BEREA, Ohio - Democrat Barack Obama dismissed as “ignorant” attempts by Republicans to make fun of his suggestion that Americans properly inflate their car tires to save fuel.
Asked at a St. Louis town hall last week how people could contribute to the effort to conserve fuel, Obama said that steps such as inflating tires to the correct levels could make a difference.
Republicans have seized on the comment to suggest that the advice on tires was the sum total of the energy plan put forth by Obama.
Mark Salter, a top aide to Republican John McCain, handed reporters metal tire gauges inscribed with the words: “Obama’s energy plan.”
At a town hall event in Berea, Ohio, Obama recited his plans to encourage the development of alternative fuels and his proposal for energy tax rebates and said Republicans were “lying about what my energy plan is.”
“The other thing is, they are making fun of a step that every expert says would absolutely reduce our oil consumption by three to four percent,” Obama said. “It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant. They think it’s funny that they’re making fun of something that is actually true.”
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds shot back by criticizing Obama for not calling on Congress to convene an emergency session to discuss energy solutions.
“Instead of calling on his party’s leadership to return to Congress and carve out an ‘all of the above’ approach to America’s energy crisis, Barack Obama would rather tell commuters to inflate their car tires,” Bounds said.
- Photo credit: Reuters/Rebecca Cook (Unsold SUV’s at a Michigan lot)
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The tire gauage is the most technology John McCain has ever used: http://pajamasmedia.com/edgelings/2008/0 8/04/how-much-technology-does-the-next-p resident-need-to-know/
- Posted by AriThere is not enough space nor enough time to express how unqualified and uninformed Obama is. The Senator is an absolute puppet. If it’s not written down he makes a fool of himself. “Change We Can Believe In?” I guess that “change” that he talks about is his mind, stance and beliefs on everything nearly everyday. Keep speaking Obama. The more you do the more you look like a fool.
- Posted by TomHold on a second!! It seems very interesting to me that the McCain supporters on this blog continue to ignore the fact that Obama has given a detailed and comprehensive energy plan, while all McCain chants is “Drill Here and Drill Now!!” over and over.
For the McCain campaign to attempt to frame a conservation tip that Obama gave to an audience member as his one and only component of an energy plan is nonsense.
What’s even more pathetic is for McCain supporters to question the validity of how checking one’s tire pressure could actually save on gas expenses. AAA, NASCAR, enerygy experts and every automible manual supports Obama’s claim. People act as though he’s making this stuff up, when in actuality the facts are pretty easy to find.
The bottom line is Republicans are hoping that twisting the facts around to fit their narrative will work this time. But the American people are a lot smarter this election cycle.
- Posted by Jennifer[...] Energy policy is proving to be a weak spot for Obama. An overwhelming majority of Americans support drilling as one method to reduce energy costs, so much so that he recently amended his opinion on the issue to appear closer to the mainstream. This weakness is clearly a touchy subject for Obama. When the McCain campaign handed reporters metal tire gauges inscribed with the words “Obama’s Energy Plan,” Obama snapped: [...]
- Posted by The CR Voice » Blog Archive » No We Can’t…Obama is on the right track calling for Americans to keep tires properly inflated.
Americans CAN do something about the energy crisis. With everyone working together to solve the problem, even something that seems little, like proper tire inflation, can grow to a savings of $ 14 billion a year, which doesn’t seem small at all.
Tires will stay properly inflated even longer with high-purity nitrogen.
High-purity nitrogen is more stable than compressed air. This allows tires to stay properly inflated longer and leads to increased gas mileage, improved tire life and reduced carbon emissions. High-purity nitrogen also can provide a safer ride, with better handing and stability.
PurigeN98TM high-purity nitrogen guarantees results. Check us out at: http://www.purigen98.com/bluegas.htm
Robin Pearl
- Posted by Robin PearlPresident
actually i have a great plan to reverse “man made” climate change…you figure about half of the country is liberal so if those idiots stop using gasoline and let us republicans just use it that would cut emmisions from driving down about 50%!! also if you libs get solar panels installed on your houses and let us republican conservatives use oil to heat our houses that would also cut down oil usage for heating about 50% this would also cut demand here in the u.s. also maybe you extreme libs can stop using airplanes and instead use your electric cars or even horses to get to your destinations. this i beleive would reverse “man made” global warming and make all of us happy. how does that sound? i doubt you libs would do that because you are all just a bunch of hypocrites but we’ll see. let us use the oil that you guys hate so much and you guys can use the wind power, solar power and that kind of crap. make a statment libs. follow my plan.
- Posted by MIKEyou libs are a bunch of cry babies. wah!!! obama is a moron with no energy plan. you guys are like a bunch of sheep following behind him. you believe anything “the messiah” says. only if you listen to him you realize his is saying nothing!!! he has no plan for anything. the dems would rather take a 5 week vacation than getting the energy crisis taken care of. its pointless to argue with liberals cause they are too brainwashed. there is no such thing as man made climate change idiots. i guess we caused the ice age too huh you morons. you people are pathetic. by the way make sure all you tires are inflated properly so we can weed ourselves off of foreign oil. hahaha. you people are so dumb its funny. MCCAIN ‘08.
