If gas guzzlers are so evil, why does Obama keep riding in them?
There he goes again. Barack Obama is lambasting Detroit’s Big 3 automakers again for manufacturing SUVs. He attacked the car companies over the weekend for making the “mistake” of investing in SUVs and large trucks instead of producing more fuel-efficient vehicles. Obama also bragged about his Big 3- bashing speech a year ago that delivered “the kind of truth-telling we need from the next president.”
A truth-telling reminder of the gas-guzzling car Obama himself was driving before eco-hypocrisy caught up with him:
Chrysler 300C
Output: 340 hp, 390 lb-ft
EPA fuel economy, city/highway: 17/25 (17/24 AWD)
His fancy wheels got less than the standard 27 mpg that he now whines is too low.
After his do-as-i-say-ism was exposed, he traded in his beast for a Ford Escape Hybrid.
But on the campaign trail, to this day, it’s still the bigger the better.
Obama’s eco-hypocrisy emission standard: High.
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Hoosier/Tar Heel Tuesday: Who’ll be more bitter tonight? Update: Obama routs in NC; Update: CBS calls Indy for Hill; kerfuffle over ID-less nuns; Hillary’s Hail Mary talk heats up: 2,209 is the new magic number;Update: Obama disses Hill’s “game-changer” rhetoric
May 6, 2008 06:19 PM by Michelle Malkin
101 Comments |
Same hypocrisy Al Gore lives by.
Between this and manbearpig’s electric bill….it just makes me want to make a larger carbon footprint.
Prius fraud.
Typical lefty; “do as I say, not as I do!”
The left’s stock in trade is their hypocrisy!
I don’t know if you noticed this Michelle, but he also supersized his hypocrisy in addition to his SUV:
Well, Michelle, don’t you know Obama and his family is far more important than you or I?
He can drive around in an SUV or other gas-guzzling vehicle because he’s a politician who needs to be protected and operate according to his station in life.
You and I? We can pack our kids into some Matchbox car and if we get hit by Obama’s SUV or a truck on the road - oh, well. Just a few less carbon footprints.
Obama, Gore, Edwards and the rest can also live in mansions because - hey - they’re so powerful! We can live in unheated, powerless eco-huts or caves…
This is the same mentality that’s used to justify folks like Michael Moore or Rosie O’Donnell rabidly opposing our right to own firearms, but hiring armed guards to protect them.
Then they wonder why we say Obama is an elitist…
I can live with his hypocrasy. All politicians say one thing and do another. What I don’t like is these guys getting paid to do a job, but not showing up to work. They are treating all of us with utter contempt.
Jeep Cheroke. Cold dead hands, etc. etc.
I would point out that his choice of vehicle, might in fact, help his kids. who knows LOL
That is brilliant. Kudos, mymanpotsandpans…
Needed to accommodate overly-inflated ego…
With all the money he has pouring in, couldn’t he just rent the Popemobile?
I bet that gets good mileage, and it would fit the messiah complex he has.
I’m a metro Detroiter and I was so ticked by the way he dissed the big 3 this weekend! We don’t take kindly to that around here.
Hey BO, it’s called capitalism you idiot! Consumers WANT to buy things like SUV’s.
What a moron! Sheople keep following him. Unbelievable.
Awwww don’t you remember? Socialists, collectivists and liberals always say , ” Do as I say, not as I do.”
So he DID trade in his personal car for a hybrid…
I wonder if anyone produces a bullet and bomb proof secure hybrid vehicle? I’m sure he will “make it so” once he is the president.
I am trading my car of a hybrid… I want to save money on gas and not fund the terrorists in the middle east - who Bush conservatives obviously love to support with their big-ass gas-guzzling SUVs
You’re all missing it.
He’s just offsetting his carbon footprint with the energy created by “Change” as well as the messianic glow that he gives off wherever he speaks.
It all balances out, you see.
I guess he had a little ca$i$h left over after all the piano lessons he has to pay for.
Hey, sausage -
I’m totally willing to drive a hybrid and live in a green house.
If you happen to have a few hundred grand laying around…e-mail me and I’ll tell you where to send the cash.
Otherwise, don’t presume that I drive an SUV. I don’t.
#5 EnglishQueen01
You took the words right out of my typing fingers. That’s exactly what I was thinking.
I did much better than he did by riding my 50-something mile-per-gallon Harley-Davidson Sportster to work this morning.
Try shoving a family of 6 into a compact.
All of these politicians are not targeting the real reason for high gas prices…it’s Gas Futures Trading that is driving the price spiral.
It’s not gas-guzzling SUV’s, not oil company profits, not supply, demand, or China, its commodity trading and speculation.
Make THAT bubble burst and you’ll see prices evaporate.
