Bloomberg and Many Economists Slam Clinton, McCain Gas Tax Plan

May 1, 2008 01:57 PM EST

NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg called a summer-long suspension of the gas tax favored by Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican John McCain a dumb idea.

The New York mayor, who flirted with the idea of an independent presidential bid, praised Democrat Barack Obama for opposing the plan to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.2 cent diesel tax during the peak driving months of the summer.

All three candidates covet Bloomberg's endorsement. The mayor has spoken highly of Obama and McCain in introducing the two at recent events in New York.

Speaking to reporters at City Hall, Bloomberg said of the gas tax holiday,"It's about the dumbest thing I've heard in an awful long time, from an economic point of view. We're trying to discourage people from driving and we're trying to end our energy dependence ... and we're trying to have more money to build infrastructure."

He cited those three reasons for opposing the gas tax holiday favored by McCain and Clinton. Obama has said the savings would not be significant for the average individual, and Bloomberg agreed.

"The 30 bucks is not going to change anybody's lifestyle," he said. "The billions of dollars that we would otherwise have in tax revenues can make a big difference as to what kind of a world we leave our children."

The billionaire mayor said in February that he had decided not to run for president but has dangled the possibility of his endorsement. The Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent has ties to all three candidates.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/01/bloomberg-slams-clintons_n_99698.html

____________________________________________________________________________________

Clinton-McCain gas tax holiday slammed as bad idea

By Alister Bull
Wed Apr 30, 9:52 AM ET



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A gas tax holiday proposed by U.S. presidential hopefuls John McCain and Hillary Clinton is viewed as a bad idea by many economists and has drawn unexpected support for Clinton rival Barack Obama, who also is opposed.

Score one for Obama," wrote Greg Mankiw, a former chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. "In light of the side effects associated with driving ... gasoline taxes should be higher than they are, not lower."

Republican McCain and Democrat Clinton, who is battling Obama for their party's nomination, both want to suspend the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax during the peak summer driving months to ease the pain of soaring gas prices. The tax is used to fund the Highway Trust Fund that builds and maintains roads and bridges.

Economists said that since refineries cannot increase their supply of gasoline in the space of a few summer months, lower prices will just boost demand and the benefits will flow to oil companies, not consumers.

"You are just going to push up the price of gas by almost the size of the tax cut," said Eric Toder, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington.

Obama criticized the plan as pure politics and said the only way to lower the price of gas is to use less oil.

"It would last for three months and it would save you on average half a tank of gas, $25 to $30. That's what Senator Clinton and Senator McCain are proposing to deal with the gas crisis," he said on Tuesday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

more here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080430/pl_nm/usa_politics_gastax_economists_dc

Pure pandering by the both of them. And she's sticking to it!

It's not going to win her any votes this Tuesday.

He disagrees with the plan, as I do, but slams?

Why do they do this? I read an article the other day that said "Hillary Blasts Obama Pastor" when all she said was she disagreed with some of his views and acknowledged that Obama had indicated the same. Blasts?

Ugh, I hate the news.

If that's not a slam, it's at least a swift kick in the ass

If they go for Hillary, we know that when Barack Obama becomes President, he needs to reinvest into Indiana's school system. :rofl:

It's a winner for her, no doubt!



:rofl:



K&R