- Posted by MIKENow just one darn minute.
As I understand it, somebody in an audience asked Obama: “What can individual people do to contribute to fuel efficiency?”
The question was not: “What energy policies will contribute to fuel efficiency.” It was: “What can individual people do?”
And checking tire pressure is obviously something that individual people can do to increase fuel efficiency.
The fact that this has been blown up into a campaign issue by the McCain campaign is pretty disturbing, assuming it represents the level of dialogue about energy that McCain wants to have.
Between this and the Hilton/Spears thing, it appears that the McCain campaign believes that American voters are a bunch of easily amused and distracted idiots.
- Posted by MarkVictor, the people in your party recently followed a leader blindly - and I mean blindly, because the evidence that he was lying was available and public from the beginning for anyone willing to look beyond the mainstream media in the US - into an irrelevant war while turning their backs along with him on Osama bin Laden and the real threat to our country. Not only that, their blindness manifested itself in a McCarthy-esque atmosphere of hate-filled attacks on anyone who evern questioned the administration’s bald assertions, which were offered without a shred of real evidence.
And now you have the unmitigated gall to say that it’s LIBERALS who are blind followers? After we just finished a nominating season that went on far longer than its Republican counterpart’s (as it always does, because it’s actually structured to subvert premature party unity), and involved a thorough airing of the differences between the two candidates?
Do you even know what the word “blind” means, or are you just unfamiliar with the way it is generally used as a metaphor? (Clue: it doesn’t just mean “icky” - yeah, I know you guys think every adjective and adverb your radio blowhards throw out about liberals means “icky” but trust me, the word “blind” has an actual meaning).
Obama isn’t right about everything but he is right about one thing: these guys DO take pride in their own ignorance.
- Posted by Alan[...] SOURCES: AP, Reuters ) ( PHOTOS: AP PHOTO, SUN [...]
- Posted by » POLITICS: OBAMA ON REPARATIONS + REPUBLICANS GAG / PARIS RESPONDS TO MCCAIN AD / NEW MOCK CAMPAIGN ADS // 'CONCRETELOOP.COM' - quality not quantityHow about switching from petroleum-based oil to synthetic oil? Costs more, but denies $$ to oil-origin countries, lowering gas prices and perhaps resulting in saving money now spent on high per-gallon costs.
- Posted by mm2youngDivided We Fall.
- Posted by SusanThe only thing more disturbing than a presidential candidate quoting a 3% saving in gasoline as a 3% savings in crude oil is the people that back him quoting McCain’s voting record and not their golden boys record.
That is right, re-read your comments on what McCain voted agains and then add up how much it would have cost us.
If your golden boy gets in there he will spend us into the poor house. Now he wants to give big oil 4 billion to re-tool the industry? So this windfall tax on oil plan of his he will give them the money right back. That is politics at its best.
Tell us one thing and do another.
His big universal healthcare plan is to force everyone to buy medical insurance? Like we could afford the plan congress has. Is he kidding? The medical insurance comapnies are throwing money at him because they will make bank if he gets elected. They are watering at the mouth for the Billions they will make off this joker.
He wants to bail out the mortgage people woht our money.
He acts like if the gets elected he can sign his name and create laws. Does he know that congress and senate have to vote on this stuff?
You people that blindly follow this idiot like he knows what he is talking about scare me. This is why this country is going downhill, the people have no idea about anything unless the media tells them what to think.
- Posted by VictorMore Drilling equals more Big oil profit. More drilling equals adding to the $750 billion we squander each year, and dump directly into the pockets of oil sheiks, russian oligarchs, nigerian despots and venezuelan strongmen. More drilling means a more degraded environment for our children and their children. More drilling means becoming a has-been second rate country.
When will the Republicans wake up: It’s not how high the price is, it’s how much we use. Only big oil and their international thug cronies control supply. Anyone who says “we’ve got to drill more” is ignorant of the fact that “we” don’t control anything related to supply. More drilling means nothing because every drop of United States “energy independence” offshore oil drilled could (and probably would) go straight to China.
The recent price surge just cracked and oil is dropping fast. Why? Drilling? No. Republican posturing in Congress? No. It’s simple. Demand dropped sharply as panicked drivers stopped driving. “We” only control demand. The less we demand, the lower Big oil will have to make the price. You would think something that simple could even be understood in a 4 second sound bite by a Republican.
- Posted by Gary RosenblumHey ster, I wouldn’t buy a share of Exxon any more than I’d walk into a Walmart. And RedAmerican1, how many republicans are driving SUVs?
Someone said the comments on here were intelligent dialogue. Pfeh.
