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Gas-tax holiday: Two Pinocchios
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Comments (5)
FACTS? Hardly. That link leads to a blog... It's someone's biased opinions, misleadingly labeled "fact checker". Total sophistry.
The post completely disregards two very important points:
1. Clinton and McCain SERIOUSLY DIFFER in their proposals, and this blog post fails to get into that honestly and clearly. McCain can't pay for his tax holiday. Clinton will pay for it with a very clever tax on the oil companies that taxes them heavily on their profits (key point) after they reach a certain threshold.
2. The blog post fails to acknowledge that gas costs affect more than just prices at the pump. The effect on food costs alone could be a serious help to consumers. That is a HUGE point swept under the rug by that "fact checker".
April 29, 2008 9:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Clinton will pay for it with a very clever tax on the oil companies that taxes them heavily on their profits (key point) after they reach a certain threshold.
And who do you think is going to jack up their gas prices once they start paying those taxes?
April 29, 2008 9:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Left, Clinton will shift taxes from the excise tax to a profits tax. The incidence of the tax (who really pays) will not change. Consumers will still pay. The prices at the pump will not change, or will change very little. (And other factors such as supply disruptions due to weather, or political turmoil, or a continued fall in the dollar may all increase prices more than 18 cents per gallon).
Clinton avoids the problem of lost highway construction taxes, but it won't change prices. As Krugman said, "pointless".
Politically it's much worse. It's sham intended to make people think something will change when we all know it won't.
She'll say anything for votes. She won't tell the voters the hard truth.
April 29, 2008 10:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wasn't it in the South Carolina Primary that Clinton was all over Obama for his comments regarding "Republican ideas"?
Now, it's the North Carolina primary, and she's essentially co-opted a Republican idea? Granted, she put a spin on it with the whole windfall profits thing (which will just cause the oil companies to raise prices to cover the tax), but it still is essentially MCCAIN'S IDEA.
Why is no one calling Clinton out on her flip-flop on Republican ideas?
April 29, 2008 9:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because for her to flip flop at this point, she would have to sound like a Democrat.
April 29, 2008 10:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
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