McCain on offshore drilling: For it before he was against it before he was for it again; Update: McCain’s astounding flip-flop on windfall profits tax, plus a new global warming alarmist ad
Scroll down for updates…McCain now bashing Obama on windfall profits tax, releases new global warming alarmist ad, Dems support nationalizing oil industry…
Just a recap: McCain was AWOL on the windfall profits tax debate in the Senate (a failed Carter relic that he says he’d be “glad to look at”). He had nothing to say about Rep. John Peterson’s effort to lift the offshore drilling ban when it was up for a vote last week. And as I noted back on May 22, he has channeled the entire Democrat presidential field’s class warfare rhetoric and repeatedly referred to the oil industry’s “obscene profits.”
Now, he’s announced he wants to lift the offshore drilling moratorium and will give an energy speech tomorrow. He was for it before he was against it before he was for it again. Positively Kerryesque:
With the price of gasoline surging past $4 a gallon in many parts of the country, Senator John McCain called today for the lifting of the federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling for states that want to permit it.
He said that he also favors giving states incentives to allow exploration, part of an energy proposal that he said would be “very helpful in the short term for resolving our energy crisis.”
Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, said the impact of high fuel prices was hitting Americans, not only at the pump, but also in the form of rising food prices and threats of inflation.
“We must embark on a national mission to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gases through the development of alternate energy sources,” Mr. McCain said, adding that he continues to support a summer gas tax holiday.
Mr. McCain has a mixed record on the issue in the Senate. In 2001 and 2006, he voted in favor of offshore oil drilling in Florida, but in 2003 he voted against it in Florida and other states. Mr. McCain has consistently opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Oh, and if you thought for a moment that McCain might back off his Hillary/Edwards/Obama-esque bashing of profits, think again:
McCain is set to give a speech about energy to oil executives in Houston Tuesday, where he is expected to chide the industry for the huge profits they have made during a tough time for gasoline consumers.
Flashback: Reagan vs. McCain on profits, business, and the free market
***
Update: More speech preview here.
Update: McCain supporters say I should give credit to McCain for changing his mind.
Well, I certainly give him credit for whiplash-inducing political expediency.
Via Allah comes word that McCain is now bashing Obama on the failed windfall profits tax.
I remind you again of what McCain was telling voters about it less than a month ago.
Transcript:
MCCAIN: “Um, I don’t like obscene profits being made anywhere–and I’d be glad to look not just at the windfall profits tax–that’s not what bothers me–but we should look at any incentives that we are giving to people, that or industries or corporations that are distorting the market.”
Straight Talk Express, meet Google and the Internets.
McCain’s also got a new global warming alarmist ad out now, bragging about how he “stood up to the President and sounded the alarm on global warming.” This screen shot says it all:
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Trackbacks
- If This is Monday, John McCain’s Energy Policy Has Probably Changed | The Sundries Shack
- Monday Links : Stop The ACLU
- Don Surber » Blog Archive » It’s the oil, stupid
- John McCain = Disaster | The TIW Blog
- Neocon News » McCain: Our only hope for cheaper gas or is he just full of the stuff?
- McCain Is All Over The Place On Offshore Drilling « Beltway Snark
- Does He Mean it? | The Hinge Of Fate
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Rasmussen: Plurality of Democrats support … nationalizing America’s oil industry
- Orange Punch » Blog Archive » Malkin documents McCain’s drilling flip-flops - OCRegister.com
- Born Again Oil Man: John “spud” McCain–Praise The Lord and Start Drilling « Pronk Palisades
- Pro Cynic
- EckerNet.Com » Blog Archive » For Crist’s Sake Why??
- The Dan Lee Report » Blog Archive » Democrats stall for time on your dime with Offshore Oil Drilling Bill
- Left Flank: Yet More Political Nonsense about Drilling
- Michelle Malkin » Obama, Paris, Britney, and Brangelina
- Michelle Malkin » Rock the House: What should Republicans do now?
- What did I tell ya? Lindsey Graham signs on to cap-and-tax « In Thru The Out Door
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We have to be pragmatists and keep moving forward. Remember the old Navy motto “The Best We Can with What We Got.” We should build 20 nuclear plants in the next 5 years and drill for oil everywhere we can. We should also double the size of the armed forces and buy the ammunition to make them credible.
Gee, you mean we might actually get to drill next to the Chinese in the Gulf of Mexico?
…they call him ‘Flipper’, ‘Flipper’…
(music from within your mind, and an old TV show I grew up with)
Hey this is AWESOME!!!! John McCain is just like JOHN KERRY!!!!
