Political Punch

Omar, you wrote: "When will republicans understand that conservation and alternative energy is the only way to become energy independent?"

Even Sen. Obama and the Democrats acknowledge that it will take TWENTY YEARS for alternative energy sources to EXCEED (not eliminate) oil as our leading source for energy. So even after 20 years oil will still be nearly half of our source for energy.

Oil is a natural resource. Why do you Liberals hate oil so much? You Liberals tout conservation...yet you want to increase our water usage in order to grow more corn in order to produce ethanol which when used as auto fuel emits almost as much carbon dioxide and MORE hydrocarbons, oxides of nitgrogen, and ozone than regular gasoline. It take 3.5 to 6.0 gallons of water to produce just one gallon of ethanol.

Finally, you also wrote: "...and the oil companies already have land they haven't started drilling on." The vast majority of the 68 million acres of leased land that you Liberals keep bringing up is on federal park and federal monument lands. The Democrats and Liberals SAY that the oil companies should begin drilling on these lands, but as soon as they attempt to many of these same people are the ones going to court to block drilling on these lands. Furthermore, these leases are for exploration of the land. It take years to assess whether there is any oil, whether there is enough oil, and whether it is cost efficient enough to drill. Upon determining that the land is worth drilling, then the oil companies have to go through all of the red tape in submitting environmental impact statements, obtaining drilling permits, undergoing years of litigation from lawsuits filed by environmentalists and nearby landowners.

Obama got it wrong. Again.

Experts say properly inflated tires will increase your gas mileage 3 to 4%. Of course this is assuming everyone is going around with very low air pressure in their tires.

It will not reduce our oil consumption by 3 to 4%. There are no "experts" stating this.

Big difference Obama.

Let me state first and foremost--our bi-partisan system of government sucks. What I find TRULY comical is the number of people pointing fingers at the GOP and their ignorance because of the time-frame required to bring drilling rigs online in ANWR. This is a true statement. What many are failing to mention is that we have NONE other to thank than the liberals and Slick Willie, who, if you recall, vetoed a bill back in 1995 to allow drilling in ANWR. Hmm...so if we do the math here, 10 years AFTER that fact would put us in 2005 and we probably wouldn't be seeing this mess. Contrary to popular opinion, we have enough resources in ANWR ALONE to sustain us at current usage for the next 250-300 years.

And the argument of "Oh the poor earth can't take this abuse any longer"....gimme a break. We have resources to use and we should be tapping them. When all is said and done, the earth will shake us off like a bad case of fleas.

Tire pressure?? This is the new energy plan? Neither one of these presidential wanna-be's has a clear cut energy plan and both of their campaigns is hell-bent on flip-flopping to succumb to a different voter base. Either way, we're screwed! We have to use the resources we have now and we DO have rigs online and ready to go...now we just have to figure out a way to make the Sierra Club disappear. Drill the hell out of ANWR!!!

The republicans are being disingenuous. Adding more land for offshore drilling won't do anything for 7 years, and the oil companies already have land they haven't started drilling on. They are pushing hard for this just so they can get their greedy hands on more land for future drilling. When will republicans understand that conservation and alternative energy is the only way to become energy independent? Oil is a precious non renewable energy source that we shouldn't be burning up in our cars. Its insane to do waste it like that for so many years.
Obama didn't lie, he said inflating tires would probably be as much savings as drilling offshore...so he was wrong...big deal. That's not lying.

"...(Note: that's not accurate, as we fact-checked last week. But the larger point about energy savings is correct.)..."huh?

Tyler,

Offshore drilling will not save we Americans any money at the pump. When the price initially drops, demand will once again rise, and price will therefore rise once again. Conservation, and renewable resource development are the only ways to drop the price of oil. Also your "70 percent" of the country Obama stated as ignorant is more than a little exaggerated. There is no way the GOP makes up 70 percent of the country.

Obama lied about how much tire pressure will help us

The drive-by reporter of this story must be in the tank for Obama, because no where in the story does he reveal the truth of what Obama actually said. Instead, he tries to cover for Obama. What Obama actually said was that we could save as much by inflating tires and getting tuneups as we would gain by drilling for American oil offshore.

That statement is false. No one would argue with the fact that tire pressure, avoiding jackrabbit starts and so on saves gas. Obama has a firm grasp of the obvious here. Obama’s problem is that he lied about the extent that tire pressure could help save gas, and he lied that we would save enough as we would gain by drilling offshore.

So Obama lied when he said simply inflating tires and getting regular tuneups would save just as much oil as the offshore drilling McCain is proposing. The Obama campaign could not provide figures to back up his claim that inflating tires and getting tuneups would save just as much oil as could be produced by offshore drilling. The reason Obama had to lie to avoid supporting drilling is that he is beholden to the radical environmentalist leftists who want America to fail.

John McCain wants to lift the ban on drilling and that would help Americans by reducing high gas prices. Obama wants to keep the ban in place and keep us buying oil from over seas, which will keep the price high. Obama doesn’t care about the little guy and his gas bills.

Also, Obama assumes we as Americans are too stupid to know that we should keep our tires properly inflated. Even if 90% of Americans were riding around with half-flat or overinflated tires, we STILL could not save much oil just by fixing that. And the reality is most people inflate their tires correctly, so any impact from a few more doing things right is MINIMAL!

