From my idol, the all-wise, all-knowing radio talk show host Michael Medved.
OK, Medved’s thinks the suspension of the gas tax is a dumb idea, and he acknowedges that it was his man McCain’s idea first. But at least McCain isn’t combining it with a crackdown on the oil companies, which will certainly drive up the price of oil. It’s also not a budget buster compared to the spending plans offered up by Hillary and Obama, on which policy experts have offered their elite opinion:
Along similar lines, Mrs. Clinton’s proposed stimulus plan was widely considered to be more complex and less effective than Mr. Obama’s suggestion of quick tax cuts, which was the same approach Congress and the White House ultimately took.
But Mr. Obama gets lower marks from budget experts for fiscal discipline. His package of tax cuts and new spending would cost roughly $300 billion a year, while Mrs. Clinton’s would cost less than $250 billion. Economists said they were skeptical he could pay for his program without increasing the deficit.
“Obama has a shorter list of tax breaks,” said Leonard E. Burman, director of the Tax Policy Center in Washington, “but has some really big items on it.”
Policy analysts specifically criticize Mr. Obama’s proposal to eliminate income taxes for senior citizens with up to $50,000 in income. Thanks to Social Security and Medicare, the federal government already spends a large amount of resources on older citizens.
“The tax system already does a pretty good job of protecting poor and near-poor seniors,” said Richard Kogan, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.
