Obama links energy troubles to Cheney

[HHSDad]

Critical of McCain, Democratic candidate quiet on his own energy vote

 

updated 27 minutes ago

 

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Democratic candidate Barack Obama criticized Republican John McCain on Tuesday for taking a page out of "the Cheney playbook" on energy, overlooking his own support of oil-friendly policies that the unpopular vice president helped to craft.

 

Vice President Dick Cheney, a former oilman, early in the Bush administration helped draft an energy policy that Obama asserted is biased in favor of tax breaks and favorable treatment for big oil. Obama's remarks were an attempt to capitalize on Cheney's unpopularity.

 

"President Bush, he had an energy policy. He turned to Dick Cheney and he said, 'Cheney, go take care of this,'" Obama said. "Cheney met with renewable-energy folks once and oil and gas (executives) 40 times. McCain has taken a page out of the Cheney playbook."

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26040077

[75center]

Opps. Nevermind.

[AcesFull]

Pretty desperate move by Obama. He is getting hammered on his idiotic "energy" policy so he tries to link McCain's more sensible policy to an unpopular Republican. Are any of you liberals disappointed in The One stooping to such tactics?

[Clyde]

Pretty desperate move by Obama. He is getting hammered on his idiotic "energy" policy so he tries to link McCain's more sensible policy to an unpopular Republican. Are any of you liberals disappointed in The One stooping to such tactics?

 

Does the specific issue (ie energy) bother you or is that he tried to link McCain to an unpopular figure?

[AcesFull]

Does the specific issue (ie energy) bother you or is that he tried to link McCain to an unpopular figure?

Nothing about Obama's statement bothers me. I am glad to see him slinging mud and engaging in attempted character assassination. There is a reason that his poll numbers have plummeted the past couple of weeks.

 

Americans understand that you cannot replace gasoline powered cars with electric ones while simultaneously reducing electrical consumption by 15 percent. Obama should have begun flip-flopping on energy much sooner. Now, when he finally offers something similar to McCain's plan, he will once again look like a foolish follower instead of a leader.

 

Keep slinging that mud on Senator Obama! :thumb:

[Trinity alum]

Nothing about Obama's statement bothers me. I am glad to see him slinging mud and engaging in attempted character assassination. There is a reason that his poll numbers have plummeted the past couple of weeks.

 

Americans understand that you cannot replace gasoline powered cars with electric ones while simultaneously reducing electrical consumption by 15 percent. Obama should have begun flip-flopping on energy much sooner. Now, when he finally offers something similar to McCain's plan, he will once again look like a foolish follower instead of a leader.

 

Keep slinging that mud on Senator Obama! :thumb:

 

WOW! Comparing him to the Vice-President of the United States is mudslinging and character assassination? For what it is worth, John McCain is doing a pretty good job of assassinating his own character with the campaign he is running. In the late 1960's, John McCain was given the chance to trade his honor for his freedom. That John McCain chose his honor. In 2008 John McCain is trying to trade his honor for the presidency. He may end up with neither.

[AcesFull]

WOW! Comparing him to the Vice-President of the United States is mudslinging and character assassination? For what it is worth, John McCain is doing a pretty good job of assassinating his own character with the campaign he is running. In the late 1960's, John McCain was given the chance to trade his honor for his freedom. That John McCain chose his honor. In 2008 John McCain is trying to trade his honor for the presidency. He may end up with neither.

I said attempted character assassination. Americans are beginning to catch on to the fact that Obama is in way over his head and is getting very desperate very early. If Obama does not start making some sense by the end of the third debate, this race could turn ugly.

[Trinity alum]

I said attempted character assassination. Americans are beginning to catch on to the fact that Obama is in way over his head and is getting very desperate very early. If Obama does not start making some sense by the end of the third debate, this race could turn ugly.

 

To those of us who are willing to listen to what Senator Obama is saying, he makes a great deal of sense. It has taken him a while to come around to an energy policy that not only makes sense, but can also be passed. He has hit it dead center with his latest proposals. He knows that we cannot drill our way to energy independence. It will take a combination of conservation and new forms of energy. He also sees that some are so wedded to drilling that he won't get his proposals without giving something in return. He proposes to trade an aggressive policy to move away from oil in exchange for short term drilling. Sounds like a great policy to me. Senator Obama is not in over his head. He is making sense. I understand why the McCain camp keeps repeating the lies about his qualifications over and over. After all, in the past two elections lies were repeated so many times that just enough people came to believe them. I don't think it will work this time for two reasons. First, Senator Obama has enough money that he can hit back at the lies early and often. Second, John McCain is not nearly as comfortable telling lies as the current occupant. It is one of the things I like about him.

[Trinity alum]

I said attempted character assassination. Americans are beginning to catch on to the fact that Obama is in way over his head and is getting very desperate very early. If Obama does not start making some sense by the end of the third debate, this race could turn ugly.

 

I'm still having trouble understanding why you believe that comparing Senator McCain to the Vice-President is mud slinging or attempted character assassination. That seems like a pretty low opinion of the Vice-President.

[Clyde]

Pretty desperate move by Obama. He is getting hammered on his idiotic "energy" policy so he tries to link McCain's more sensible policy to an unpopular Republican. Are any of you liberals disappointed in The One stooping to such tactics?

 

Is the "more sensible" policy you reference offshore drilling? Would that include the issue of "windfall profits?"

 

Are you saying its inaccurate to say that McCain is the puppet for big oil?

