Posted on 06/11/2008 1:46:26 PM PDT by Fred
Sen. John McCain delivered a nearly pluperfect supply-side tax-cut plan yesterday, one that is worthy of conservative support, and frankly a real eye-opener showing just how good he can be. I wrote about it in my latest column.
But then he goes on NBC’s Today Show this morning and gets the whole energy story wrong. Oh my gosh.
When asked about gas prices at the pump, and whether they could go any lower, Sen. McCain said he didn’t think so because “You’ve got a finite supply, basically, and a cartel controlling it.”
This is exactly wrong. There is no finite supply, or if there is we are 100 years away from it. I don’t know who has put this thought into the senator’s mind, but it is a bad thought in terms of energy and a bad thought in terms of the politics of this campaign.
Look, we have the Bakken fields, the outer continental shelf and all the offshore drilling opportunities, ANWR, and so forth. There’s probably over a trillion barrels worth of reserves out there. And Republicans in the Senate are trying to move a deregulated drilling bill through the process. McCain should be backing this and talking about it.
Democrats are out there pushing cap-and-trade, which would jack up gasoline and oil energy prices, damage the economy, and create a massive central-planning exercise. The Democratic Congress has done nothing to alleviate the oil shortage. They’re captured by the greenies. They should be blamed.
This is a real turnaround issue for the Republicans and Mr. McCain. But McCain’s not going there.
Incidentally, in the Today Show interview, the senator takes a whack at oil-company profits, suggesting they should return some of these profits to consumers. And he would consider voting for a windfall profits tax. And then he used the phrase “obscene profits.” Make that two oh my goshes.
John McCain isn’t one of us, but he can still be useful to us. The conservative movement in the U.S. is in the doldrums, and in need of some soul-searching. The politics it promotes are mostly from the 1980’s and 1990’s. It’s a different time now. So I will probably support McCain, but remember, he’s just a transitional figure, nothing more.
I don’t believe profits are ever obscene.
“The Texas state Republican convention begins tomorrow in Houston and I will be there. MCain has sent Romney as his surrogate to make a speech. I think McCain isn’t coming because he might be booed on stage, too many real conservatives there. When Romney tells us how fine McCain is, he might be booed, too.”
Oh how I wish we could dump McCain at the convention and draft Romney! At least Romney is for the US becoming oil independent and against amnesty for illegals! The more I hear McCain the sicker I become at the thought of having to vote for him in Nobember. We just have no other choice as Obama would be so very much worse for America and I doubt we could ever recover from a President Obama!
Incidentally, in the Today Show interview, the senator takes a whack at oil-company profits, suggesting they should return some of these profits to consumers. And he would consider voting for a windfall profits tax
If McCain indeed said this today (on Today), it contradicts whatever his spokesman said the other day about his position on windfall profit taxes, and is more in line with exactly what he said last month, last year and in 2006.
Unbelievable, especially when the Republicans seem to waking up regarding the oil exploration issue and our need to drill. McCain is with the Rats! Isn’t there someone with some knowledge of the energy issue, close to McCain, that could talk some sense into this man? This is a winning issue for us against Obummer.
This was to help in electing republicans in November. I told them that all the educating in the world would not convince the American people to elect candidates of the stupid party.
My republican senator calls for drilling oil and the republican presidential candidate rejects same. My republican senator calls for stopping illegal immigration and rejecting amnesty and the republican presidential candidate takes the complete opposite view. There is absolutely no hope for this party. A million produced attack videos will be a total waste of money if the republicans have totally inconsistent messages on the conduct of policy.
It is if they believe that attacks on BHO, alone, can bring about some kind of victory to this party.
The interview is *really* painful to watch.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25091600#25091600
Global warming! UGH!
I agree, he can not switch now it is too late. He and the republicans are stuck in hell.
AndyJackson: “Responsible conservatives would start addressing how we are going to meet energy demand, and stop this gawdawful pointing fingers at everyone whose solution might not accord with their troglodyte version of “free markets” which we have almost never had in energy supply anyway. “
“Responsible” conservatives don’t tell other people how to spend their money. If you think you’ve got the solution, then you finance it with your own money. Yes. Start a company or invest in one with your own cash. That way, when you lose your shirt on some energy boondoggle, you are the only one to pay (or, on the extremely remote chance you actually have a good idea, you’ll wind up rich).