And your kingdom of a horse?
Gee - Bush Conservatives are the only ones driving SUV’s????
Where’dya get that piece of knowledge?
Take a drive around Hollywood and see how many of your liberal iconic Hollywood types actually drive eco-friendly cars…
Or just ask some of our Congressional Libs who lease vehicles on the teat of the taxpayers why they’re driving a big Lexus or Cadillac or Lincoln at $700-$1000 per month…
Oh that’s right, we have that answer already from one… it’s to make his constituents feel better when they sit in it.
Maybe I’m becoming cynical but I’m starting to see every moveobama makes is calculated.
An escape is a considerable step down from the 300. This just as he’s also making more money than he did when he owned the escape. So my question is: is he pandering to the “buy American” crowd or is he trying to look middle class? Either way I know his dream car for when he became a millionaire was not a frigging Ford Escape.
Typical liberal mantra, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Sure he’s not really a Secret Agent Man in that picture?
I’m serious. I have no problem driving a hybrid (I’d prefer an SUV since I have a child) and living in a green house powered by solar panelling and the like. I can only imagine how much we’d save on gas and energy costs.
Unfortunately, I can’t afford it. If Gore, or Obama, or Edwards or Bill Gates or Oprah or any global-warming environmentalist is willing to send me the money to do so…I’ll do it.
Whats Prius’ mistake in this? You are just against anything, aren’t you?
sausage,
check this link:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html
You’ll actually notice that us conservative gas guzzlers are actually taking more from Canada (they’re the #1 importer of oil to the US, Saudi Arabia is 2nd, Mexico is 3rd…the statistics bear out that the amounts are fairly close) than from any other source. Thanks for showing that liberal bias once again has no basis in fact. And you’re welcome for the correction!
And Oblahma traded it AFTER it was revealed he was being hypocritical. Had he, or any of his ilk REALLY believed in saving the environment, they would have done so without having prompting from others, or without having to do so simply because someone else caught him with his hands in the proverbial cookie jar.
So, have some maple syrup with your weak post, eh?
Um…”Prius fraud” was a pun on the phrase “pius fraud”. You know, the whole Obama-Messiah thing…
Really clever, actually. Too bad you missed the boat.
And everything, I guess.
abstractmind, you make a good point about where we get our oil from.
We get much of our oil from the 2 countries that surround us.
Apparently the caribou in Canada have all died, and Mexico is raping mother nature.
Meanwhile here we sit all broken hearted…..you know the rest.
Wouldn’t our energy independence in the short term, i.e. pumping the trillions of barrels that we already own CREATE JOBS. Good UNION JOBS?
Just recently a school administrator, her unborn child & her daughter were killed whne a drunk driving an Escalde rear ended them.
http://www.livinglakecountry.com/story/index.aspx?id=744570
This is just like when Kerry got caught owning a stable of SUVs (”they belong to my family, not me”) and fuel hog boats (the Scaramousche).
If Obama owns an Escape Hybrid, has anyone seen him in it anytime except for a photoshoot?
When do greenies, blacks, hipanics etc. finally realize they are being played by Democrats?
I spend less than a 100 bucks a month on petrol for 2 suv’s, only driving when I have to.
This is very convenient. It allows me not to have to make a religion out of my consumption habits.
And like any religion, there is the hypocrisy with the “live simply so others may simply live” crowd on the Left.
Take one of their temples: WHOLE FOODS.
Organic vegetables right? lol From China….where they still use human waste to fertilize fields.
Seems like there isnt enough sacred supply here in the US for WF to sell the volume they sell year round.
More from the Left of the usual: if you cant follow through on your “promise” just lie….and have Howard Dean sell the lie for you.
It really is interesting to see so many people’s hypocrisy on display.
Obama - lambasting Detroit’s automakers for SUVs. Rides in them. Not to mention Al Gore. If polluting was that bad, then why did he have to be shamed into taking baby steps towards actually doing what he preached to others. - if it was that bad.
And Harry Reid - “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid walks from his Chevrolet Suburban (left) to attend a news conference on energy efficiency Wednesday in Upper Senate Park. Reid rode in the sport utility vehicle from the Capitol to the event, which was across the street.”
And from today’s Bill Ayers story - “But I am struck by another part of that story. What are you doing in a Starbucks? I ask the man who professes to hate globalization. “Oh,” he says. “I have an addiction to caffeine.” There you have the complexity of Ayers: a man who once tried to overthrow his country’s government and now works for a state university; an opponent of the bourgeoisie who has been married for 20 years; a left-wing radical who loves a good cup of imperialist coffee.”
Hypocrites, all.
The big question is what does Rev. Wright drive? I bet it’s a Mini or a Civic.
