Ignore Those ‘Elitist’ Experts

The Democratic primary campaign is getting kind of silly. When asked to defend her plan for a summer long gas tax holiday (which will save you $28) by naming a credible economist who think it’s a good idea, Hillary Clinton said: “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists.”

So getting the opinion of experts is somehow a bad idea?

She went on to explain, “We’ve got to get out of this mind-set where somehow elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantage the vast majority of Americans.” Oh, so they’re elitist experts. Reminds me of a Jon Stewart bit from the Daily Show about how we should want the very elite running the country (“If you don’t think you’re better than us, then what the &#@% are you doing?!”). I can understand Clinton’s concern that we do what’s best for the vast majority of Americans, but I don’t think that means dismissing expert advice and accusing them of being elitist. That’s not populist, that’s paranoid. Or perhaps political.

The only thing that makes this gas tax debate more interesting is that Clinton and Republican candidate John McCain agree on it.

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