Are 'old politics' contagious?
Apparently it is! You know this protracted argument about whether Hillary's gas tax proposal constitutes pandering? While Hillary calls it short-term relief, Obama calls it old politics. Either way, it seems that Obama's campaign has misquoted New York Times columnist and economist, Paul Krugman, in their TV attack ad, implying that Clinton's plan would increase oil industry profits. Oh, the irony- using old politics to attack old politics. ABC News:
As we recently fact-checked, Sen. Barack Obama has been running a TV ad that falsely uses a quote from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman about Sen. John McCain's gas tax holiday plan and applies it to Sen. Hillary Clinton's plan. Last night Krugman blogged on the matter."I did not say that the Clinton proposal would increase oil industry profits," Krugman writes. "If the ad implies that I did, it should be retracted. The Clinton proposal is financed by an excess profits tax. At worst, it sends money in a circle. In practice, it would probably reduce oil industry profits at least slightly, since the rise in the pre-tax price of gasoline probably wouldn’t wipe out all of the tax cut. I was very clear when I wrote about the Clinton proposal that while I didn’t think it was good policy, it was not the same as McCain’s, and relatively harmless. If the Obama people are suggesting otherwise, they’re being deliberately dishonest."
Obama, Clinton, attack ads, gas