Dimsdale, your last sentence is priceless. The Democrat party is a conglomerate of co-dependant groups. Each group asks for and is given a piece of American Pie. You pay for that pie. Rodham is getting the vote of Hispanics and Unions, because she and B.J.Billy, have pandered to them for years. Including pardons for FALN terrorists. Obama gets the naive youth, guilty liberal conscience, and Black vote, because he panders to them.
We’ve reached a tipping point in America, where we now have AS MANY who “ASK WHAT AMERICA CAN DO FOR YOU”, vs. normal work a day tax payers. The Democrat party demonizes the very groups and businesses that provide the jobs and taxes that liberals hand out to their dependant constituencies.
Tax the rich, feed the poor, til there are no rich no more.
Delos, Wright drives a Porsche.
No kidding.
Don’t you plebian dogs understand that our enlightened betters must have the best in personal protection by being chauffeured around in these heavy armored gas guzzling vehicles? Now get on public transportation, ride a bicycle, or walk to work for we must follow the words of the Goracle and make personal sacrifices for Ghia.
Same reason Al Gore does …
He either doesn’t really believe they are so evil, or he believes that it’s ok for him to ride in them, but if you do it, you’re just as evil as the car.
In other words, he’s full of it.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
From The Silver Bullet Web Site:
The President, not to be confused with Geena Davis, has proclaimed ethanol to be one of the king pins of American’s energy strategy. This is nothing but sand where Bush can put his head. Not too long ago Penn and Teller featured a hungry world on their cable T.V. show. We can only feed two thirds of the world while one third starves. So is using our valuable agriculture to grow gas using this resource to it’s highest purpose. I think not: that’s 69 million acres or 4.5 corn fields the size of Texas and as the price of corn raises so does many of our common foods. Can you see how Bush’s guest worker program might fit in here.
One thing we do have a hell of a lot, and not eatable, is coal. The U.S. has more coal than any other country in the world. It’s a resource used in a process called Fisher-Tropfsch and produces gasoline or jet fuel (synthesize the “coal gas”/methane into liquid hydrocarbon fuels). The forward looking governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, thinks his state could environmentally safe produce total United States gasoline needs for the next forty years (proof not all our elected official are bought and paid for).
If we were to construct fifteen Fisher-Tropfsch fuel refineries [1],built on strategically located previously closed military bases, we could produce $40 or less a barrel oil, provide free medical, payed up social security retirement, and a free college education for those who so merit from the profits rendered by our National Energy Foundation. Screw capitalism and big oil, and provide the research and development revenues for the second silver bullet, $30 per barrel shale oil. That’s 1.3 trillion barrels of shale oil or about three times Saudi’s reserves [2].
The Fisher-Tropfsch projects will cost in the thirty billion dollar range (Oh, wow! That’s six and a half months cost of the war in Iraq). And who has that kind of money other than big oil, whom I would never again put in a position of trust, is us, the people (the first law of the free market is not supply and demand but charge what the market will bear and that is as close to market price as you’ll ever get). Have you noticed the price of gasoline of late. So let’s not get screwed as is the tradition by capitalist. Let’s screw the capitalist, do this ourselves and out-source the corporations.
1 These refineries would daily produce 375 million gallons of gas for various civilian needs, 54 million gallons of commercial jet fuel, 20 million gallons of military gas, and perhaps 16 million gallons of military jet fuel.
2 Can you now see why our Senate has been bought and paid for. The House has 435 members and somewhat more of a problem to buy but still many have so been acquired.
Not too bad, for a black man to succeed so well as he has done in the US of KKKA.
W_M
http://www.wise_man.com/
An SUV is a reasonably efficient way to transport lots of people (miles per gallon per person). It’s an inefficient way to transport one person.
‘Cause Benny won’t give him the time of day HAHAHHA
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
Is it possible that the SUVs are part of Obama’s Secret Service protection? Hillary and McCain have been using SUVs as well.
Then why doesn’t Barack Obama ride the bus, lgm? Just think of all that great miles per gallon per person!!!!!
I don’t need Obama, Gore, or anyone else reminding me to drive fuel-efficient cars. I’ve been driving NOTHING but 4-cyl machines since the late-80’s when conspicuous consumption was still the norm. I knew the day would come when others’ collective ignorance would lead to high gas prices, but I never guessed it would be THIS bad!
Not to mention the enviro-nutjobs got the car-makers to stop making their main production cars a reasonable size for safety, forcing a large number of Americans into those SUVs.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
You only have to look at the highways and see how many huge SUVs have just one person in them…. it’s shocking.
Englishqueen - you are right, it is expensive to go green at first… but the financial benefits are there in the long term… hopefully prices will fall as more people stop thinking it’s a “liberal” issue and realize saving money is good for everyone…
And boy, what joy it will be when we can stop sending so much money to corrupt regimes through the gas tank!
