Posted on 06/11/2008 1:46:26 PM PDT by Fred
Sen. John McCain delivered a nearly pluperfect supply-side tax-cut plan yesterday, one that is worthy of conservative support, and frankly a real eye-opener showing just how good he can be. I wrote about it in my latest column.
But then he goes on NBC’s Today Show this morning and gets the whole energy story wrong. Oh my gosh.
When asked about gas prices at the pump, and whether they could go any lower, Sen. McCain said he didn’t think so because “You’ve got a finite supply, basically, and a cartel controlling it.”
This is exactly wrong. There is no finite supply, or if there is we are 100 years away from it. I don’t know who has put this thought into the senator’s mind, but it is a bad thought in terms of energy and a bad thought in terms of the politics of this campaign.
Look, we have the Bakken fields, the outer continental shelf and all the offshore drilling opportunities, ANWR, and so forth. There’s probably over a trillion barrels worth of reserves out there. And Republicans in the Senate are trying to move a deregulated drilling bill through the process. McCain should be backing this and talking about it.
Democrats are out there pushing cap-and-trade, which would jack up gasoline and oil energy prices, damage the economy, and create a massive central-planning exercise. The Democratic Congress has done nothing to alleviate the oil shortage. They’re captured by the greenies. They should be blamed.
This is a real turnaround issue for the Republicans and Mr. McCain. But McCain’s not going there.
Incidentally, in the Today Show interview, the senator takes a whack at oil-company profits, suggesting they should return some of these profits to consumers. And he would consider voting for a windfall profits tax. And then he used the phrase “obscene profits.” Make that two oh my goshes.
Bill O’Reilly is on the same wavelength as McCain. He keeps harping on the the “obscene” profits being made by the oil companies. He never mentions the need for expanded domestic drilling. BOR thinks we can become energy self-sufficient with wind, solar and ethanol. Not in my lifetime!
What is wrong with BOR?
“Because right now, the guy seems clueless.”
No, he is clueless.
he’s been doing beer bong hits on global warming.
Ummm... He's not a conservative?
Not me man. I've got a 55 gallon drum and endless scrap wood within walking distance.
National Review needs to find a real energy advisor and a real economist. Finite supply in 100 years is, guess what folks, finite supply. Instead of going forth in flagrant disregard of clear signs and deliberately inviting our grandchildren to desecrate our graves over our failure to heed clear signs, we ought to start actually doing something. Theories about peak oil don't mean you run out of oil; but merely that new discovery and develpment grows slowly enough that the price point at which supply intersect demand keeps increasing [which means that windfall profits increase, thereby justifying taxes on "excessive profits."]
We seem to be caught between the maelstrom of the leftwing orthodoxy - well good we can go back to a prehistoric civilization - and the right - problem? What problem? Profits are good. Oil companies are good. [never mind the balance of payments required to import it all]
What 100 years does mean, if we have 100 years is that we have some time, if we start now, to make alternative arrangements, i.e. a robust nuclear program because nothing else can cut it. Responsible conservatives would start addressing how we are going to meet energy demand, and stop this gawdawful pointing fingers at everyone whose solution might not accord with their troglodyte version of "free markets" which we have almost never had in energy supply anyway.
Look, we have the Bakken fields, the outer continental shelf and all the offshore drilling opportunities, ANWR, and so forth. There’s probably over a trillion barrels worth of reserves out there.
Pie in the sky, Larry. Are you back snorting coke again?
McCain knows nuttin about the economy. Nuttin.
Psa 90:13 - “O Lord, how long must it go on? Take pity on your servants!”
It’s too late. Something could have been done over the past 30 years. As we drive over the cliff at full speed do not scream since it might awaken a Senator.
The Air Force is in town and they are burning major fuel.
Red Flag exercise, otherwise from the equipment they are flying someone might think a major action is underway.
LOL...can't let pesky facts get in the way of their hero.
One big problem (among many others) I have with McCain is with the things he says that I agree with, e.g. win the war, lower taxes, conservative SC nominations etc,. I don't believe he'll stand up for for those priciples.
He'll just simply bend over for the dems to show he can reach across the isle to "get things done"
No McCain butt kisser here!! :^)
I think the stockholders would have a valid complaint against any executive handing out free cheese . I mean free gas . Maybe the employees will be willing to work for 1/2 pay .
If McCain could grow a brain on this issue, it could be a real winner for him. I really don’t understand why the Republican side are such idiots about getting with a winning message. It’s obvious to me and I’m not a political genius.
“Get cancer with us or they’ll give you AIDS.”
Now that’s funny, thx
BOR is an ass when it comes to economics and Katrina. I turn him off when those topics come up on his show lest I hurl something at my TV
You can't say as much B. Hussein Obama, who, like it or not, is the alternative.
Ha, ha. It reminds me of the joke, "I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather..."
BOR is like McCain—not the sharpest crayon in the box.
Nobody has a solution for the oil problem. Drilling more is a band-aid. It should still be done, but it won’t make a huge difference.
At least nuclear power would reduce the use of coal. That is an attainable goal and with better technology than the 1970’s and 1980’s, nuclear power is the obvious choice.
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