidance of posing this (Wal-Mart) issue to Clinton. I'd love to hear her explain those years. Of course, the MSM has hammered Obama on everything, from Wright, to Ayers, to flag pins, to hand over heart, to Michell Obama's statements. Shows like Morning Joe, Race to the Whitehouse, and the Situation Room, plus everything on Fox are travesties to the common sense and intelligence of most Americans.

[ThomasM]

01:21 PM on 05/06/2008

Why don't you guys get off Hillary about Wal-mart. Michelle Obama had ties to them too!!


http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/396874,CST-NWS-sweet23.stng

[ThomasM]

01:31 PM on 05/06/2008

Obama supporters seem to know nothing about their canidate candidate!!!!!



Michell Obama's ties with Wal-Mart.....

Wal-Mart is a target of organized labor in the U.S., a Democratic constituency playing a key role in determining the 2008 Democratic nominee. Obama's link to Wal-Mart through TreeHouse was a potential liability for Sen. Obama. On May 14, during an AFL-CIO forum in Trenton, N.J., Sen. Obama was asked about Wal-Mart. "I won't shop there," he said. Chief rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) served on the Wal-Mart board between 1986 and 1992.

In a SEC filing, TreeHouse stated Obama's resignation "is not due to any disagreement with the company on any matter.''

According to the Obamas' income tax returns, Michelle Obama collected $51,200 from TreeHouse in 2006. She leaves the board with an option to buy 2,266 TreeHouse shares at a strike price of $29.65. Shares closed at $28.10 Tuesday.

[ThomasM]

01:33 PM on 05/06/2008

Obama supporters seem to know nothing about their canidate candidate!!!!!



Michell Obama's ties with Wal-Mart.....

Wal-Mart is a target of organized labor in the U.S., a Democratic constituency playing a key role in determining the 2008 Democratic nominee. Obama's link to Wal-Mart through TreeHouse was a potential liability for Sen. Obama. On May 14, during an AFL-CIO forum in Trenton, N.J., Sen. Obama was asked about Wal-Mart. "I won't shop there," he said. Chief rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) served on the Wal-Mart board between 1986 and 1992.

In a SEC filing, TreeHouse stated Obama's resignation "is not due to any disagreement with the company on any matter.''

According to the Obamas' income tax returns, Michelle Obama collected $51,200 from TreeHouse in 2006. She leaves the board with an option to buy 2,266 TreeHouse shares at a strike price of $29.65. Shares closed at $28.10 Tuesday.

[Raisean]

09:17 PM on 05/05/2008

OMG! She is starting to sound more and more like Bush!

[ajax2]

08:52 PM on 05/05/2008

and commies.

[mortrefuge]

08:13 PM on 05/05/2008

Pat Oliphant

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20080505/cx_po_uc/po20080505

[realpolitic]

07:50 PM on 05/05/2008

Clinton is taking her campaign right from the Karl Rove playbook. All she has left to do is to bug her own campaign headquarters and blame it on Obama.

[RRonin]

07:28 PM on 05/05/2008

You have to realize that wherever Hillary Clinton is, whoever she is with, she is ALWAYS the smartest person in the room. Bush believes that he knows better because he is closer to God than anyone else. Clinton believes she knows better because she is smarter than anyone else. But Obama is the elitist.

[rshrink]

09:27 PM on 05/06/2008

And Ronin, since you are being a ditto headed complainer about elitism, try defining what kind of elitism is at work here. Seems to me if you are envious of how someone is better than you, you can always call them elitist and that will take care of it, right?