I’m tired of big city libs dictating what it takes to live for we westerners, and even mid-westerners.
You need a truck, or an SUV or other large vehicle to get people moved, equipment loaded, and trailers towed.
I’m 6-1 - 230 and I don’t need some skinny hippy telling me I need to shoe horn myself into a prius to get around because it works for their granola sucking scrawny butt.
We are all not adjacent to bus routes and light rail in an urban environment. These scum sucking maggots are not only forcing their world view on the rest of us, but their limited real world experience as well.
You try to move a load of hay in your prius and let me know how it works out. I know they will move a load of bull with no problem.
I like my 300c, and I am going to keep it. Sure the gas prices have affected me but I CHOOSE to drive what I want to drive. No one else has to pay my gas bill but me.
That said….the political hypocrisy does get under my skin….but…I blame the car companies at this point. For far too long they have allowed political big wig insiders and energy giants to dictate to them the limits of the technology to be used on their vehicles. A good many inventors have come up with ways to get better fuel economy out of gas vehicles…but to no avail. We can put a man on the moon but here we are 40 years later and we can’t get 60 to 100 mpg? The energy industry is a cartel making sure these technologies never see the light of day. It is high time the car industry stick it in the eyes of these cartels and put out the technologies necessary for high mileage vehicles…no matter what their size (SUV, compact, etc). It has been proven many times before that when the liquid fuel (gasoline) is vaporized first and then injected as vapor into the combustion chamber, the result is a 90 to 100% burn up of the vapor in the cylinder as apposed to the liquid combustion which burns only 30 to 40% of the fuel to achieve combustion….the rest is wasted and burns up in the catalytic converter. This has been proven before…so why isn’t it being used? Hmmmmm. Kind of like a conspiracy wouldn’t you say? It’s time for the car companies to utilize these technologies…..or continue to post billions in losses while spending billions to research alternatives to gas…like ethanol or hydrogen fuels. Big 3….the politicians will turn on you and blame you all day long….when are you going to get tired of that and put these technologies into production? It’s either that….or keep posting those billion dollar losses. The energy companies could care less about you so now is the time to do the right thing.
Ahhh, the liberal mind!
All turgid and sweaty and SHOCKED, that Americans would make choices that LIBS disagree with.
Driving SUV by ones self. WRONG.
Killing your own baby. WRIGHT.
Obama was asked about the SUVs and it looks like it’s a Secret Service decision.
Is it me or do politicians treat us all like 5 year olds!
“Do as I say not as I do!”
I don’t need to look at the SUVs with one person in them. I can clearly see busses, light rail, and other public transportation wastes of taxapayers dollars that have one person on them.
Like HOV lanes with no one in them, using 20-40 percent of the freeway capacity, while other cars are stuck in start and stop traffic wasting gas idling.
The more you help, greeners, the more damage you do.
I dont have a problem with cars being more fuel-efficient. What I have a problem with are politicians preaching to us from on high about which cars, lightbulbs, toilets, etc. we can or cannot use. Then to make it worse, they do exactly what they told us not to.
Some people, including some on the left, complain that religion tells people what they can’t do in their lives. For example, religion says you can’t have an abortion.
But now we have the religion of leftist environmentalism telling us what we can or cannot do. Sound familiar?
Pure hypocrisy.
Honestly, I couldn’t give two krapolas. I drive the thing because I like it. Let the enviro-wackos deal with it.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
Byantine, we used to call it LIBERTY.
My 7 year old completely understands the term LIBERTY.
Libs don’t believe in liberty. They believe in socialist collectivism.
Most liberals are unable to compete in an open market type of capitalism. So what they do is group-up and gang-up. They believe that the concept of UNION is their salvation and their own pot of gold. These dimwitted liberals fail to understand that the more socialism we get, the less industry, and productive capitalist jobs we get. As long as the LIB gets his sick days, personal days, holidays, pension and vacation, he/she doesn’t give a rats ass where the money comes from. Liberals do not recognize that Capitalism has made this counrty rich and successful. Capitalism offers oppurtunity to ALL. Libs would rather have 10 bureaucrats do 2 peoples work, and 4 union hacks doing a job that one man could do. They are economically illiterate. They don’t want those of us who are independant to be able to make choices for ourselves. They’ll make our choices for us thank you very much.
Wow,
gas companies are in cahoots with government officials to produce big cars, when supply and demand dictates there is apparently a need for anemic hippy cars????
IF there is a demand for these cars, and there is, stockholders would force production, and the government conspirators be d*m*ed.
There is no conspiracy to build big cars or to avoid fuel efficiency. Anyone who believes that needs to go to business school and turn in their liberal arts degree for something that might help them out.
