Clinton regarding critics of her gas-tax plan: "don't have to worry about filling up their gas tank"

sabra

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Thu May-01-08 12:01 PM
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Clinton regarding critics of her gas-tax plan: "don't have to worry about filling up their gas tank"

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/05/hillary_clinton_goldilocks_of.html

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Speaking to a group comprised mostly of women at the town hall in Brownsburg, a western suburb of Indianapolis, Clinton said critics of her gas-tax suspension proposal are showing they don't understand the problems facing the working class.

"I find it, frankly, a little offensive that people who don't have to worry about filling up their gas tank or what they buy when they go to the supermarket think that it's somehow illegitimate to provide relief for the millions and millions of Americans who are on the brink of losing their job," she said.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/05/obama-rivals-su.html

Obama: Rivals Support of Gas Tax Holiday a 'Gimmick'

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Obama, who does not support the gas tax holiday, explained to seniors at a retirement home in Indiana that he believes savings would not translate into money in the pockets of drivers because gas companies would boost their prices.

"For us to pretend like we're solving the problem by giving people 30 cents a day, for a grand total of $28, and that's it. That's our plan to deal with gas prices and energy?� Obama questioned of his two opponents, lumping them together and dubbing it the "McCain-Clinton" proposal.

Obama compared the plan to the now (in)famous "Mission Accomplished" banner which hung behind President Bush after he landed on a Navy jet on an aircraft carrier off the California coast and declared the end of major combat in Iraq, a moment that has come to symbolize the administration's missteps and miscalculations with regard to the war.

"But that's how Washington works," Obama making a parallel with his opponents' support of the gas tax holiday, "People are more concerned about looking good for the cameras and for politics than they are at actually solving problems. You remember when George Bush five years ago put up a big sign in front of an aircraft carrier saying 'Mission Accomplished in Iraq. I�m sure they thought that was good politics. Except five years later we're still in this war in Iraq."

...

"You know what really burns me up is that we just read yesterday in the newspaper that Clinton's own advisers admitted that this wouldn't really work, this wasn't really gonna help lower gas prices, but they said it was good politics, because they said 'Obama was opposed to it - it might make him look bad.' But that's how Washington works."

http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080501/ELECTION01/805010328

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Sen. Barack Obama: I don't think we've finalized our schedule yet, but we're going to be in Indiana the majority of the time between now and Tuesday.

And we are going to keep talking about the things that people in Indiana are talking about. Folks are worried about gas prices, obviously, and there's a debate between myself and Sen. Clinton on this issue.

She wants to suspend the federal gas tax for three months, 30 cents a month, so that's saving the average family $28. And I think that's a gimmick. It's going to drain the federal highway trust fund, it's not going to provide the kind of relief people need. And so we've been emphasizing a middle-class tax cut for working families to deal not just with the rising cost of gas, but also groceries, health care premiums and more importantly that we make sure that we're putting ourselves on a path to energy independence. So we don't have to keep on doing this every year.

And that's why I've been a consistent supporter of alternative fuels and of raising fuel efficiency standards on cars as a way of making sure that we are reducing demand and ultimately reducing gas prices.