Redstate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Economic Antediluvianism | Economy | Hillary Clinton — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

I suppose that one of the reasons why Hillary Clinton finds herself unexpectedly playing the role of underdog in the fight for the Democratic Presidential nomination is that she strikes people as one of the most arrogant know-it-alls imaginable (strange, I know, since she is the one trying to tag Barack Obama as the "elitist," but still . . .). She showed her tendency towards know-it-allism yet again just over the weekend:

This morning, George Stephanopoulos began his televised interview with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton by asking if she could name a single economist who supported her plan for a gas-tax suspension.

Mrs. Clinton did not. "I'm not going to put in my lot with economists," she said on the ABC program "This Week." A few moments later, she added, "Elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantages the vast majority of Americans."

She also said that despite the doubts of actual economists, she was sure that if her Administration got her tax plans "right," then "it would be implemented effectively." The haughtiness is breathtaking. Clinton actually thinks that the paltry savings from a gas tax holiday will be enough to (a) overcome the increase in demand, which will drive prices back up and (b) will overcome the costs that will be passed on to the consumer thanks to her foolhardy plan of imposing a windfall profits tax on the oil companies. Indeed, she doesn't even acknowledge that the oil companies would naturally pass along the costs to the consumer in order to protect their bottom line--which is entirely what one would expect as a result of misguided tax policy that ends up punishing business. As far as Hillary Clinton is concerned, there really is such a thing as a free lunch and her tax plan provides it. If it is ever implemented, consumers will find out that free lunches have gone the way of the dinosaur. And yes, John McCain is also wrong to think that a gas tax holiday would work but at least he doesn't compound his error by opting for the Clintonian windfall profits tax.