Surface tension in the Hoosier State
Hillary Clinton listens to owner Ben Miller during a factory tour at Miller Veneers in Indianapolis Tuesday. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
INDIANAPOLIS -- It's hard to conceive of a more metaphor-rich setting for a campaign event than a veneer factory, which Hillary Clinton used this afternoon as a backdrop in pushing for a summer holiday from the gas tax.
To Clinton and her supporters, her plan -- and Barack Obama's opposition to it -- exposes the Obama facade: vague promises of distant relief from rising oil prices and no meaty solution in the here -and-now. But to her critics, Clinton's proposal is textbook pandering, a cosmetic -- and near-sighted -- attempt to fool Indiana voters into casting ballots for her in next week's primary.
At the factory, a respected family-run business here called Miller Veneers, Clinton did her best to paint Obama as an out-of-touch city-dweller who doesn't understand the burdens fuel costs are placing on businesses and families in the hinterlands.
"Everywhere I go, people are talking to me about gas prices," she said. "Now, if you live in a city, it may not be that big a deal. But if you're like a lot of the people I meet who commute 60 miles, 75 miles, who like living in the country but their job is, you know, pretty far away from their home, this is going to help."
She also cast the difference between her and Obama on the issue as an example of the contrast she's tried to draw during the campaign -- that he talks, and she acts. "I'm the only candidate who will provide immediate relief at the pump, with a plan to make it happen -- turning talk into action," she said.
Obama is blasting Clinton's proposal as all but meaningless to consumers and touting instead a proposed $1,000 tax credit to middle-class families. "This isn't an idea designed to get you through the summer, it's designed to get them through an election," he said in North Carolina today of Clinton's plan.
But Clinton, sensing a chance in Indiana to capitalize on her recent success among working-class voters, went into great detail today in Indianapolis about her father's printing shop, saying it gave her an appreciation for "where things come from."
"Honestly, I think that some people look around the world they're in today and think that everything just kind of materialized without any intervention by human hand," Clinton said, emphasizing her words with a middle-American twang. "I know better, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that the hard-working middle-class families of this country are recognized for what they truly are: the backbone of our economy and the real character of our society."
Yup. Until it's convenient enough for the stuff to come from China. Then screw small businesses.
Bye bye Clinton, Ms. Pander.
Dear Fellow Americans,
Our Great-grand Nation, the United States of America
is and will face very critical “Challenges” in coming
years and decades.
The Problems will be tough and solutions would not
easy.
The key will the cool, calm, and collectedness of our
next President[ What I call Presidential Temperament’
The one remaining candidate who has consistently that
Presidential Temperament is Senator Obama.
His message of change makes sense. We have to stop
doing business in Washington old ways. The new ways of
lifting each other up and stopping tearing each other
down will not held our Great grand Nation. The
Terrorists around the world[real] and inadvertently
assisted by some shortsighted media [Who are party to
this perpetuation of psychological terrorism of
mis-information, dis-information, and duplicity], that
is what we do not need.
In order to send the message around the world that
America is get Senator Obama our next president. At
least on thing he has shown consistently is the
presidential Temperament. The Temperament of our next
president is very critical address internal and
internal challenges. Let us defeat real external
terrorists snd internal psychological terrorists once
for all.
God Bless out Great grand Nation, its diverse people,
and Senator Obama. He is the ans her to our future
stability, security, safety, and regain our status in the world. Wright is wrong and senator is right. I applaud him for maintaing Presidential Temperament during current primary process.
Yours truly,
COL.[retd] A.M.Khajawall
Disables American Veteran.
Las Vegas Nevada.
While Hillary is talking about solutions to problems Obama is dealing with issues of his Pastor, and rising false hopes. Solutions versus hope. I'll take solutions everytime.
Here we go again - lier Hillary at her best. The gas tax that she is proposing is going to hurt jobs in Indiana. Get a grip Indiana....lier Hillary is taking you for a ride. Go Obama.
Yeah, I really believe that a woman who can loan her campaign 5 million dollars knows a lot about the "working class" ikerm3, shut-up.
Clinton has nosolutions just expediencies . Obama has real solutions to all the problems of today. If you don't know that you have not looked into it.
How can you trust the guy who is afraid to use his full name. Though he had no choice in that , there is no reason for not using it. Go for Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Hey, this is the Clintons' world. We are just living in it. They get to define what is true and what is not. The American people are not smart enough to make decisions for themselves. We need Hilliary to tell us what we need and to decide for us. She says that we need to stop paying gas taxes. That money goes to repairing and building roads. If we cannot afford gas, who needs roads? Wow! Hilliary is really on top of this issue. Look at all that she had done during her years in the Senate to manage gas prices and health care costs. That's the kind of leadership that this country needs. In fact, let's just dispense with the media and elections after HRC takes over. Like Hilliary says, the media and the people never get it right anyway.
Think about it: a gas tax 'holiday' means less money going to fix our roads. That means less money going to paychecks for the people who fix the roads. It sure doesn't hurt the Big Oil execs, it sure doesn't give people an alternative like decent public transportation. Does Senator Clinton think we are all dumb? Is she planning on running as Vice Pres with John McCain? I guess they could harmonize on 'Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb,bomb Iran'.
talk about solutions all you want, if the solutions don't work, you're still in the same position you were when you started, minus the time you spent. and since time is money.. well.
stop offering us cosmetic measures to change our energy needs and start with the real change.