The problem here is people who think they know best and want government to drive or fund it (with other people’s money, btw). The ONLY conservative solution to this energy crisis is to get government out of the way and let your evil troglodyte free market do what it does best.
I’m in Virginia which supposedly is in play. I’m voting for Barr nonetheless.
I don't believe that is true. Phil Gramm, Doug Holtz-Eakin, Carly Fiorina, yes. I've never seen Kudlow mentioned as an adviser and he is nowhere (other than articles he has written) mentioned on McCain's website.
As “President” he cannot vote on anything and he didn’t when the vote came up. So I am not sure given the time frame of when he said it. Having said that, I disagree with taxes on oil profits and profits are never obscene. I don’t agree with him 100% of the time, something that I have said in the past.
However, I refuse to take this “Haghani Circle” approach with November.
Suggest you listen to Kudlow on CNBC tonight. You will find out how he feels about McCain’s TODAY appearance.
I have it on now. His intro was appropriately harsh: “absolute bungle” by McCain.
Fred, it seems everyone has ideas on how to solve the crisis. Certainly conservation helps. It’s foolish to needlessly waste something so precious as oil. However, it does appear we aren’t going to be able to conserve our way out of it, because oil is used for far more than just gasoline. It permeates our entire economy.
Unfortunately, some so-called conservatives think government is the solution to the mess that government largely created. Do people really think the energy companies have better, more economical (read: more profitable) methods of filling our energy needs? Do people also think the energy companies are incapable of researching alternate energy sources without government assistance?
Want a solution? Start removing the byzantine layers of government bureaucracy and taxation that hinder our economy.
If Kudlow was ever an advisor of McCain, he must have resigned.
I love debating with so-called conservatives, who think they are spouting off a classic liberal (no not that kind of Liberal) economic theory, but they (you) know nothing about it.
I have nothing against free markets. They are great things. Energy markets are not free markets and never have been. Under classical economic theory, in order to have a free market you must have: 1. No monopoly (or oligopoly) 2. No information asymmetries and 3. No externalities (including barriers to entry, etc.)
None of these have ever applied to energy markets and certainly do not today.
Nice try.
The demise of industrial R&D laboratories in the US is one of those paradox's for free market economists. Why won't companies do what is in their long term best interest? Answer, because it is not in their short term best interest. This is called an externality or failure of the free market. Furthermore, firms don't do R&D because they cannot capture the value of the R&D. If I invent a new technique for finding or extracting oil or using it more efficiently, it turns out that even if I can patent it, once the idea is out there others will figure out workarounds or improvements, so all I have done is drop my own revenue at my own expense.
There is an extensive professional economics literature on just this subject. Go read it before you profess that you actually understand diddly about the subject.
Little Ray: “Lets give the “Evil Rich” a break and to hell with the “poor” and the “less fortunate.””
I’m with you! I’m not even a member of the “Evil Rich” but I know which side my bread is buttered on. We already have way too many breaks for the poor. Not that helping the poor is wrong. It’s a great thing when done privately.
Let me tell you, Ray, the harder I work to get ahead, the more people I have to carry along with me. I don’t mind not getting earned income, paying 100% of my children’s tuition or not qualifying for the myriad of other government income redistribution plans. What irks me is when I scrimp and save for decades and live responsibly, it matters not. It only means I end up paying more to take care of the irresponsible. Gross income rises, but net income is barely higher than those who get a free ride.
It’s like the old story about the grasshopper and the ant, but in this case, the grasshopper(s) learned how to use government to steal the ant’s hard work.
As for subsidizing gas for the poor? Great idea! I highly encourage our rich leaders to set up a private charity to pay for it. I’m certain the FReeper who presented the idea would be willing to contribute generously, right?
AndyJackson: “Go read it before you profess that you actually understand diddly about the subject.”
Thanks, oh enlightened one for showering your wisdom on me, an ignorant rube. Obviously, government is the only solution here. Right, professor?
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