Obama doesn’t drive, but he feels your pain at the pump
President Barack Obama says he sympathizes with the frustration over high gas prices — even though it’s been a while since he’s had to fill a tank.
“I’ll admit to you, it’s been a while since I … filled up at the pump,” Obama joked during a townhall-style event. “Secret Service doesn’t let me get out, and they don’t let me drive anymore.”
The event at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale was part of Obama’s ongoing effort to sell the deficit-reduction plan he introduced last week and gear up for a 2012 re-election campaign.
Gas prices, which hit a 2.5-year-high last week at $3.84 a gallon, have weighed on public opinion in recent months. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll in March found that gas prices were playing into Americans’ low confidence in the U.S. economy, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week found rising energy costs hurt Obama’s approval rating.
Obama — who assured his audience that “it wasn’t that long ago that I did have to fill up my gas tank” – blamed speculators and oil companies for price increases and said his administration would investigate unfair practices and monitor gas stations for price-gauging.
In the long-term, he said the United States needs to look at increasing the production of domestic oil, using more biofuels, and developing more fuel efficient cars and other technology. Obama said government investment in new technologies led to the Internet, GPS devices and other products.
“There’s not going to be any single silver bullet,” Obama said. “What we’ve got to do is develop all these energy alternatives. All of them, though, are going to require some investment in new ways of thinking, new basic science, new research.”
Lawmakers question U.S. Postal Service money saving priorities
U.S. Postmaster General John Potter says the nation’s mail system faces a “dire” financial future as more people and businesses switch from snail mail to email and electronic funds transfers.
He is asking Congress to give him authority to drop Saturday delivery service and close some post offices.
Those are a couple of money saving possibilities outlined by the Postmaster General at a congressional hearing on Thursday. But the suggested cutback on services did not sit well with a number of members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Representative Carolyn Maloney said cutting out Saturday service could hurt the economy and Representative Gerry Connolly wondered if companies like Netflix will be able to maintain its customer base if folks can’t get movies delivered on Saturday.
Connolly suggested the Postal Service look at other ways to save money including replacing its gasoline powered fleet with electric vehicles. It not only would save money by not buying gasoline but also make money by selling back to the power company any left over battery juice at the end of day, he said.
Representative Darrel Issa suggested the postal service has not been aggressive in reducing its work force as the number of pieces of mail delivered each day dropped. He cited Kodak as an example of how to deal with a business that is being destroyed by technological advancements.
“Film was going away faster than any projected retirement rates. Now today they produce state of the art inkjet printers, they are first in digital they are making a comeback by reinventing itself,” Issa said.
TRUTHFULLY AND SIMPLY…WITHOUT THE POSTAL SERVICE OUR
UNITED STATES WILL NO LONGER BE UNITED! THINK ABOUT IT!
THE USPS IS PERHAPS THE ONE AND ONLY ‘GOVERNMENT OFFICE’
WHERE WE CAN ENTER AND KNOW – WITHOUT A DOUBT – THE PRICE
WE’LL PAY….HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE…..WHETHER INSURANCE
IS NECESSARY (PROVIDED FOR BY USPS)…RETURN RECEIPTS…
AND HOLD TRUE TO THE WORDS, ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ BY
DELIVERING LETTERS EVEN TO ‘SANTA CLAUSE’ WAY UP THERE IN
THE NORTH POLE. IN MY OPINION, TOUCHING THE USPS
POSITION IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM WOULD BE LIKE AIMING A
MISSILE RIGHT AT THE HEART OF OUR UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA. THANKS – JUST ME, LISA! TTFN
So what’s the carbon footprint of a motorcade?
World leaders in New York City for the U.N. General Assembly also bring motorcades, gridlock, and idling engines.
So when White House reporters, also in New York following President Barack Obama around, got a briefing on U.N. climate change talks, the question had to be asked.
CBS’s Mark Knoller wondered about the carbon footprint of the summit: could the earnest statements on climate change be undermined by motorcades, gridlock, idling engines?
The answer: electric motorcades!
(Would that mean electric sockets on every corner in midtown Manhattan?)
“I think the U.N. should make a pledge to electric vehicle motorcades within five years,” U.S. climate negotiator Todd Stern told reporters.
Photo credit: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach (power plug is seen next to an electric-drive car)
I’ll believe in global warming and carbon footprints when the people that keep telling me to believe it act they believe it. Its all ‘smoke & mirrors’ to make some people very, very, richer. As usual, follow the money. Al Gore and his cronies come to mind. Does anyone seriously believe that China, India and other developing countries will adhere to the global warming scam? They’re going to say that the USA had had its industrial revolution and now its their turn, carbon footprints and global warming be damned.
President Barack Obama tried to put the kibosh on birther speculation by releasing his Hawaiian birth certificate and calling questions about the authenticity of the document a distraction from bigger issues by “sideshows and carnival barkers.”