You rule, right wing rocker.
The left used to say, if it feels good, do it…
Drive on!
Wow, you’re right! I can’t believe what a big waste that is. Somebody ought to pass a law suspending those selfish individuals’ right of free choice in the interest of the common good.
/sarc
My safety and that of my family’s is more important than some global warming theory that’s already proven itself false. As far as the foreign oil dependence, we have the oil, the greenies just won’t let us get to it. The problem is the greenies, not the oil consumption level.
The problem isn’t the bully taking your lunch money, it’s that you consume too many calories during the day. Get used to skipping lunch and the bully taking your money won’t bother you.
Bob in Myrtle Beach got it right. It’s the commodities traders that are inflating the price of oil. Stick a pin in their bubble and prices will come down.
He rides in them, Michelle, because they are roomy, comfortable, safe, they sit up high so one can look down on those outside, and they are easy to enter and exit.
Question is: is this his car? Are these leased for the campaign? lgm makes a good point about how many people are riding along. Did Obama take his personal vehicle to Indianapolis?
I agree, though, that if this were so important an issue for him, he would do something about it. Create a photo-op out of it or something. You shouldn’t passionately bash Detroit and then not walk (or drive) the talk.
Clearly, if he didn’t switch his Chrysler until he was called out on this, he has no credibility. Even I, who thinks the environmental movement is nothing more than a parody of its conservationist roots, have been driving a hybrid since 2004 (albeit, it does stretch the wallet as englishqueen pointed out.)
We need to avoid the notion that pandering and hypocrisy are the sole province of Democrats. Both major parties have plenty of people guilty of this nonsense. It is the person, not his or her political views, that does the pandering. Hypocrisy is a non-partisan trait.
As a socialist Barry O is excluded from any proclomations that he makes. You see it with Algore, BJ, et al. The BDS crowd does not get it and never will. Bush lives in a Green house that is so much more efficient than any of the structures that the
socialistsdemocrats live in. Barry O wants to ruin the country as do the rest of the dhimmicraps so his remarks about the big three are par for the course.He has the SUVs because they’re required by the Secret Service. In all fairness, Michelle should clarify that.
Strange, I have to agree with this one. Until the Secret Service (or whomever decides on what they drive) pays for a more gas efficient bullet and bomb resistant vehicle to be designed the argument is moot. Unless this is his personal vehicle which I would doubt at the momemt.
I ride my bike to work, I drive a little beat up four banger vowing to not spend more than $10 a week on gas. (I was spending $20 a week when prices were at about $3.00 a gallon.)
I do not tell anyone else what they should and should not drive. It is my personal choice.
BTW I am doing all this savings so I can put a large down payment on a gas guzzling 2009 (or 2010) Dodge Challenger R/T. (My first new car.)
I was going to mention the deal with the SUV’s and the campaign trail too.
I don’t think they make armored Priuses, or ones that can fit a Presidential candidate and his posse.
Not trying to agitate or anything, but I seriously doubt McCain is campaigning in a Prius.
Now, the issue with the sudden drop of his preferred auto for a Prius when it became a cause celebre and could impact his chances of becoming President? Yeah, that’s something you can hold Obama’s feet to the fire for. I’d place substantial money on him dropping his Prius like a hot potato if he loses the race, and going right back to his big luxury cars.
I’m still waiting for the first Presidential motorcycle only motorcade. Then I’ll know they’re serious about ending our dependence on foreign oil
Sorry, to clarify my last statement MM makes it clear that Obama was being hypocritical about his personal vehicle choices until recently.
The SUV’s used on the campaign trail however appear to be a moot point since they are likely SS vehicles designed for protection over energy efficiency and that function falls on the SS push for new funding to build impervious vehicles that get good gas mileage.
The secret service uses them because they make sense when the goal is to move people safely, have good visibility, and have the capacity for multiple passengers.
Inappropriate for the rest of us though.
rightwingrocker said:
The enviro-whackos only want you to pay for it. I’d say $10/gal would do.
So once again Obama makes an insulting comment about something American - this time the big three American car makers.
Why the heck does anyone want to vote for a guy who can say nothing decent about anything American?
If he is the Dem. nominee for Pres - I hope McCain comes on hard and exposes Obama for what he really is - an elitist, socialist, anti American snob.
I like you, and I especially like your last sentence! LOL!
Yes, but you frequently see empty or nearly empty buses traveling around to cover routes or get buses redistributed for commuting times.
How are they different from an SUV that sometimes has to transport only the driver? What if the driver is carrying a load of plywood and supplies you just can’t see? Does that mean it isn’t being efficient?