Do you really think that they 18 cents the government takes from the gas tax will in any way lower your gas prices? Wake up. Gas prices will go to whatever level the oil companies want to push it to and any tax savings will go right in the pocket of the oil companies. Clinton knows this. She is just trying to fool you into thinking she actually cares about anything other than getting elected. More and more Hillary Clinton starts to remind me of George Bush.
Well said, Col Khajawall. Barack will always be a thorn in the side of 'conventional' wisdom --- the old style politicians who slice and dice demographics, constructing strategy and tactics with a calculator in one hand and a bunch of poll results in the other.
I hope the American people keep their eyes on the prize, and don't get lost in the media hype over Rev. Wright and all the other poitical soap operas that replace political analysis.
This is more of a test of the American people than it is about any of the candidates.
My vote was, is and will be for Barack --- -no doubt.
Clinton may offer "solutions", but that doesn't mean they are good ideas. This idea is not going to help us get out of the economic mess we're in, but it might help her get a little closer to the presidential office.
Obama is only forced to deal with his Pastor because the media is making it an issue. He has solid solutions, just like Senator Clinton, and this idea that she is all action and he is all talk is ridiculous.
This summer tax holiday only will delay our independence on oil, increase the demand for it across the board, and it will end up increasing the cost of oil due to the demand, thus outdoing any of the tax relief they truly want to do.
I wish people would wake up.
So far anything important Hillary was assigned or trusted to do she failed, let’s start with Healthcare plan she caved under pressure and gave up, then comes Iraq war vote she caved under pressure and voted for it. Let’s not talk about the personal issues, what else yes Bosnia under fire tour, then the presidential campaign she has changed twice her campaign staff, she is under debt, she has not paid lot of bills and most of all she has not paid the healthcare of her workers.
She cannot close the deal on campaign where she started with 51% and Obama came from nowhere and become front runner. She is making one point that she is wining big stats and Obama is winning small states and one the other had she wants to paint him out of touch from small towns. Does not make any sense.
Media is keeping her in the news because of the drama they can play on TV to improve the rating. Fact is that the race is over; she is just tagging along to destroy the Democrat candidate.
A fool believes the suspension of Federal Gas Tax solves gasoline prices. Cut down on the driving, share a ride, use mass transit and conserve is the more reasonable alternative.
Change your vehicle to one with better gas mileage too if possible.
This is pandering by John McCain and Hillary running with the idea. Her solutions are anything even if they can't be paid for like she's planning. Remember she championed NAFTA as First Lady, look at manufacturing job losses for citizens as her and Bill made hundreds of Millions in years after that moment.
It's easy to promise "real" solutions when they are based on total fantasy. Clinton can't possibly get her proposed "windfall profits tax" through congress, let alone the White House. Besides, her supposed solution is to remove a demand-side tax and apply it to the supply-side. Can someone please explain to me what the difference is? A tax on fuel purchases and a tax on fuel suppliers amounts to the exact same thing.
So where is Hillary's solution? Eliminating a tax for a couple months does nothing to address the problem, economic or energy wise.
Also how many places is Hillary going to claim as home? Wasn't she just saying how her childhood in PA shaped her values. Oh... that primary is over, time to make the next claim.
Here we go again; Hillary attempting to dupe the good folks of Indiana into thinking she shares their roots, just like 8 years being a wife in the white-house make her an authority on world politics. She is no more in touch with reality than
Dub-ya is. Her gas price fix is without a doubt ludicrous; unless we get off our big fat petooties and demand recourse; the price per gallon will escalate to $7/8.00 a gallon before we can blink, and who do you think profits from this; big business & our pious politicians. Our economy is in the toilet and Washington is going to pull the handle and flush us if we don't stand up and SAY ENOUGH. We have a narrow choice this time but if you really truly analyze all the facts we need 'THE CHANGE" ------OBAMA for at least 4 years. Let's hope Dub-Ya does as little damage as possible for the remainder of his term. P.S. Mcain is going to be just as bad...........
The folks reading this in Boston, just don't get it. You're outside the spin zone! There isn't an election going on in Mass. for several months and then you will be in the spin zone. Some of the folks who wake up and glance at the news the week before the election will lap this up. And like some of the MA voters for Sen. Clinton, these afflicted will have buyers remorse when they leave the spin zone. Of course, then it will be too late.
Which lies are the best? Big ones, repeated often.
HRC's clamoring to seat the MICH delegates and to count the MICH votes for her.
What's wrong with that picture? She told New Hampshire in the fall, that MICH does not count and should not count. Her own advisors voted in the DNC committee not to count MICH and now they go on TV and clamor for MICH to count. Please Indiana, reject the liars, two faced liars, say anything, liars.
Her new campaign manager's plan, say whatever the polls say the next state wants to hear.
Does anyone notice that she never mentions the ending of the Constitution by Bush? That's because she intends to run the US as a totalitarian regime.
She doesnt say she will restore habeas corpus and let you know why you are arrested, because she wants to be able to disappear her political foes.
Her candidacy depends on an uneducated electorate.
Trust me, this "gasoline tax break" that Hillary and John are proposing will go directly to Oil companies’ coffins. Companies charge you as much as you can pay. So this “tax break” they will fill really quickly. Hillary and John have us for idiots trying to give us cheap sugar candy in time when we are sick and need bitter but expensive therapy.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
Send your comments to masspolitics@globe.com
browse this blog
by categoryINside Boston.com