I do hope McCain gets some actual person who knows something about what he is talking about to help him with his speech on profit and profit-margin before he talks. That would be refreshing, some intelligence.
L
I was for John McCain before I was against John McCain before I was for John McCain before…..
Ron Paul’s looking less crazy by the minute !!!!
No brownie points for you!!
Don’t we want McCain to change his mind (on a number of issues)?
So … how, exactly, is the entire east, south and west coast of the united states somewhat the same as protected areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Everglades, the Grand Canyon and other sensitive areas?
You know one of the few things with which I disagree with most conservatives on is their insistence on protecting the oil companies. Of course, their profits are obscene, and of course, they are totally underhanded.
The oil companies are nothing more than a cartel. It is just impossible for a handful of companies to make this much money all at the same time and not one of them start a price war, if this really was a market. I am not sure if you all have cousins at oil companies, but protecting them is political suicide. Here is how I explained how I came to this conclusion.
MDS.
Why is McCain making me wonder if he’s really a better choice than Obama? If he keeps this up until November, I WILL stay home, and the devil take the hindmost. Or I’ll vote in every contest except president. Why do I even have to be driven to this choice??? When the hell will the GOP wake up???
Rush said it this morning that Drill here, Drill now is an ideal Republican issue. Keep those oil dollars at home. Why send our life savings overseas just to fill up our tank? Obama said recently that he wasn’t against highgas prices-he just didn’t like the shock Americans experienced when gas prices rose so quickly.
and,
#1 I don’t like obscene profits.
#2 I’d be glad to look at it.
#3 That’s not what bothers me.
#4 We should look at incentives being given to corporations.
…. and now let’s connect the dots.
The so called “obscene profits” don’t bother me. I’d rather look into giveaway incentives to corporations.
Yep, that bastard McCain. The only thing missing from that quote is if he had said “my friends,”… then maybe we could hate him a little more.
Poor guy can’t win for losing around here.
He changes his stance on an issue to one more agreeable, and you call him “Kerry-esque” or a “flipper”. He doesn’t change, and y’all beat him up for that.
I count this as a positive. Now, if we can get him to change his stance on illegal immigration, the two greatest concerns I’ll take with me to the polls in November will both have been dealt with.
Hey peeps, McCain was probably my 5th choice for the ballot this election cycle. However, I fear that many are developing a McCain derangement syndrome here. His flip flop on this issue might SAVE the election this fall.
The drill here, drill now, pay less will become a mantra that they party can run on this fall and pick up votes that might go by the wayside.
We are NOT going to have a purist here. We have to make the best of what we have. WIth these insance court rulings that are coming down, we HAVE to get more seats in the Senata AND we have to keep the White House, even if that means voting for McCain. We can’t afford 4 years of Dems in charge of everything. We will never recover.
Sorry about the typos above, I should have previewed.
Make that “the party can run on this fall” and
With these INSANE court rulings.
As long as he doesn’t flip back again, what’s the problem?
Drill, baby, drill!
The way I see it, there are only three plausible causes for this
Cause 1, The Obama approach: lie like a cheap carpet. “This is NOT the offshore oil drilling I’ve come to know over these past 20 years.” Etc.
Cause 2, The Kerry approach: lie like a cheap carpet. Flipper-ing like others have described here.
Cause 3, Senility. Any chance John’s gears are slipping, and he can’t remember what he thought yesterday?
Now before anyone jumps on me for “exploiting” McCain’s age, note that I’m NOT saying that he is senile. I’m saying that he is either he’s a pandering, lying sack of excrement who can’t be taken at his word, like Obama or his predecessor from 4 years ago, OR he’s senile.
As for me, I’d rather be a doddering old fool than a lying sack like Obama or Kerry – but that’s just me, bitterly clutching my Bible and gun while sweet crude keeps climbing towards $150/bbl…
So, which one is it?
The GOP will begin to wake up when they look at election results after Nov. and other contests and recognize that for the GOP ‘going liberal’ is NOT the way to go.
The sureest way way for the GOP NOT TO REMAIN CONSERVATIVE is vote for McCain because every pundit with a pulse will take the easy way out about this issue, read the voting results-the hard data- and will make their promulgations about conservatism.
“Hey the Repubs voted MCCain-even the people identifying themselves as conservastive are doing it (like Regulus, Wise_Man etc.)! I’ve got political cover if I go against them!”
…
and at that point they will
Otherwise if McCain loses…their thought will be “…Hmmmm..the conservatives all throughout the campaign didn’t like John McCain-and they meant what they said…(and if
I am a moderate, liberal REpublican), I better not go against conservatives. Hesitation on our opponents side is the best thing we’ve got going for us right now.