The results of this liberal thinking can be seen at http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Workshop/Overload.htm>
Well that’s the main point then. Everyone seems to want to justify their use of energy. Just like Al Gore needs to jet all around the world to spread the GW gospel for the greater good. I think what Al Gore and Obama and those types don’t get is that the average person has different needs and requirements for energy use. Central government control like the libs want to exercise with energy policy will only lead to ruin for the nation’s economy.
Bear1909 #35, your comment was spot on. Yet another reminder of why the decision of how a family spends their resources should remain in their hands, and not abdicated by default (or willingly given over) to these hopeless elitist hypocrites in government.
Although he drives a diesel truck for part of the year, my hubby takes his motorcycle to work 6 months out of the year (50+ mpg/gal.). Works for us.
This is such a specious argument. No matter what you drive, you pay the hidden liberal tax every single time you buy something, because the fuel costs are passed on to the consumer.
The current unnecessary spike in Diesel prices, and as a result, all the prices in your supermarket, are a perfect and relevant example. And this is on top of the fuel tax.
So even when you ride your ecofriendly recumbent bicycle to your office in the math dept., you are still getting whacked, because the cost of getting food and supplies delivered to the top floor of the ivory tower you live in will cost more and more.
The Europeans have it right, under the socialist fuel cost burden lgm wants for us: Diesel powered cars and trucks.
But wait! lgm and his envirowhackos won’t let us buy new Diesel powered cars and light trucks here in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts.
So now you have to wonder if it is the environment/use of fuel or just the tax income that the econuts want, or if the liberal politicians are playing the watermelons to get the ability to collect more and more taxes, all in the name of global warming.
Again, when do we resent being played by these nuts?
Gee.. so much to comment on, so little space
Okay, I own a Ford Escape Hybrid. I like the vehicle, I like the technology, I like the fact that it is made in the USA. I also like the fact that it gets decent gas mileage. I like sitting a little higher in traffic, I also like having the four wheel drive option. The extra space is boon for shopping, hauling extra people etc.. about the only thing I would offer in the negative is, the vehicle could use another 50 horsepower. However, in my opinion, everything I have driven in the last 20 years+ could use another 50 horsepower including my lawnmower:-)
Now to the meat of the discussion. Liberal policies have killed manufacturing in the country. They are the primary reason energy costs are so high and that we are not self supporting. Greenies are against clean coal, nuclear power, drilling our own oil, new refineries, basically anything that make us energy efficient/independent.
One must remember, Al Gore is the man, when running for President in 1992 election, that wanted to add a 50 cent sin tax to gasoline. He ran on a ticket of doing away with gasoline automobiles. He continues the battle today with his trumped up global warming snake oil platform. He will be a billionaire soon, the next George Soros. He makes his money based on lies and scare tactics and a government that runs scared from the environmental movement.
As noted earlier, oil prices are up due to a dim, media enhanced, bleak energy future. Supply is meeting demand. If we were energy independent, in a capitolist market, we would have the cheapest energy on the planet. Of course, in a solialist environment, we would pay whatever the government could make us pay and the government would regulate production to keep the costs high. Directly opposite of what we get in a capitolist market.
To close, it amazes me how everyone chooses to single out the oil industry for abuse. The oil industry has a set percentage profit margin. The oil industry heavily invests in research. There are a dozen billions of dollar projects ongoing as I write this. What I find odd is this.
Liberals attack the oil industry, Clinton & Obama both have indicated they will punish the oil industry, take their profits, etc.. etc.. socialism, etc.. etc.. communisit dictatorship, etc.. etc..
However, do you notice they do not attack the enterainment industry and their outraged profits. I do no hear them attack the sports industry and their overpaid staff and millionaire players. And what about the computer industry, they show profits higher than the oil industry, what about them. And none of the industries noted above pay taxes even similar to what is levied on the oil industry. The oil industry offers us something viable/necessary. What do the others do again? Oh, yes, violate our senses, corrupt our children, teach us how to abuse women, and lets not forget the socialization skills of our mass media.
If we want to solve two problems with one issue. Tax the media on everything they get wrong, every truth distorted, and failure to backup claims/assertions with fact. No, I am not talking editorials, I am talking what they pass off as news.
K.. I am off my soapbox now, back to the salt mines. Have a great day everyone
But but but he is one of the “good” people so conservation doesn’t apply to him. Just like Gore, the worst hypocrite, Kerry, and don’t forget Pelosi requiring the huge plane to commute back and forth in.
The double standard on the left NEVER ceases to amaze me.
The SUV’s are a requirement for these security details in part because of all the extra weight of the enhanced frames for bulletproofing and such …
A smaller vehicle and therefore smaller engine would not provide the horsepower necessary to move the vehicle with that extra weight, let alone provide the quick response needed for high speed getaways in case of problems …
The first response to a problem for the Secret Service is to shield the person being protected and then remove the subject from the area of immediate danger as quickly as possible …
I thought supply and demand combined with speculation and emotions determined the price of oil.
