Conservative columnist George Will says it’s “economic nonsense” for tea party favorite Rep. Allen West (R-FL) to blame President Barack Obama for the high cost of putting gas in his Hummer. Writing on his Facebook page last week, West charged that Obama’s energy policy was “insidious political gimmickry.”
“Here is the bottom line, last night it took 70 dollars to fill the tank of my 2008 H3 Hummer, what is it costing you?” he asked.
Politico noted that the 8-cylinder 2008 H3 Hummer only gets an average of 15.5 miles per gallon.
On Sunday, ABC host George Stephanopoulos asked Will if the eventual Republican presidential nominee could overcome conservative overreach on social issues like the proposed Virginia bill that would have forced women seeking abortions to have invasive ultrasounds.
“Right now they think they’re going to float in on high gas prices,” Will explained. “It’s just preposterous.”
“It is preposterous,” former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) agreed. “Blaming the president for high gas prices is like blaming [former New York City Mayor] Rudy Giuliani for 9/11. It’s totally ridiculous.”
“Allen West from south Florida, a Republican, said he was outraged this week because it cost him $70 to fill his car,” Will pointed out. “He drives a Hummer. Newt Gingrich said the American people have a right to demand $2.50 gas. They have a right to demand to lobsters grow on trees. I mean, this is economic nonsense.”