As for the idea that voting for McCain is really better than Obama that argument and its credibility slips with each passing day.
Mike,
Oil is sold world-wide market and thus oil companies and most of the middle eastern countries are all raking in the profits right now. As long as the world’s demand is equal to or greater than the world’s supply the prices will continue to be high. We need to flood the market with more supply if we ever hope to bring down the prices. And if you want a windfall tax then you better be prepared to pay back that money when the oil companies start losing money.
The surest way for a conservative to get elected is to:
Give money to a conservative who is running for the republican presidental primary so they can afford to travel and advertise to the people who will vote for them what their message is. The people vote for a candidate, not the GOP.
The surest way is that the conservative candidate needs to have popular positions. The surest way to get a conservative candidate elected is to have him or her perform well in the debates and bring a quick wit, charm along with the ideas that the voters either want, or will settle on.
All of this has nothing to do with who was running for office 4 years earlier.
And when John Kerry lost to GW Bush, you’d think that – using your logic – that the next candidate the democrats fielded would not be as liberal than Kerry. Because he lost. But what do we have? Barack Obama. And how liberal is he?
I wonder why none of McCains technically wiser advisors have pointed out to him that equating drilling in the Grand Canyon or Everglades to drilling ANWR is irrelevant. Some of the oldest rocks in the world with no oil potential are exposed in the GC and the Everglades are on a limestone bank with no oil source or trap.
Maybe, Right wing, however you are missing my point. This has little to do with the price of oil world wide. If this was truly a market there would eventually be a price war among all the major players. There isn’t and that’s because they aren’t playing in a market. Until there is a market in gasoline we won’t have energy independence.
Heather Radish #18: Ditto. Drill now.
Not me, I’m just allergic to lying, dishonest politicians who will say anything for one vote.
I don’t believe him. Not for a second.
To be clear, if that lying open borders politician (Juan McCain, GOP) told me this room was on fire, I’d have to see the flames before I would believe him.
If the figures I have seen and heard regarding what oil companies actually make as a profit are correct, the business owner I work for should be doing time already and the same would go for most other business owners.
Amid all the weeping and wailing about the price of gasoling, has anyone else noticed that the price of many canned goods, vegetables, fruit, milk, etc… has doubled in the past two years?
Correction: Doing time is not what I think any business owner should have to do for making a profit. That came out wrong. But the people against “obscene profits” sound like they want them to do some time or at least pay a hefty fine or tax.
Precisely.
Since McCain locked up the Republican nomination, the best outcome that conservatives could strive for has been to use the interval up to the general election to work on him concerning things like domestic energy production and illegal immigration.
The constructive way to do it would be to persistently, logically and in a civil tone present the conservative viewpoint — it may take months, it may not work, but there’s evidence that it can have a positive impact.
The other way is to heap a dump-truck load of impotent verbal abuse on the man, and swear on a stack of Bibles that you’ll never, ever vote for “Juan McShame,” “McShamnesty,” blah blah blah. P*ss away your opportunity to make a difference inside the party, then follow it up by p*ssing away your vote in November.
If the latter’s your choice, then Here ya go.
Mike,
Why would you have a price war when you can sell your product for the max amount? The only reason you would lower your price is because you have too much inventory. Until we reach the point of over-inventory then we will not have a price war.
I don’t like McCain either. He was not my choice for the nomination, but he got it, and we are stuck with him. So why is everyone bashing him now that he is finally seeing the light on an issue that is of the highest prioprity of the nation? He sure is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. I am just happy he has changed his mind on drilling offshore. He also needs to change his mind on drilling in Anwr too, but this is a good start. We need to be drilling everywhere we know there is oil. We just need to keep up the pressure on him and perhaps he will see the light on Anwr and the Immigration issue as well and then we can all go to the polls and vote for him with a clear conscence. Everyone should be allowed to change their minds if the facts warrant it. Just the meer fact that we refused to drill offshore and in these so called environmentally sensitive areas is so arrogant on the part of the US Govt. Hey we want to save OUR environment but we don’t care about the enviroment of the countries we will buy oil from. No wonder the rest of the world doesn’t like us! If we want to maintain our standard of living as one of the best in world we had better be prepared to drill for our own energy needs and stop relying on countries that do not like us for our needs. It just makes sense! Leave McCain alone on this issue now that he is starting to make sense. It is what we wanted isn’t it?
I have to side with some of the commenters here about MDS and flip flopping.
John McCain is not my first choice. Not my second, third, fourth, fifth, etc… But I’d rather see him in the White House than Obama. I’m voting for him because I’m voting against Obama.