Silly me.
It all slipped past . I have been too busy thumping my Bible and hugging my rife.
“Liberals believe that there is no sacrifice too great for other people to make.”
Q.E.D.
I just typed about a six hundred word response that I deleted out of respect for our hostess. Being green and living off the grid cost me literally everything I had in the USA. IF I ever go back, they can kiss my lily white because it will NEVER be green again.
Sorry … just bitter … quite literally in this case.
(although I agree: the Escape Hybrid is a nice little vehicle. Too bad they squashed the greenhouse in the latest “remodeling”)
You answered your own question: they tax it like they do because we NEED it. It is not an optional, voluntary activity to drive your car to work or heat your house. You MUST do it, so they know that we can grumble, but we can’t do much about it. Even burning wood is under attack because of the smoke produced! Hollyweird and sports are purely voluntary, unnecessary venues that we could cut out with no loss (actually a benefit!) and they would lose guaranteed income for their pet projects and vote buying.
It is the same with cigarettes: they take advantage of something a smoker can’t live without. They don’t want smokers to stop, because then there are no taxes generated. Heck, they would outlaw it if they really cared about our health more than the taxes.
Sign me up for that! Also, make it mandatory that corrections be placed in the same font, same day (i.e. not weekend) and same position in the paper as the offending story. No “bury it in the obits” crap.
You mean like my mechanical engineering degree?
I never posted about a conspiracy to build big cars. Read the post. My post was about suppression of technologies….one in particular…the gas-to-vapor-before-combustion technology. It will work on any vehicle…any size.
If folks think supply and demand are the entire story…well…I guess my post isn’t going to make sense to them.
Sirknob, you are a wise man.
One part of this thread has become absurd.
The OBAMA SUV part of this thread.
All the blathering about the Secret Service requiring SUV’S is moronic.
What type of vehicle was Obama riding in prior to the Secret Service joining him?
Chirp chirp chirp chirp. I’ll wait.
My guess is that the black Suburbans you see Obama getting into at the airport are armored and/or are government vehicles provided by the Secret Service for his protection. I agree that they are big gas guzzlers, but if that’s what the Secret Service wants, you give it to them. That’s the least you do for people who are willing to take a bullet for you.
More damning, in my view, is the fact that he drove a 300m (which, at 18/25 mpg, isn’t *that* terrible on gas) but as soon as he got “called out” for it, he switched to the Escape hybrid. That’s just crass opportunism.
(Also, enjoy the fact that Obama bought american-made cars. I think Obama was the only 300m owner under the age of 65 in the country. The Ford Escape, in my view, sucks compared to its Japanese equivalents. But, since Detroit is so terrible at building decent either performance sedans or hybrid vehicles, he had to go with the only models available…)
The picture Michelle used for this story is of Obama getting out of an SUV. She said, “But on the campaign trail, to this day, it’s still the bigger the better.” So how is pointing out that the Secret Service requires him to use these SUVs absurd?
Mookie, I’m going to pretend for just a minute that you aren’t a stupid liberal hack. Remember, I’m just pretending you’re not.
Obama was driving a GMC ENVOY before the Secret Service joined his humble life.
Okie Dokie Mookie??
Obama isn’t against SUV’s, it’s Clintonequse to blame the SERCET SERVICE.
It’s the non-denial-denial. Yes, the Secret Service uses heavy SUV’s.
Irrelevant to the issue.
Obama already used heavy SUV’S …………….BY CHOICE.
You are dismissed.
Alright. I think I have found BHO’s newest addition to his car collection.
The GMC Envoy he was driving was a Flex Fuel vehicle. But don’t let facts get in the way of your hate.
- Mookie
Oh GOOD! So he had the flexibility of getting poor mileage on gasoline, or on energy inefficient biofuels!!
Some of you really don’t think beyond the sentence you’re madly typing, do you? Don’t let facts get in the way of your narrative though.
You’re really missing the point entirely, aren’t you? The point is that criticizing Obama for using SUVs on the campaign trail, as Michelle did by linking to that photo and saying, “But on the campaign trail, to this day, it’s still the bigger the better”, is dishonest. The Secret Service requires all three candidates to use those vehicles. Criticizing him for his earlier choice of vehicles is completely valid because it shows his hypocrisy. But in the case of what he’s using “to this day” on the campaign trail, it doesn’t apply.
Obama traded AFTER he was exposed. He through the “reverend” under the bus AFTER he figured out it was politically necessary. Obama is a completely reactive politician that, like Hillary, will say or do anything, no matter how hypocritical, to get elected.
Why thanks!