I like John McCains “all of the above” approach. Of course McCain is like all of us, he understands that maintaining proper tire pressure is a good thing that provides minimal benefits. But even if Obama’s lie WERE correct, if we actually COULD save enough by changing tire pressure to offset drilling offshore, wouldn't it be even better to do both? Because just think of how many gallons of gasoline we could have, how it would drive down the price of gasoline and a barrel of oil. Why not combine both: the drilling of new oil here in the United States, the continental shelf; plus the proper inflation of tires, to double the effect of the oil that we are drilling? Obama is for the weak “tire pressure” strategy while McCain is attacking the problem head on to lower our price at the pump, while agreeing that conservation and new sources are also important.

Besides, you cannot grow an economy like America’s with just conservation.

notafool, the price of oil went down because demand went down. Some of us can't afford to drive as much at $4 a gallon. Simple economics. Nothing to do with offshore drilling.

re: "Nanny-state busybody Obama keeps telling us what we should do"

You know what? We need more of a nanny-state. The people in this country are so unbelievably selfish, greedy and destructive. Americans have no idea how to think in the terms of "we" instead of "me-me-me." If we're going pull ourselves out of our gas crises, healthcare crises, economic crises, etc etc, y'all better start realizing we're all in the same boat. Oh yeah, stop driving the SUV to the WalMart to buy garbage how about? How about doing that for me and Alaska? No. I didnt think so.

So this is what it feels like to be surrounded by insane people. I had no idea that there were that many people who were willing to twist the truth to fit their agenda.

First, why can't people see that being an admiral's son and being a child of privilege does not make you qualified? Being a prisoner of war for many years does not make you a good commander. Constantly changing your core beliefs does not make you a maverick. Changing your stances on issues because Big Oil is backing your campaign does not make you ethical. Tearing down your competitor, who happens to be right, does not make you a better choice. What is so good about McCain, other than he is not a Democrat, he was a prisoner of war, and he is a friend of the current President?

McCain is not qualified and I have NOT seen any proof to the contrary. He is not a good speaker and he doesn't have a stellar record as a student nor as a member of the military. He finished near the BOTTOM of his military class. He has not been tested in any relevant way to show him being a good leader. However, I have seen signs that he would make a HORRIBLE leader. He is not well spoken, doesn't listen to experts, and has a bad temper mixed with a bad memory. He has no understanding of a world map. Stating that Pakistan and Iraq share a border worries me. This is the man that people say has an understanding of the Middle East? More people need a map if they think those two share a border.

Who are you people who want to drill? Do you not understand that the Earth cannot go on being plundered forever? That this is our chance to make the leap into renewable energy? And you think drilling in America would lower gas prices - thats a hoot.

Andrew sd:
"When will the right realize that Obama said this in reply to the question "

Who am I going to believe you or my lying ears? Your spin might work before there was an internet but nobody is going to buy what you are selling when Obama clears says inflating your tires will conserve as much gas as McCain is talking about drilling. There is no explaining away what Obama was trying to imply. He even paused waiting for the ovation for his display of brilliance and when the audience sat in stunned silence at his idiocy he stutters on.

Anyway, yesterday, your juvenile nominee reacted like a child by calling the 70% of the American population ignorant because they don't understand the "brilliance" of himself.

Why does this remind me so much of Chris Rock's old `keeping it real` rant about the pride of willful ignorance ...

@Angela
Read his books. Sure, he has a ego, who doesn't, and sure you have to have a big ego to want to be president of the USA, McCain is no different, but I don't get the feeling he is being anything other than genuine. To me the telling factor is that Obama has done exactly what he said he would do, run a clean, issues driven campaign and McCain has done the opposite of what he said he would do by running a tacky, meaningless campaign. So, I think I'll go with the guy that isn't lying to me before he even gets the job.

Opps!

Just noticed. That should have been "and resumed the war."

Iraq Veteran...sorry but no lies. The Democrats said the same thing back in 1998. It was bad intelligence! Besides it was totally irrelevant as to whether WMDs were in Iraq or not. We didn't invade Iraq because they had WMDs. We invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein refused to comply--for 12 years--with the conditions of the 1991 cease fire. So even after President Bush issued his final ultimatum Saddam Hussein refused to comply. SO President Bush rescinded the cease fire and resumed the was.

Wow! All of these people who actually are defending the GOP scare me! These are some of the same IGNORANT SOB's that voted for Bush and are losing money at the pumps, and want the same thing with McSame?

Drill here, more oil! How many lives lost because of their lies and manipulation? So much for the UNITED States of America!

When will the right realize that Obama said this in reply to the question "what can the ordinary citizen do to help?" he never said it would solve the energy crisis. Obama also said he's ok with limited offshore drilling, as long as his plan for renewable energy is still carried out.People can say hes flipping sides to gain votes, but at least he's showing that he will listen to what the people and experts say (unlike Bush, and more than likely McCain if elected)

Freeper ,

The oil isn't going come out of the ground as soon as McCain is making out.That's the problem and the hype. You can check it out for yourself.

a great news