I find this “flip flop” good news. Perhaps Senator McCain saw the myriad petitions signed by thousands of Americans (myself included) demanding domestic drilling. Perhaps Senator McCain realizes that this issue is hitting many Americans very hard, especially those on fixed incomes, and ultimately damages the economy. And perhaps Senator McCain understands that the only way he might beat Obama is to change his stance on this issue.
Hey, I’m all for it. As others said, this is a good change. And why are we beating him up for it? Don’t we want him to listen to us? I find the accusations of “flip flopping” unfair. Again, do we want the Senator to listen to us?
When gas hits $5.00 a gallon (and it’s $4.41/gal in Seattle right now), people are going to forget about the war in Iraq and immigration because they will be too angry and alarmed to be concerned with anything else except their wallets. This issue will be the priority among most Americans (except for the uber rich) because it affects them directly.
That’s the only way the GOP will win this.
I’m with atheling.
I’m looking hard to get enthused about something in this election and this news has done it!
I am not sure that we need to drill anywhere. There are a ton (hyperbole alert) of oil wells that were capped because it wasn’t profitable to pull the oil from them. That has changed. But I am not against drilling new ones. I am all for it.
OK – so McCain has flipped – in our favor and we’re still upset? Not me. He’s already started to talk tax reform that includes keep the Bush tax cuts and maybe just maybe getting rid of the AMT. He’s flipped on drilling. Maybe his advisors have finnaly heard from the grass roots in the RNC that support and money to get him elected isn’t going to flow until he gets our domestic oil flowing. Maybe illegal immigration curbs will be next. I’d settle for two out of three – considering the tax-tax-tax-tax and givaway everything to everybody Socialist candidate alternative. I don’t really like McCain except that much but he’s been pretty supportive of our troops – and Oblamma is the Hollywood pipe dream candidate.
Yes and no, asked this and his response:
“Asked how far offshore states should be given control of drilling rights, he said that was a matter for negotiation.”
Like a typical Senator, he didn’t say he supported offshore drilling, but instead what he really said was that he supported lifting the moratorium and then packing a negotiation with such political BS that it would be impossible for any state to actually do any drilling.
Political translation, is that McCain is actually trying his hand at “reaching out” and pretending to be on the people’s side here, only to do a “well, I didn’t say they could have complete control.” More political play on words so there can be no gotcha.
I would love to see Michelle embracing the constructive way.
I am really upset and frustrated at all the people gleefully participating in the other way, and it is impotent. It is self-destructive. They are (in my opinion) lying to themselves and making McCain into this anti-conservative boogeyman that needs to be defeated at all costs. This is the sort of derangement that I would expect at places like the daily kos, and it’s really distressing as a fan of Michelle Malkin and her websites to see this so prevalent.
I was glad to see the democrats in chaos when it was Obama vs Hillary. Now that this is over, and apart from a few hillary dead-enders, the majority of the democrats are unified. I am not glad to be seeing just about the same thing continue with us here as this fight between McCain and everyone who’s candidate lost to McCain in the primary. Stoking the fires of anti-McCain chaos from within the republican party can have no other purpose that to help the democrats.
Mixer,
The problem isn’t with “seeing the light” from McCain, the problem is that he is a liar. If he can flip in a matter of weeks, he can do it again. If you can trust him (and can trust any Senator) than fine and dandy, I just think we should beware. We people are too trusting and hopeful sometimes.
No other purpose? You really can’t think of any other purposes?
Only when there is adequate supply to meet demand, which is not currently the case. Fantasies of conspiracies are the province of the moonbat left. Let’s stick to something approaching reality. The restrictions on supply not attributable to natural causes come entirely from government. XOM is the biggest private oil company in the world, but they still are much smaller than the nationally owned companies. They have no control over the market, and even if all the private corporations banded together, they wouldn’t have enough clout to affect prices significantly.
And for the moonbats who wail about obscene profits, let me point out a couple of inconvenient facts.
1) XOM made about 18-19 billion last year. They paid about 9 billion in taxes. That’s a rate of around 50%. How much do you think they should pay?
(The numbers may be off a little – I’m working from a very bad memory here.)
2) The previous point doesn’t count the federal, state and local taxes at the pump. The fed bite is a fixed amount, but the state and local are percentages (at least here, don’t know about everywhere), which means they go up as the price goes up. How much is enough?
3) The oil companies’ margins are at best around 10%. Microsoft and other software companies are up around 40-50%. When are you going to start demanding windfall profits taxes on tech companies?
4) The price of corn has gone up as fast as, or even faster than, the price of oil. Are you demanding windfall profits taxes on ADM or Tyson? Not that I’ve heard.