Anyone care to vote me into the White House? Heck, my Sheltie would do a better job than any of the big three!
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
How true. And my former party puts their worst offender on the ticket for the White House, then wonders why huge numbers of people won’t vote for the guy.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
Wait till you see the bill when you have to replace the battery - oh yeah, and disposing of it causes more pollution than plain old gasoline exhaust!
Anyone want to go for a ride in my ‘03 Blazer? HAHAHAHAHA
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
Just a reminder: Industries and businesses don’t pay taxes. Their customers pay the tax for them. Tax on the oil industry? Guess who pays it. YOU. Not the CEO of Exxon. Not the guy who works in the refinery. YOU pay it every time you pull up to the pump.
Remember that next time some commie complains about phantom tax breaks the oil companies get. Remember that every penny the oil companies DON’T pay in taxes is a penny YOU don’t have to reimburse them for when you fill your tank.
I won’t let them beat me. You shouldn’t either.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
Does this surprise anyone?
You only have to go to the airport nearest to any congressperson’s home town to see airlines with only one person on the plane. Our tax dollars go to a huge subsidy for Airlines to Nowhere (yes Michelle, you may use that:) so your representative doesn’t have to drive from the nearest large airport.
So let me get this straight. All our senators have secret service and bullet proof SUVs? Or just those running for president? Has Obama had this SS unit protecting him paid for by our tax dollars since he announced he was running for POTUS or before? Did all the other candidates have them? Are they paid for with campaign dollars or tax dollars?
These are important questions that we need to ask.
Bottom line though is he changed after he was called out which to me means he is not fit for pres. IMHO
What BS LGM! If this were Bush, you’d be thundering up a storm! I guess half-black liberals get a free pass, huh?
You want efficient, LGM? Try a bus or a train.
An SUV? Get real.
Conservatives, I went to school for environmental science, and it’s people on the left who don’t lead by example that make our jobs harder.
- Mookie
We’re on the same page there. But the Envoy isn’t his campaign vehicle, it’s one of his private vehicles.
He did it (the 300) for the street cred… which a Ford Escape Hybrid definately does NOT provide.
No, I know that. I’m just saying, if he’s going to be a hypocrite about his private cars, at least he’s trying to be an environmentally friendly one.
You know, you have a point. Instead of spreading (like manure) millions of dollars on commercials that people just tune out, why don’t the candidates reimburse the gov’t for their own protection? Obama is hemorrhaging money, and Hillary can just send ol’ Bill out to make a few speeches. Speaking of Bill, he can afford to spring for some of his own protection too, since he has made being an ex-president so profitable. The Bushes too. Carter can get Hamas to pay for his.
If they can arbitrarily make decisions that screw up our financial status, why can’t we return the favor?
They can get the tax paid stuff after they get the job.
Me? I would just get a bid from Blackwater, LOL!
Rocker, the battery and system have an 8 year warranty. No pro-rating. I doubt I will have the vehicle 8 years
As for the other comments. Very good, you state the obvious, as I said, so little space.. silly me
As for the Toyota comment. Most cars today are made by convention. Toyota does not make a better vehicle, they have better advertising, better lobbies and as I said, the environuts are on their side. The environuts do not want anything made in the USA. They blame the President for chasing jobs overseas when their attack attorney lawsuits and logic defying EPA & OSHA regulations result in the largest loss of manufacturing jobs in the US.
The media consistantly plays the automotive game the same way they play politics. Foreign cars get only good press, US cars get only bad. Consumer reports loves Asian models, J.D. Powers loves Europe. As for Toyota, a good brand, but the last two years running Ford has kicked their butts in the consumer complaint department. Funny, how Toyota can recall 3 million vehicles for a transmission defect and media fails to notice. The same media that placed dynomite in a Chevy Pickup and exploded it on camera to influence the public that the vehicle was dangerous. Funny also how they fail to mention the multi million dollars lawsuit payouts they had to make to Ford and Chevy.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback all
Time to eat 
Everyone have a really great day 
The argument from hypocrisy should have some affect on enviro-types but in my experience it never does. Might as well not even try it. The answer is invariably along the lines of: “Well, lots of people have SUVs. Big deal if our guy has one.” The implication being that it is fine for Gore, Obama, and their ilk to have SUVs — until the great day comes when the vehicles are universally banned. Then and only them would it be hypocritical for Obama, etc., to own/drive one.
Anybody know who drives the escape? Probably the piano teacher. or may be just sits in the driveway for show.
What I want to know is how do we common folk stick a pin in the commodities traders bubble, to bring the oil prices down?
Still, the environmentalists’ justification for insisting everyone driving these things is the money you supposedly save and the environmental issues, both of which are bogus for the reasons I mentioned, espeically for the long term.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com