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Obama ignores facts, blames GOP {UPDATED}

So what else is new, right?

{UPDATE: with Kevin’s kind permission, below is the video of the speech in question.

Remember: this is the candidate who’s supposed to be taking us away from the politics of negativity. Unless you disagree with his math, of course: then you’re just being proudly ignorant.

But he still wants your vote! – Moe Lane}

Obama in Ohio:

Let me make a point—let me make a point about efficiency, because my Republican opponents? They don’t like to talk about efficiency. You know, the other day I was at a townhall meeting, and I had laid out my plans for investing $15 billion a year in energy efficient cars and a new electricity grid and all this. Somebody said: well, what can I do, what can individuals do? So, I told them something simple. I said, you know what, you can inflate your tires to the proper levels, and that if everybody in America inflated their tires to the proper level we would actually—probably save more oil than all the oil we’d get from John McCain drilling right below his feet there, wherever it is that he was going to drill.

So, now the Republicans are going around—this is the kind of thing they do, I don’t understand it—they’re going around sending, like, little tire gauges, making fun of this idea as if this is Barack Obama’s energy plan.

Now, two points. One, they know they’re lying about what my energy plan is. But the other thing is, they’re making fun of a step that every expert says would absolutely reduce our oil consumption by three to four percent. It’s like—it’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant, you know? They think it’s funny that they’re making fun of something that is actually true. They need to do their homework. Because this is serious business. Instead of running ads about Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, they should go talk to some energy experts and make a difference.

But the problem isn’t that Republicans denied that air pressure could save fuel. The problem is that Obama’s math was way off. Powerline did the math, Jim Geraghty did the math, and Jake Tapper [did the math] (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/from-the-fact-1.html), and under no scenario do you get to savings equal to offshore drilling.

So who is ignorant and who needs to talk to the experts?

COMMENTS

  • Dave_in_Fla

    But then, that is why he is Mr. 25%.

  • aaronbg

    n/t

  • Wilmington

    http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_10099292

    • rstreu

      n/t

      • aaronbg

        yeah you will fit in great back at DKos…why don’t you just amble on back there now.

  • dskerman

    I’ve only checked out one of the three stories you linked to so far, but the powerline study is not boding well for the accuracy of the second two.

    It first calculates the amount properly inflating tires would save in one year.

    then compares that to the total esimated recoverable resources available in the proposed drilling areas.

    It doesn’t take a genius to see that is a misbalanced equation, as it would take decades to actually extract that amount of oil.

    A much more relevant comparison would be to estimate the yearly yield of those new fields and compare it to the amount saved.

    Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030.

    200,000*365 = 73,000,000
    powerline says properly inflating tires = 90,000,000 saved per year.

    so we can either recover an extra 73 million barrels per year in 2030, or we could save 90 million barrels per year today by properly inflating our tiers.

    • Moe_Lane

      …or the fact that you totally messed up the formatting to do it. We have link buttons for a reason, Sparky.

      Moe

      PS: In case anybody cares, apparently Schaffer’s 19 year old kid embarrassed his parents with some nasty anti-Obama garbage on his Facebook page. No, I have no idea what that had to do with Obama’s inability to do math, either.

    • Next93

      We figured out back in the 70′s that you can’t conserve your way out of an energy crisis. Conservation may make the crisis a little less deep, but it won’t make it any shorter.

      Bottom line is, you can’t grow the economy by conservation, regardless of what idiots like Carter and Obama (and Minnesota’s own RINO governor) say about it.

      • aaronbg

        …it is the EIA estimate and it has been thoroughly discussed here on RedState. And for the most part the EIA estimate is wrong.

        Now go back to DKos.

  • Pentagon16

    So for me to save money on a gallon of gas at the pump, I need to get a tune up and inflate my tires on a BRAND NEW CAR with 1,212 miles on it.

    Is Obama’s next rollout plan going to call for us to save JP 8 Aviation fuel by having our bombers slow down over Afghanistan, fly fewer training missions and have our carrier battle groups steam in smaller circles? That could save some more fuel also..

    and what about his jet setting Hollywood buddies? Could they take fewer Gulfstream jaunts to their openings in Paris? I mean since we all have to sacrifice and all..

    • Darin_H
      • aaronbg

        …I know you can’t really do this Neil but it would be awesome none the less.

        • Moe_Lane

          You’ve worn out all the mojo from that particular study which you were too scared to link to, and for good reason.

          Bored now.

          Moe

          • bk

            We won’t need an air force if Obama is elected, so we’ll save tons of fuel.

          • alinla

            Obama’s energy plan may have its shortcomings, but it is much, much more than encouraging people to inflate their tires properly–and you know it!