5) If drilling were authorized in offshore areas and ANWR, the price of oil would drop immediately and precipitously, because oil is traded on a futures market, and is simply the aggregate of the traders’ guesses as to what supply and demand will be several months from now.
I don’t trust politicians as far as I can throw cheesecake under water.
We stopped having a real choice of candidates about six moths ago. I don’t want Obama – I didn’t want Hillary – and I’m stuck with McCain.
He’s the luckiest man since Ringo Starr.
Might he flip again. Yup – but I think he’s beginning to hear the complaints ldged with local Republican clubs, the RNCC and RNC. Everytime I get a solicitation or a phone call I tell them they won’t see one thin dime until McCain starts listening to the will of his future constituency, and not the whining MSM amplified enviro-whackists, illegal apologists and the tax-me-until- I-can’t-afford-shoes spendthrifts currently in the majority in Congress. Ithink the message is finally filtering up.
McCain might flip again – and after being elected – but (and this is pure conjecture) but what happens after his flip wouldn’t be nearly as devastating to the US as electing Oblamma and his Socialist agenda.
Yes, we’re (or at least *I’M*) upset that he flipped – even if it’s in “my” direction.
It’s called “pandering,” and McCain has a history of it.
Any of you who believe that this is his “REAL, TRUE, NEVER-TO-CHANGE-AGAIN” stance are out of your minds. He has a history of this kind of crap.
He’s Neville Chamberlain, bending in whatever direction he thinks he has to for political expedience. He’s John Kerry, saying whatever he needs to for a vote.
Worst of all, he’s indignant about it, this “public servant.” If/when enough people like me make him change a vote, he’ll call me a bigot like he did re: the border.
Pardon me for taking a principled stance, based on the Constitution and patriotism…
I’m supposed to swoon for the lies of a no-good who calls me names? This is the freedom that soldiers die to give us?
So I say again: he is either senile or pandering. If he is pandering, then he is what all panderers are – a lying sack of excrement.
Wise_Man you are missing the point, and the irony is that you’ve just made my own argument. Here is why I say what I’ve said: Notice that the Democrats will never put up a conservative from within their own party ( a few years ago a democrat reasonable to conservatives on issuesjust like we have had to put up with RINOs all these years just did not exist either).
More to the point from the Democrat perspective Obama is an improvement over other candidates they’ve fielded in the past. More to the point again, as much as I disliked both Bushes…the current President Bush is and has been a better choice for mconservatives than his father had been in 1988-1992. During that time George HW Bush had slipped into the Oval Office by lying about his “conservative makeover” from his time with the Reagan Admin. and then spending the remaining four years of his candidacy screwing conservatives (HE did not balance the Budget, and his views on gun control were in fact too similar to Bill Clinton’s, to give you a few things to consider) conservatives ran from him-this was inevitable.
I am not arguing that not voting for McCain will result in a better Democrat candidate for President-screw ‘em-but rather will result from this inevitable mess a better and yes more trustworthy and credible conservative candidate for high office than what we will have with McCain.
By the time McCain gets through 2012, he will have zero support from us because his policies and Supreme court justices will be indistinguishable from Obama…. The GOP will still be entranced with the idea of putting up another RINO after McCain loses in 2012-all becuase the hard data said in 2008 said this was doable.
Mixwe14,
Cheesecake is a terrible thing to waste
(my spoof of that old United Negro College
Fund ad of yesteryear).
So what’s your alternative?
Look, I’m not happy that out of 360+ million people we’ve come down to holding our noses in the November election booth. I don’t see McCain being the worst choice – a bad choice perhaps – but not the worst choice.
I thought it was Lindsay Graham whjo called us bigots.
And you’re griping about this, why?
He really doesn’t know anything about economics, does he?
I guess he thinks 8-9% after tax margin is “obscene”. If that’s the case, maybe he should place a windfall tax on Google and Starbucks. Both of those companies have after tax margins in excess of 20%.
Well, that rant hardly makes you credible, Rob.
Who the hell said you’re supposed to “swoon”??? I sure didn’t. Grow up, kid, this is realpolitiks, and if you think that you’re going to find the perfect candidate like the Dems did with Obama (sarc on), you’re dreaming.
Are you just upset that you have no one to “swoon” over, like the Obamatons do for their Messiah? Get real.
A healthy dose of skepticism is always welcome, and necessary, in American politics. But when people who are allegedly on the “right” are screaming, ranting, and throwing absurd comments full of MDS just like the BDS-infected Kos Kids, it’s no wonder that conservatism is falling apart.
