Time Shows They Almost Get The Tire Gauge Kerfuffle, But Not Quite
I wonder if Michael Grunwald at Time understands that no matter how much he tries to defend Barry, he is, in effect, keeping this story in the public eye. Nah. Probably not. He must defend the Messiah. Good start, though.
How out of touch is Barack Obama? He’s so out of touch that he suggested that if all Americans inflated their tires properly and took their cars for regular tune-ups, they could save as much oil as new offshore drilling would produce. Gleeful Republicans have made this their daily talking point; Rush Limbaugh is having a field day; and the Republican National Committee is sending tire gauges labeled “Barack Obama’s Energy Plan” to Washington reporters.
Then
But who’s really out of touch? 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. In other words: Obama is right.
Michael, like so many on the Left, misses the point, which is that Obama considers what is good fatherly advice when you buy your first car to be part of an actual energy plan for the United States of America.
In fact, Obama’s actual energy plan is much more than a tire gauge. But that’s not what’s so pernicious about the tire-gauge attacks. Politics ain’t beanbag, and Obama has defended himself against worse smears. The real problem with the attacks on his tire-gauge plan is that efforts to improve conservation and efficiency happen to be the best approaches to dealing with the energy crisis — the cheapest, cleanest, quickest and easiest ways to ease our addiction to oil, reduce our pain at the pump and address global warming. It’s a pretty simple concept: if our use of fossil fuels is increasing our reliance on Middle Eastern dictators while destroying the planet, maybe we ought to use less.
Michael forgot, in the above paragraph, and the rest of the column, forgot to tell us what Barry’s plan actually is, which is not surprising, since a. it can verbally change depending on the way the wind is blowing (but won’t change for real), and b. it really is lame, and offers virtually no increase in power for a growing population and economy. I think Progressives sometimes forget that people can actually look stuff up on the Interwebz.
Instead, Michael drinks the Democrat kool aid talking points about evil Big Oil and the Republicans who are sleeping with Big Oil. No mention of Barry taking $394,465 from Big Oil, as I mentioned in a post earlier today. I wonder why that is?
Tom Blumer at Newsbusters makes a good point:
Granting that “keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%,” Grunwald is assuming that no one is currently keeping their tires properly inflated. Given that 40%-50% of Americans have someone else change their oil (according to this search as ask.com, about 50%-60% change their own), and that the oil change services routinely check tire pressures (which they do), Grunwald’s assumption is absurd on its face. Additionally, those who change their own oil are often more conscientious about other aspects of keeping their cars roadworthy, such as proper tire inflation, than those who don’t. I’d be surprised if even a 1% improvement in gas mileage could be achieved if all cars somehow magically had properly inflated tires.
Maybe Obama is running for the position of Dad? And the Left still doesn’t get the joke.
Is it serendipity that a paid Obama ad is on the same page as the story at the time I viewed it?
(PS: I wouldn’t usually take advantage of Jay’s hospitality in allowing me to post at STACLU, but, since this was covered yesterday….)
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Posted by William Teach on August 5, 2008 3:39 pm
» Filed Under Liberal Media/Bias, News
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2 Responses to “Time Shows They Almost Get The Tire Gauge Kerfuffle, But Not Quite”
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Syndicate Me
Speaking as someone who voted for Bush twice, but who will be voting for Obama this time around, I think you guys are totally going to get skunked by taking this line. Obama’s having a conversation and you guys sound like your about 12 years old. Grow up. The country is going to need a serious opposition party over the next 8 years, and so far the Republicans are showing themselves to be nowhere near up to the task. Why not take a time out, think some and get back to us?
So, what policies and plans from Barry have turned you into an Obama voter, Maggie?