            It seems that many of you are so desperate to find something–ANYTHING–they can use again him, you are compelled to lie and say that his whole plan is simply a matter of inflating tires.

            I like this site because the people commenting usually avoid the cheap shots and obvious falsehoods that define newsbusters.org and mediamatters.org (et. al.) but I am seeing comments and posts that smack of desperation. Desperate people do desperate things.

            (PS & BTW: I have not made up my mind who to vote for. I would, however, like an honest debate.)

          • Neil_Stevens

            Their Prophet is insulted, so what do they do? Attack, attack, attack.

            It’s completely emotional. They’re so deep in that cult of personality that they’ve been stripped of rational thought and an ability to reason with those who have reject HopeChange salvation.

  • blooch

    And what’s with the nose-scratching after “John McCain’s feet”? Was he checking to see if it grew a little?

    • Kevin_Holtsberry

      Allow me to quote from the Jake Tapper post (no rightwing troll he):

      It means that if every American was running around with significantly underinflated tires and improperly tuned cars, then, yes, Sen. Obama is right, the savings from inflating the tires and tuning the cars could arguably match or exceed current output from the OCS.

      However, since estimates of significant tire underinflation affect only about a quarter of the cars on road — as we noted above with the NHTSA statistics — and it?s highly unlikely that 100% of the cars are in need of tune- ups at any given time, the maximum savings amount is probably closer to 10%, Verrastro says.

      “So the production offset is more likely to approach 800 thousand barrels per day ? a tidy sum and a worthwhile target for savings, but not equal to OCS output,” he rules.

      Simple enough for you?

      Probably shouldn’t feed the trolls, but didn’t want to come off proudly ignorant or anything . . .

      • wiseprince

        If everyone just gave up one meal a day we could feed the whole world

        The, “Inflate your tires” idea reminds me of the popular solution above

        • Mord

          it’s about as much of a lie as the whole “100 years” quote. Payback is a B**.

          • BooBooKitty

            you are confusing schadenfreude with desperation. Followers of the chosen one often become confused and disoriented after straying from fold… go toward the light

          • aaronbg

            …and you make a broad accusation that,

            It seems that many of you are…compelled to lie

            Then you try and make the peace by saying you are an undecided voter….yeah I don’t know, kinda smells.

          • Dave_in_Fla

            Inflating tires is about all there is.

            Oh, there is the tuneup also, but cars stopped needing those in 1985. So yeah, all we are really left with is inflating tires.

            Oh wait! I forgot about “I’m ok with $4 gasoline, I just don’t like how fast it went up”. You are right, the rest of his plan is to ignore the price at the pump.

            Sorry for my mistake.

        • Mike_Dugas

          It was supposed to be DEFLATE the tires and THROW away the keys! THAT was the scope of his energy plan but he lost his place on the teleprompter and hadda wing it…hence we get the tire gauge.

          • ehosterman

            is that you intentionally only count oil from OCS drilling, when the 200 lb gorilla in the room is the oil contained in western shakle oil deposits, which Powerline added to the total. When you consider that the lower end estimate for shale oil is 10 times the estimated reserves of the OCS it’s easy to see why you exclude it. It just doesn’t fit the meme.

          • ehosterman

            that “windfall profits” taxes were a bad idea in the 1970′s as well. I guess it’s a retro thing.

          • Joe_Schmo

            You know, give up on inflating the tires on the tupperwear and move on to the tuneup part…

          • Mord

            Every moving part in our world needs lubrication since we have not, as yet developed frictionless bearings. Most lubricants are petrolium based…I would say ALL but I don’t know that for a fact.

            All of those wind turbines and solar panels and all of that awesome biofuel needs fossil fuel by-products just be manufactured, not to mention the actual materials that the machines that make the machines that make the machines that make your lights go on every day 24/7/365.(repetition was intentional) There is literally no moment in your life that isn’t benefitted by fossil fuels.

            From the clothes you wear, food you eat, the roads you drive on, the shingles on your roof,to the machinery that makes our standard of living even possible. I don’t think most people realize how dependent even basic technology is on “BigOil”.

          • Dave_in_Fla

            Survive without Vaseline? I don’t think they’ve thought this through.

          • Mord

            hahahaha…..deep breath….hahahhaa.

            Maybey somone should send out a mailer.

          • Maggie_in_Indiana

            who must have seen Mario Andretti on his inflate your tires and roll up your windows to reduce drag,and use the air conditioner. A commerical before the Indy 500 in May. There were others also who made simular ads.

            By the way my Pacifica tells me when I have low pressure in my tires,but thanks anyway Barry.

            Conserving fuel by all the various means have been used by all of to some extent and frankly I’m tired of it. I just want cheaper gas to burn in my wagon and go on a road trip.