Ronald Reagan was an exception, not the norm. You and your purist ilk won’t find anther like him for another century, I’m willing to bet.
And if you want to invoke your high and mighty constitutional “principles”, then, then by all means, sit on your hands in November. I will thank you every time I have to hear about President Obama for the next four years.
Mixer14 Re: “a bad choice perhaps – but not the worst choice.”
Sigh, I 2nd that.
I saw one of McCain’s spokesbabes on Fox News the other day and she said something to the effect that McCain doesn’t support drilling in ANWR and on the coasts “at this time.” Which I found to be quite promising.
If McCain is going to flip-flop on this issue then now is a great time to do it, but I don’t think it’s quite fair to rail against him for not changing his mind and then make fun of him when he does.
Micheal Ramiriz’ June 16,08 –about says it all on this one :
http://www.investors.com/editorial/cartoon.asp
The LOTE is really getting old for me and I don’t mean his age.
brooklyn red
I third.
Will he start drilling when BO gives him permission?
It appears some of our Republican Senators are starting to grow a backbone and are building up some ammo by soliciting hardship stories on how the increased cost of fuel and the related cost of inflation that are bankrupting many hard pressed Idaho families. I provide part of an e-mail I received from Senator Crapo today:
Say what you will for or against the “grumpy old man,” which has done all he can to keep pushing me to vote none of the above in November at least some of his colleagues have bought a clue and are willing to try to do something about the problem.
love2rumba
hey, be nice. That’s President BO to you.
Atheling,
Thanks for patronizing. I thought this was “Milton Bradley’s The Game of Life.”
I know full well what this is, and I’m clear headed enough about it to essentially let Obama win.
McCain will be a train wreck. As bad as Obama? No… but bad enough. Bad enough that people will blame the disaster on Conservatives – something that McCain most decidely is not.
In most battles there’s a time to give ground, and I believe this is that time. Let Obama drive us onto the rocks, like Carter did in the 70’s. Let him be at the helm as Al Gore is made a fool of, as gasoline goes to $7/gallon, and as our vaunted press dust off that old chestnut “the misery index.”
There ain’t no other way that conservatism is going to carry the day again. Too many RINO’s – to the point that I’m not sure that the Repuppies are even a viable alternative party any more.
There comes a point where “better than the other guy” don’t cut it.
To me, this is that time.
Ohhhh, come on Atheling, is this a rant that should make you credible as well? Is this your way of making yourself feel better or the rest of us worse? I don’t care who you vote for, although I do think people’s reasons for it can be scrutinized. However, I get pretty sick of people thinking Obama is going to win because someone didn’t vote for McCain. When people talk like that, they don’t know how to win. The Patriots didn’t lose this years SuperBowl because they had less people show up. They lost because they didn’t have what it takes to win in the end.
If McCain loses,you can soothe yourself by thinking it was those stupid people who held to principles or you can come to reality and realize McCain winning or losing depends on what HE does.
Bush wasn’t exactly Reagan either, but conservatives voted for him, so don’t think people are holding out for the messiah. I will vote for darn near anyone that consistently stands up for our 2nd amendment rights and lower taxes, although I sure have strong feelings toward a whole bunch of other issues.
I think we are all in a pretty bad spot this year and all I ask is that everyone votes.
Look. For you and the rest of the McCainiacs, I haven’t seen too many people on here insulting your presumed intelligence and calling you names. If you want to support a candidate who on most issues is indistinguishable from Obama and on the others is generally lying, that’s your right. It is also our right not to do so. Conservatism will survive McCain, and you, just fine.
Did anyone catch the story today about insects that can secrete oil?
Poison pill.
Florida and California will not allow drilling, even in waters more than 50 miles off their coast…
That takes out most of the West Coast, and a large chunk of the Gulf.
IMO you are either for DRILLING or NOT… he’s trying to have it both ways.
Pure, plain, and simple mealy mouthed, Politics.
Romeo13 re: “Florida and California will not allow drilling, even in waters more than 50 miles off their coast…”
Do States have jurisdiction over 12 miles??
Yeah. Now if they can only invent a car small enough for them to drive…
Txvet…
LOL
Very nice.
Awww, I have seen plenty of roaches drive BMWs…
b red-yes – in fact – when I went out to fly spray my horse-I thought to myself—”GOSH-I could start my own oil business.”
Yup. Same story as with Gitmo. Speaking of which;
That darn “MDS” seems to have reached National Review.
RE; off shore drilling: check out Ramirez’ June 16, offering:
http://www.investors.com/editorial/cartoon.asp
I’m interested in hearing what ever came of that Oil from Anything technology that made Discover magazine a few years back. That sounded like it had promise. . .and it even had a pilot facility actually doing the process (turning turkey offal into heating oil and fertiler).
