Colbert Explains Upside Of Gas Crisis: "What's Good For Big Oil Is Good For America"

On Thursday's "Colbert Report," Stephen Colbert introduced a new feature called "Stephen Colbert's The Tank Is Half Full," which points out the upside of the gas crisis. "Everybody can benefit from this alleged crisis," Colbert said, "from the mighty little oil CEO to the lowly oil CFO. I say, what's good for big oil is good for America."

Some of the upsides: schools are switching for four-day weeks to save gas on school buses, police departments are charging speeders extra for the gas involved in a high-speed chase, and men can no longer afford to drive three towns over to discreetly visit strip clubs.

Watch:

Comments

[GoCards1978]

The best part of the First Amendment freedoms - political satire.

[nonconformist2]

Finally! A little dose of Truthiness. Just what the doctor ordered!

[asagefield]

Colbert is astute in the benefits of high oil prices especially in the area of social control, educational stunting, and the cockblock of horny men everywhere.

The only thing we would disagree with is that gas companies are losing because they have to buy very expensive oil to refine. The real oil companies that just sell the raw stuff, they're making off like bandits.

www.sagefieldpost.com
Unique/Timely/Relevant Financial Opinion on Commodities/Stocks/Economy

[waynesmyer]

Message to Stephen Colbert: Shame on you! you stole that line from me, which I had stolen from "Lil Abner" "What's good for General Bullmoose(Halliburton), Is Good For Amerika"
POGO FOR PRESIDENT!!!

[TN]

Fix the Enron Loophole and a barrel of oil goes down at least 25% overnight. Congress knows this and Olberman did a report on it. Why is everyone acting as though this does not exist?

[pie8ter]

Both Repubs and Dems are making off of the Enron loophole. Do you really think they will close it? NO.

[TN]

If barack was real, he would be talking about it.

[TN]

If the democratic nominee or the republican nominee were real, they would be talking about this.

[MACS]

.
For how many years has McFourthChoice done absolutely nothing about energy independence while keeping a seat in the Senate warm???
.

[KarlaElisa]

priceless. so glad the writers are back.

[Idiocracy]

Damn people, hes a comedian.. Lighten up...

[chronic]

You're kidding.....

[americaforme]

Stocks for oil, oh yes, that is the up side for shareholders... I haven't read about any bragging in this area, must be embarrasing...Getting rich on your own homelands destruction...Amazing how quiet the oil Terroist are...Pretty bad when oil scares replace the 3 trillion Iraq war, as the topic of every conversation...The Banks better pull back the strangulation hold on the dollar...They're trying to get a one world currency...

[ErnestineBass]

A four day school week?

Boy, that decision's gonna come back to bite us...

[4wehttam]

We should have a four or three day work week...............and half days at that.

[nodonjuan]

If you lived in Europe you would have at least 3 weeks paid vacation and a 36 hour work week and health care you can count on.

[Gatormouth]

Whats good for Big Oil could be good for America only if their excesses finally provoke a political reaction which restores the Anti Trust Act and Taft-Hartley and break the Corporations grip on our throat.

[Durango]

You got that right.

Free Market theory, the love child of Republicans, gets murdered by monopolies.

If you believe in Free Markets you must know the necessity of Trust Busting!

[rshrink]

Volkswagen has a clean diesel car called the Polo which gets over 70 miles per gallon. Currently, they don't have a plan to get it to the USA, a car already in action in Europe. Why can't we get this car over here and more like it? BMW Mini Cooper has a diesel in Europe. It also gets over 70 mpg. Excuses will be given, such as the need for research, pollution issues, etc. If interest groups will get out of the way, whatever is needed could be addressed expeditiously. If Volkswagen gets cars like that over here, then we will see some useful competition. It is special interests that are getting in the way of competition. Americans need to start doing the demand part of supply/demand. If we don't get this thing going, it won't get going anytime soon.

[Paul]

I think it takes a special grade of diesel not available here as yet.

[vippy]

Thank you for noticing it too. The reason we cannot get it here because it has to have American Specifications, which means, use more gas. Same with the VW GTI Diesel that gets 66 mpgs in Europe but here the same car gets 41 mpgs. Did you not listen to Bush when he said he upped
the mpgs by 1.8, and then had the gall to call us "energy dependent?" Then our DEM congress
passed a new energy bill and they were proud of it, especially Ted Kennedy, in which it states we
should have 35 mpgs vehicles by 2020. Now if that does not take all. Yet when I bring this up in
discussions no one is aware of it. What is wrong with PEOPLE?

[MACS]

.
Repub-LIE-CONS have controled the White house and/or congress for 26 of the last 28 years without ever increasing CAFE standards.

WHY???
.

[wadenelson1]

The VW engine and others like it meet EuroIV emissions requirements but not the tighter Tier 2 Bin 5 EPA emissions for diesels as of 2008.

They'll need to work on their particulates and N0x outputs before bringing it to America.

BMW and Mercedes already have diesels being sold here which meet the requirements, they're not impossible, just challenging.

The VW and others will be here within a year or so. There's too much $opportunity$.

[AllenD]

I heard there are a lot of turbo diesels in Europe that have good performance and make the Prius look like a gas hog.

[BlueZoo]

You don't have to go to Europe to get savings on mpg in cars! Look up the Aptera! This car gets 300 MPG!!! It's cost? +/- $28K and it's right here here in the USA! There's an electric & a hybrid version! Why isn't this being plastered all over the MSM??? It would seem to me that GM, Ford and Chrysler should be all over this company but they're not. WHY?

[Knowledgeseeker]

very funny

[WIpatriot]

Keep it up, Colbert!

[darthdarcy]

"Electric bills to Taser victims", I hope Chertoff doesn't hear that one...

[jazzman]

Another upside: The guys riding around in worthless Escalades, Hummers, and Tundra trucks now look like losers.

[walk0nwalls]

They were always losers. Now just everyone knows.

[Raymondf]

I can walk to my strip club.