          • aardpig

            …but on what planet will saving $4 per day make me a millionaire when I retire? Suppose I start saving when I’m born, and retire at 65 — then I will have saved $94965, an amount that falls short of $1 million by over a factor of 10.

            So, what am I missing here?

          • NightTwister

            It’s just isn’t an Energy Policy.

          • simpson316

            n.t.

          • nilram

            If you invest $4 a day for 65 years with a 6% return compounded daily the result is $1,177,696.13.

            Of course I doubt many people will invest $4 a day for their entire lives.

          • simpson316

            I used money chimp’s compound interest calculator

            PV = 0
            annual additions = 1460
            years to grow = 65
            interest rate = 8%
            compounding one time per year

            It spits out just over $2.9 million

          • nilram

            If you go back to the site and change the interest to 6% and compound 365 times a year. ( I said compounded daily) you get about $1.177 million which is close to what I got. The scenario that I set up was actually contributing $4 per day and it increases the return slightly. And I think I may have compounded continuously instead of compounding daily.

            The point is, you can make over $1 million by investing $4 per day but you have to do it for an unrealistically long time or get a really good interest rate.

            I played with the calculator a bit and it seems that if you invest $10 per day for 45 years (ages 20-65) with an 8% apr the return is also over $1 million.

            By the way does anyone actually compound continuously or is that just something to torture algebra students with?

          • nod90

            …it’s something that you can nag the American people about but experience suggests that the nagging is unlikely to be effective.

            Solving the under-inflation issue would require funding local police departments to set up tire pressure check points with $200 fines for those whose pressure was too low.

            I guess that would be very unpopular, but if that is what Obama has in mind I think he should be honest about it.

            I bet that a lot of the people with underinflated tires are professionals who don’t like to get their hands dirty, or the elderly who find getting down on their hands and knees in the middle of a dirty driveway to be uncomfortable.

            The best long term solution would be a dashboard display of tire pressures but I suspect that would be expensive.

            The bottom line is that Obama’s comment is no substitute for a real energy plan that uses all possible means to bring gas prices down.

          • blooch

            They had eight years of Bill Clinton , and they were able to laugh at him, with him, because he made us so mad. Then they got stuck with eight years of the smirky insouciance of W.

            They were so sure the solemn, stodgy Algore would wipe the smirk off W’s face, and it did’t happen. They were so sure that the ponderous Lurch would finish him off, and that didn’t happen.

            Now they’re stuck with a guy whom they’re absolutely forbidden to laugh at because his mission is so serious, and they think that we are somehow not allowed to laugh at him either. And they can’t even laugh at McCain, because they’ve remade him in the image of W. The best they can manage is bitter, croaking “old guy” jokes.

            C’mon, you trolls, you goateed Obamatics with knitted brows, just laugh with us and say, “Yeah, he effed up that one a little, but we’ll get you back!” This isn’t a “Dukakis-in-the-tank helmet” moment…is it?

          • speciallist

            n/t

          • blooch

            Partial credit to him is due, dude.

      • NightTwister

        I’ve spent all day trying to figure out how to change the tires on my tupperware, but alas, I’m apparently not as smart as Barack Obama.

        • wiseprince

          Haven’t heard anyone else mention that

          • streiff

            well since we’re only happy if you’re happy we’ll fix this right away

          • NightTwister

            But you get the idea…

          • Dave_in_Fla

            But the new Thunderhorse platform alone produces more oil than that. So you keep right on trusting those incorrect reports, while we will use actual production totals from working wells.

          • Dave_in_Fla

            I love hearing about new rides.

  • BooBooKitty

    you are confusing schadenfreude with desperation. Followers of the chosen one often become confused and disoriented after straying from fold… go toward the light.

  • shadowtax

    Professors and financial advisors have a demonstration for something called the time value of money. Bascially, if you save $4 a day, you can retire a millionaire.

    It’s true. However, we don’t see too many people retiring as millionaires, do we? People simply do not save as much as they should. That is why there is a financial services industry, to help people manage money.

    Likewise people do not conserve as much energy as they should. That is why there is an oil industry. It is easier for relatively few professionals to increase the oil supply than it is to mandate changes in behavior to the multitudes.

    Do you suppose that when the Democrats proposes a massive tax hike to “fix” social security, Senator Obama respond, “Americans can raise more money for retirement by saving $4 a day, then through all those tax revenues the Congress proposes raising?” I think not.

  • Molten

    Turn off your lights and don’t drive that extra mile.

  • Moe_Lane

    NT

  • JKH1232

    I thought the McCain Plan was: Drill, Drill Driil, Nuke, Nuke, Nuke.