[AcesFull]

To those of us who are willing to listen to what Senator Obama is saying, he makes a great deal of sense. It has taken him a while to come around to an energy policy that not only makes sense, but can also be passed. He has hit it dead center with his latest proposals. He knows that we cannot drill our way to energy independence. It will take a combination of conservation and new forms of energy. He also sees that some are so wedded to drilling that he won't get his proposals without giving something in return. He proposes to trade an aggressive policy to move away from oil in exchange for short term drilling. Sounds like a great policy to me. Senator Obama is not in over his head. He is making sense. I understand why the McCain camp keeps repeating the lies about his qualifications over and over. After all, in the past two elections lies were repeated so many times that just enough people came to believe them. I don't think it will work this time for two reasons. First, Senator Obama has enough money that he can hit back at the lies early and often. Second, John McCain is not nearly as comfortable telling lies as the current occupant. It is one of the things I like about him.

I remember enough thermodynamics from my engineering days to know that Obama's energy plan is nonsense. You cannot reduce demand for electricity by 15 percent in 10 years while simultaneously placing hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles on the streets while the population continues to grow - unless you are willing to wreck the economy in the process.

 

Democrats are on the wrong site of the debate on energy matters and Obama knows it, hence his attempt to discredit McCain's energy policy by naming it after Dick Cheney.

 

I also love how Obama quotes T. Boone Pickens while leaving out the fact that Pickens also believes in drilling offshore and in the ANWR. Yes sirree, Obama sure is a different kind of politician.

[Clyde]

Maybe Obama's campaign should have been more direct on their claim of Sen. McCain being tied to big oil and Cheney.

 

In May Sen. McCain said:

 

"[W]ith those resources, which would take years to develop, you would only postpone or temporarily relieve our dependency on fossil fuels," McCain said when asked about offshore drilling. "We are going to have to go to alternative energy, and the exploitation of existing reserves of oil, natural gas, even coal, and we can develop clean coal technology, are all great things. But we also have to devote our efforts, in my view, to alternative energy sources, which is the ultimate answer to our long-term energy needs, and we need it sooner rather than later."

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/18/mccains-offshore-drilling_n_107872.html

 

A few weeks later:

 

"I believe it is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions and to put our own reserves to use," he said on Tuesday, "as a matter of fairness to the American people, and a matter of duty for our government, we must deal with the here and now, and assure affordable fuel for America by increasing domestic production."

 

What happened in those weeks to make him change his mind?

 

A cynic would say that he knew that such a change would result in this:

 

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/oil_company_executives.php

 

"The Washington Post reported last week that campaign contributions from oil industry execs rose in a big way in the last half of June, after McCain drew a huge amount of attention by reversing his opposition on June 16th to the federal ban on offshore drilling."

 

$285k and counting for his reversal.

[AcesFull]

Is the "more sensible" policy you reference offshore drilling? Would that include the issue of "windfall profits?"

A windfall profits tax will drive energy prices upward just like it did the last time such a tax was imposed. A sensible policy is one that increases domestic supplies of oil to keep prices stable and allows technology to provide alternatives as oil prices rise with increased demand.

 

Are you saying its inaccurate to say that McCain is the puppet for big oil?

If McCain was a puppet for big oil, then he certainly would have been pushing for opening up more areas for offshore drilling years ago and he would also not be stubbornly opposed to drilling in ANWR.

 

Are you aware that Obama has accepted large sums of campaign donations from oil industry employees just as McCain has?

 

The facts are not on Obama's side, so he is hoping to discredit McCain's more popular energy plan by desperately attempting to associate it with Cheney. Is this liberals' idea of a different kind of politics? :lol:

[AcesFull]

Maybe Obama's campaign should have been more direct on their claim of Sen. McCain being tied to big oil and Cheney.

 

In May Sen. McCain said:

 

"[W]ith those resources, which would take years to develop, you would only postpone or temporarily relieve our dependency on fossil fuels," McCain said when asked about offshore drilling. "We are going to have to go to alternative energy, and the exploitation of existing reserves of oil, natural gas, even coal, and we can develop clean coal technology, are all great things. But we also have to devote our efforts, in my view, to alternative energy sources, which is the ultimate answer to our long-term energy needs, and we need it sooner rather than later."

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/18/mccains-offshore-drilling_n_107872.html

 

A few weeks later:

 

"I believe it is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions and to put our own reserves to use," he said on Tuesday, "as a matter of fairness to the American people, and a matter of duty for our government, we must deal with the here and now, and assure affordable fuel for America by increasing domestic production."

 

What happened in those weeks to make him change his mind?

 

A cynic would say that he knew that such a change would result in this:

 

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/oil_company_executives.php

 

"The Washington Post reported last week that campaign contributions from oil industry execs rose in a big way in the last half of June, after McCain drew a huge amount of attention by reversing his opposition on June 16th to the federal ban on offshore drilling."

 

$285k and counting for his reversal.

McCain's reversal could have nothing to do with polls showing Americans overwhelmingly in support of offshore drilling could it? Nah, of course not. He is a Republican - there has to be some conspiracy afoot involving evil American corporations. :lol:

 

Desperate times call for desperate acts I suppose and Obama is looking pretty desperate to me.

[Habib]

A sensible policy is one that increases domestic supplies of oil to keep prices stable and allows technology to provide alternatives as oil prices rise with increased demand.

 

Was that not the system that oversaw such a dramatic increase in the price of oil over the last decade? What would change the next time oil prices rise this high so that a smooth transition could be made to alternatives?