Obama, Clinton battle over Iran, gas tax holiday

In separate interviews on dueling Sunday morning political news shows, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama sparred about the gas tax holiday proposal and foreign policy.

Two days before the Indiana and North Carolina primaries crucial to their presidential fortunes, Obama appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," while Clinton was on ABC's "This Week."

On both broadcasts, the candidates discussed Clinton's proposal for a gas tax holiday this summer, which Obama opposes.

Obama called it a "classic Washington gimmick" that wouldn't solve anything and would save only $28 for each person. Asked by NBC's Tim Russert if the proposal amounted to political pandering, Obama said, "Yes."

Obama talked about his experience with suspending the gas tax in Illinois, saying, "I voted for it. Then six months later we took a look and consumers had not benefited at all. I learned from a mistake." He explained that money from the gas tax goes into a federal fund that pays for highway projects such as bridge and road construction and that suspending the tax would eliminate thousands of construction jobs.

Clinton, for her part, said that her proposal meant oil companies would have to pay to make up for the lost gas tax revenues instead of consumers. She disputed Obama's suggestions that she and Republican candidate John McCain were the same since they both support the proposal.

"Senator McCain has said 'take off the gas tax, don't pay for it, throw us further into deficit and debt.' That is not what I've proposed," Clinton said.

Pressed to name an economist who supports such a holiday, Clinton demurred. "I'm not going to put my lot in with economists because I know if we did it right, if we had a president who used all the tools of his presidency, we would decide it in such a way that it would be implemented effectively."

Clinton also used the difference in opinion to buttress her argument that her rival is out of touch with the needs of working-class Americans. Clinton said she trusted her own dialogue with voters. “I have been meeting people across Indiana and North Carolina who drive for a living, who commute long distances, who would save money.... Elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantages the vast majority of Americans.”

Foreign policy talk
The Democratic hopefuls also discussed Clinton's previous statements on Iran. On April 22, in an ABC interview, Clinton said, "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran (if it attacks Israel). In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

On Wednesday, Iran strongly condemned Clinton for her remarks. Iran's deputy U.N. ambassador, Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi, called her comment "provocative, unwarranted and irresponsible" and "a flagrant violation" of the U.N. Charter.

On "This Week," Clinton said she had no regrets about her comment. "Why would I have any regrets? I'm asked a question about what I would do if Iran attacked our ally, a country that many of us have a great deal of connection with and feeling for, for all kinds of reasons. And, yes, we would have massive retaliation against Iran," Clinton said.

"I don't think they will do that, but I sure want to make it abundantly clear to them that they would face a tremendous cost if they did such a thing," she said.

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