- Posted by Julia CI am an expert and I say carpooling can save a lot more than 3-4%. Seriously, carpooling is the single most quickest and largest thing we can do. If your commute is longer than half an hour and your office has more than 100 people, you can probably find someone to carpool with. Carpooling to work reduces my gas consumption by 66%. Telecommuting itself reduces it by 80%. With both carpooling and telecommuting, I reduce my gas consumption by over 90%. I only have to fill up gas every few months. Carpooling and telecommuting don’t have to wait for any new technologies nor policies nor depend on who is President. If everyone who could carpool actually did, this could happen like tomorrow. Gas consumption cut in half, just like that.
- Posted by expertWell I’m a liberal and I use my gas mileage as a test of whether my tires are low. If my mileage runs lower than normal I check the tires and invariably find at least one a few pounds low. Works every time, RedAmerican1. Ster, Exxon’s taxes have been cut by the Dubyanauts because they think business taxes are too high, plus the GOP gave oil companies a special tax break when they controlled Congress the first six years of Dubya’s regency. All this at a time when the US is already running a deficit and the debt has more than doubled since Dubya took office. Now just who is going to pay that bill and all that interest? If McCain is so worried about energy consumption, why doesn’t he push for a special Congressional session? Why does he have to wait for someone else to get out on point? Obama has no sense of humor? Gee, was that statement spoken as a joke? And there’s nothing that requires Exxon or any other company kick back its profits as dividends to shareholders; they could keep all of it if they wanted and use it to buy their own shares to take the company private. So, are they in fact giving out increased dividends? East Coast, are you really saying a black man is race-baiting an old, white man? Exactly how?
- Posted by jimboTo RedAmerican1 who posted “if you are thinking that inflating your tires can make Americans independent from the foreign oil, you are idiots” I am sorry, you will have to look in the mirror to find the idiot. This is a way that costs you nothing that saves you a little and if everyone does it, it saves the country a lot - and it saves it from foreign imports. You know, if you don’t even want to try and expect someone else to do this for you so you can sit on your a**, well fine. But I think you ought to pull your own weight like everyone else. You could try selling your SUV too, if you have one, or leaving your car at home and walking or biking or hiking. I don’t know that it is your right to have someone save you from yourself. You got a responsibility too….
- Posted by Paul StewartTHE OBAMA CAMP HAS BEEN RACE-BAITING FOR MONTHS!
HE WOULDN’T AGREE TO 10 TOWN HALL MEETINGS, SO “AMERICANS” CAN ASK THE QUESTIONS OF HIM AND McCAIN AT THE SAME TIME — BUT HE DID A DOG AND PONY SHOW OVERSEAS TO PEOPLE WHO CAN’T VOTE! WHAT IS HE HIDING? WILL WE KNOW BEFORE NOVEMBER? HOW MUCH MONEY HAS MIDDLE-EASTERN MUSLIM COUNTRIES CONTRITUTED TO THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN?
Where’s the Barack Hussein Obama who shouted out: “I can’t wait to debate John McCain anytime, anywhere!”??? Yeah — that one.
Why isn’t his staff and his supporters, holding his feet to the fire on that alone?
Just three debates he’s agreed to give — gives him plenty of latitude to bone up on what he doesn’t know about this country, and all the issues we face.
Watch for wires and hidden devices to help him get through the debates.
His refusal to Townhall Meetings doesn’t assure him the space he needs to twist and turn — hem and haw his answers — so he’s playing it safe and just agreeing to the three that are mandatory before the GE.
I hope he realizes that just having the three debates will put more pressure on him to perform — spreading the debates out gives him a better chance of excelling in at least one of the Townhall Debates — three strikes and he’s out if he sticks to only three debates.
He’s painting himself into a corner again. He just doesn’t know what is good for him — and his staff is also delusional — they set have him up for failure faster than Obama does on his own.
STOP THE DRAMA - NO OBAMA!
GET A BRAIN - VOTE McCAIN!
- Posted by EAST COASTOld Mo said: “Three to four percent ? Sounds pretty high to me.”
Read it and weep Old Mo -
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, “every pound per square inch of tire underinflation wastes 4 million gallons of gas daily in the U.S.”
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/maintain. shtml
Survey information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that 27% of the cars on the road have a significantly under-inflated tire.
http://www.dot.gov/affairs/nhtsa4601.htm
Using the website FuelEconomy.gov, we can estimate that “the maximum (estimated) fuel economy (i.e., mileage) savings drivers could expect as a result of keeping their engines properly tuned (4%), replacing air filters (up to 10%), properly inflating tires (up to 3%) and using the correct motor oil (1-2%) is 18-19%. Since American drivers use roughly 380 million gallons of gasoline(not including diesel) per day, an 18% improvement translates into a savings of 68 million gallons, or 1.62 million barrels of oil per day.”
Current crude oil and condensate production in the [Outer Continental Shelf] is about 1.25 million barrels per day.
The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030. We use about 20 million bbl. per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone did, we could immediately reduce demand several percentage points.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/articl e/0,8599,1829354,00.html?cnn=yes
So you can be informed or remain “ignorant.” It’s up to you.
- Posted by Broadway Carl