Best of all worlds (even for environmentalists), it was a carbon neutral process, utilizing only that carbon that was already in the cycle. It had the potential to turn our landfills into sources of energy.
Mike Volpe:
You don’t seem to comprehend – the oil companies do not SET the price of oil. They can no more set the price of oil than I’m able to levitate.
Sorry – you’ve been listening to way too many journalism majors (ie – talking heads on TV or newspaper writers) instead of really understanding the economics.
Its actualy THREE Miles, by law.
Problem is that the Feds give them a lot more power than that… they constantly bow to the wishes of the states.
Donut44
Honestly I do not want everybody voting. I want those who have a vested interest in the success of the USA voting. The rest, not so much. Those who’s only question is “What can the country give to me?”, don’t deserve to get to decide on the future of this once great country. Our founding Fathers had it about right – only land owners voting.
I, with no uncertain amount of absoluteness, pledge to be steadfast in my unwaivering ambivalent support of Sen. McCain, unless the need to switch a more or less ambiguous candidate by happenstance should present itself at an opportune time. I would not say this with no lack of great resolve.
If this has been covered, my apologies.
So, okay Mike, how do you measure the obscenity of the oil company profits? What profit would you consider acceptable and not obscene? I mean, seriously, if you wish to note certain profits as being “obscene”, surely you can tell us what percentage the oil companies are allowed to make.
Sounds too much like McLame for my liking.
Very tough for me to type this (especially in light of your very below the belt and highly offensive Columbine comment), but that was a great post at #50 atheling…can’t disagree with anything in it.
mike, I’m not sure you’ve got the economics right, but I’m also not entirely convinced that the oil companies are operating on a level playing field. Rigged markets, free riding and the like are all antithetical to the efficient operation of truly free markets.
Thank you Romeo13, 3, not 12… Hmmmm. I am not in favor of state run industries, BUT I could warm up this…
A sitting President then could in fact order the military to drill off shore for reasons of national security… interesting, no?
#30:
you’re fooling yourself if you think the man has changed positions on anything.
Unfortunately you may well be correct.
What the hell is the matter with you? Did I say that I WANT McCain? NO! Don’t bloody call me a McCainiac, asshole, when I clearly stated that he is NOT my FIRST, SECOND, OR THIRD OR FOURTH OR FIFTH, ETC.. CHOICE!
Secondly, you deserve to have your intelligence questioned when you say that McCain is “indistinguishable from Obama” on most issues! Absolutely not! McCain is not for demilitarizing America. Last I heard, McCain votes against abortion, unlike Obama.
You are the exact reason why I call you MDS folks “kids” because your rhetoric and statements reflect those of children! Hell, you can’t even read my comments and extrapolate from them correctly!
GROW UP!
In the immortal words of the Bud light commercial guy,
Dude!
I hardly call my comment a “rant”. I suppose you don’t know the difference.
As for the rest of your comment, it’s not worth responding to because it makes no sense, i.e., “When people talk like that, they don’t know how to win”??? Uh, whatever. You keep working on that 45th donut, dude.
Yes, I favor drilling, drilling and more drilling, as well as putting up nuclear power plants with the latest fail-safe technology, converting coal into diesel fuel and once more allowing the refining of high-sulfur heavy crude now that it has become economical to do so. But for immediate price relief, I would prohibit the purchase of commodity futures on margin (in other words, no more 50 cents on the dollar). One investment analyst predicted that such a measure would weaken speculative demand on oil futures enough to drop the price to $85 a barrel.
weebles wobble but they don’t fall down!
McAmnesty, McAmnesty, McAmnesty is the great, white hope for the Republican party.
Sad, Sad, Sad…
I respect your conviction and alternative. I would hope that you would go and vote if only to register a write in for ‘None of the Above’.
As for me – I see a greater danger in there being nothing but a majority of Democrats across the board in Congress and the White House. We’re still feeling the effects of Carter and Clinton policies along with their Supreme Court and Federal Judge appointments. The only thing they do well is tax us to death (and after death) and act as the UN’s cheerleading section in the constant demonization of everything that’s good and unique about the US. The make laws from the bench and seem to only care about a criminal’s rights and to hell with the victims. The only ‘good’ rich person in their eyes is one with a (D) after their name (see Kennedy, Pelosi, Sharpton, Jackson, et. al.) Anyone else is THE EVIL RICH who must be beaten up publically and taxed to death (PS – get ready for them to tax the mutual funds that most 401k plans are heavily invested in if they succeed in putting Obama in the White House. After all, somebody has to pay for all of the feel-good givaway programs they’re planning on putting in place.)
