Why I prefer Obama over Clinton.
It took me months to arrive at this. When caucuses came through I had no preferences. Had I voted for Clinton then, I would rue it today.
Simply put, with her support of the Summer Gas Tax vacation, she has revealed that there is really no difference between her and a Republican in any way that matters. Obama opposes this. It unlocks a few important points:
1) Both McCain and Clinton know that Americans would welcome some relief at the pump. Both are willing to throttle an important revenue stream for infrastructure projects in order to look the hero on the eve of an election.
2) It is consistent with Republican economic philosophy to privilege individual wealth over the public weal. Therefore one would expect this of McCain, but for Clinton, it represents a betrayal of core Democratic principles to prefer short term extra-pocket-money over the long term needs for investment in our nation.
3) In a market where Gas Prices can vary by as much as 50 cents in a week, it is not likely to make a difference. If people show a willingness to pay $3.50 a gallon, and the government ceases to take its 0.27/gal share, I see no reason that the oil companies would refrain from taking the difference for themselves.
4) Cutting revenues at a time when the war that McCain and Clinton BOTH voted for is costing us well more than we can afford is unconscionably irresponsible.
So when all is said and done, I think what we see here is an excellent indicator that if elected, Clinton will capitulate to the very values her supporters oppose. Yeah, she'd be better than McCain on the KulturKampf issues of abortion and maybe gay-rights (though I do not see her taking Bill to task for signing the DOMA when it was politically convenient to do so). But that Obama would match or beat her on those seems a given. The fact that he has the political courage to choose a course of economic restraint rather than junping on the McCain-Clinton "Ponies for the People!" bandwagon strikes me as the mark of a statesman rather than a political hack.
Simply put, with her support of the Summer Gas Tax vacation, she has revealed that there is really no difference between her and a Republican in any way that matters. Obama opposes this. It unlocks a few important points:
1) Both McCain and Clinton know that Americans would welcome some relief at the pump. Both are willing to throttle an important revenue stream for infrastructure projects in order to look the hero on the eve of an election.
2) It is consistent with Republican economic philosophy to privilege individual wealth over the public weal. Therefore one would expect this of McCain, but for Clinton, it represents a betrayal of core Democratic principles to prefer short term extra-pocket-money over the long term needs for investment in our nation.
3) In a market where Gas Prices can vary by as much as 50 cents in a week, it is not likely to make a difference. If people show a willingness to pay $3.50 a gallon, and the government ceases to take its 0.27/gal share, I see no reason that the oil companies would refrain from taking the difference for themselves.
4) Cutting revenues at a time when the war that McCain and Clinton BOTH voted for is costing us well more than we can afford is unconscionably irresponsible.
So when all is said and done, I think what we see here is an excellent indicator that if elected, Clinton will capitulate to the very values her supporters oppose. Yeah, she'd be better than McCain on the KulturKampf issues of abortion and maybe gay-rights (though I do not see her taking Bill to task for signing the DOMA when it was politically convenient to do so). But that Obama would match or beat her on those seems a given. The fact that he has the political courage to choose a course of economic restraint rather than junping on the McCain-Clinton "Ponies for the People!" bandwagon strikes me as the mark of a statesman rather than a political hack.