Globally Rational

A few days ago, Hillary Clinton decided that economists are wrong about the potential effect of a gas tax rebate. Her exact words: “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists … We’ve got to get out of this mindset where somehow elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantage the vast majority of Americans”.

So, according to Hillary, the economists screwed up the math because they don’t need the rebate money as much as other people do (I have to mention here that Bill/Hillary earned $109 million in the last 5 years. She blamed them for being ‘elite,’ which automatically makes them out of touch with the strife of the average person; apparently, it doesn’t matter if the rebate will hurt the long-term economy, as long as it gives people a little bit of money today (and gets Hillary some votes). Then she went so far as to say that she thinks we should get out of the mindset that the experts have the best understanding of a situation. Is she saying that, as President, she will ignore the experts’ recommendations (regarding the big picture) and just worry about what is more important now?

I always thought that heavy tax cuts were a Republican premise. In the whole world, we see the best quality of life in the countries with the highest taxes; when the government has the money to provide universal healthcare and a successful school system, the people are happier. So why is Hillary abandoning these traditional principles and jumping on the reduce-gas-prices bandwagon? And does she seriously think that getting rid of this tax will reduce our long-term dependence on oil?

I think any reasonable person knows the answer to both of those questions: she is saying whatever it takes to get some votes.

Side note: Scott Adams also wrote a great post about this today on his blog. Click here to check it out; he proposes that we form a sort of a political party that demands politicians to pay attention to expert analysis.

Popularity: 40% [?]

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!