Maybe your way is to lie down and take it. ME, I’m going down swinging.
I know we need to work and live in a global economy but we don’t have to capitulate or apologize to anyone about the way we live and I am damned tired of Democrats thinking they can do so unabated. Electing Obama would give great weight to that and we can look forward to at least four years of a president who is not proud of our country, dislikes our military, and is readly to let the UN run our affairs.
I hope you respect my convictions.
Dude, atheling, I appreciate your passion for our electoral process for what it holds for all of our personal lives, but you are way out of hand.
I am sure you “don’t” call your comment a rant, but you have no problem calling someone else’s one.
Your inability is in having a discussion with someone who disagrees with you. You are so upset right now, you can’t even read a post and understand it even with the explanation right in front of you.
Again, don’t care if you feel like you HAVE to vote McCain and if you want to convince others to do so, go ahead and try. Your tactic of insults and irrational writing isn’t going to do it though.
I’ll take an extra donut though if you are offering.
What some of us (not me) fail to understand, is that these differing/changing positions are a result of good/bad/not popular/popular, unvetted information he is receiving from those assigned to provide information about these things.
It’s a lot like the information President Bush had been receiving about Iraq’s WMD’s before he ended Saddam’s incalcitrance.
All one needs is a finger, and winds that change direction. He can have this finger…
If you told McCain that a propeller beanie would replace fossil fuels with clean wind power, would he wear one?
I were as thin-skinned as the average Obama supporter, I might think ‘great white hope’ was a racist comment.
You can call McCain McAmnesty, but then we can call Obama:
Tax-o-Rama Obama
Extreme Enviorobama
Not Proud-bama
Open Border-bama
Suck up to the United Nation-obama
Expand Federal Programs-obama
Quick-Draw Withdraw-obama
…and the former do-nothing Senator from the state of Illinois
Donut44:
Yes, I’m pissed off because some idiot called me an “McCainiac” when I am clearly NOT one. For some strange reason, it angers me to be called something I am not.
Perhaps you would understand better when I will call you an Obamaton from now on. You, Rob, and the other fool will henceforth be called “Obamaton” on this site, when referenced by me.
Have a nice day, Obamaboy.
If you told Obama that wind power generated off of the coast of Massachsetts could replace fossil fuels, would he let it be there?
Better yet – if you told Obama that adding a tax anywhere in the oil supply chain was bad for the consumrer would he avoid adding it?
I thought you said you were going to call me Obamaton, but then you call me Obamaboy. Which is it, so I know when you are talking to me.
I kind of like Obamaton though, so if you want to insult me, you better call me Obamaboy, but not Obama’s Mama boy, because that would be offensive.
I can see how being called “McCainaic” would drive you crazy and yes, you have stated you are only voting for McCain as a last resort.
After that, I can not see how any of the babbling we have been doing is of any substance or worth, so it is probably best that you have decided to leave for the day and perhaps I will do the same.
It is unfortunate that “name calling” can throw you into such a frenzy and I hope that maybe tomorrow, we can work towards helping each other with some facts and reasons and not just passionate anger with no direction.
If he becomes president, will McCain open the continental shelf for drilling first, or will he build that double-layer fence on the southern border first?
Anyone? Anyone?
Bueller?
Bueller here.
More likely he will drill for oil first.
Obama will do neither and will probably take the existing double layer fence from the border and put it over the continental shelf to keep dilling rigs out.
Obamaboy:
Why don’t you get on txvet’s case for starting the name calling instead of me?
I have a right to be angry about that, and about you completely distorting and misunderstanding my comment. I don’t care if people disagree with me, but I will and do become angry when they obfuscate, lie, and distort, which is exactly what you are guilty of.
You sound like a some skateboarder, btw, when you use “dude”. It hardly enhances your argument when you sound like a 14 year old.
As for “facts and reasons”, I have provided plenty. It seems that you obamatons (and I reserve to call you either obamaton obamaboy) are the ones who have failed to do so. You, like Obama’s other supporters, are the ones who have resorted to distortion and lies, not me, and have not provided any “facts”. Saying that Obama and McCain are “indistinguishable” on the issues is ridiculous, and an outright lie.
I hate liars. And I will call anyone on their lies anytime and anywhere I see it. If you don’t like it, go pound sand.
I would imagine he will go after the most important issue first, which is all that horrible special interest money in DC that apparently he didn’t get rid of in his first attack on the 1st amendment. So probably evil things like the NRA (but not the ACLU) he will go after.