Vilsack: McCain Puts Oil First, Not Country

The Obama campaign and Democratic operatives have been pushing for weeks to paint McCain as a stooge of Big Oil. On Tuesday they tried a new tactic: using the Arizona Republican's own words against him.

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, on a conference call with reporters, leveled some of the hardest energy policy attacks to have emanated from the Obama team this campaign.

"[McCain] continues to reject bipartisan compromise because it would roll back massive tax breaks for the oil companies," he said. "That is not putting the country first, it is putting the interest of oil companies first."

The former governor looped his comments, which played off of McCain's new motto "Country First," into the current legislative debate. Pointing to the Gang of Ten compromise -- a deal that would open up limited land for off-shore drilling while leveling a windfall profits tax on oil companies, which Obama supports and McCain opposes -- Vilsack spoke of the presumptive Republican nominee as unwilling to back even the most rudimentary tolls on Big Oil.

"We have been talking about our energy problems for 30 years," he concluded. "And John McCain has been in Washington for 26 years. It is now time for someone, Sen. Obama, to put the interest of the country ahead of oil."

Comments

[fedupnburnin]

I'm convinced there is technology long suppressed that would free us from all the conventional crap. One aspect of conservatism is providing a protection racket for the oil companies (and others). Making sure the status quo remains the status quo. The reasons why I despise the republican party just keeps getting longer and longer.

[lthuedk 1]

It's un-American to

start wars of aggression for occupation and theft.
murder innocents for profit.
torture suspects.
spy on Americans.
steal our money for the purpose of executing criminal acts.
attack the Constitution.
treat our soldiers like tossable assets.

It does however, describe what absolute fascism does.

http://www.light-to-dark.com/neocon_terrorism.html

[Redrover666]

BTW, McCain just pulled ahead of Obama by 5% in the latest Reuters/Zogby poll.
Just thought you'd like to know. LOL!

[marinade]

BTW, it's entirely possible that we will elect another war-mongering Republican president who trashes the economy. We've done it twice in the past eight years.

And you think that's funny? :(

[Redrover666]

I don't think McCain mongers war any more than anyone else. I served for a very long time and can tell you from experience that the rest of you really can't appreciate war the way those of us who've been up close and personal with it can.
As for the economy, there's not much a president can do to affect the cyclical ramblings and ups and downs of a precarious and fickle capitalist system. This sort of thing has been going on since the tulip bubble, and it really wouldn't have been fair to blame the king for that one either.

[Redrover666]

Just for the record... I don't like McCain either.

[blueshield]

Well, its clear you are happy borrowing shiploads of money from China and the oil sheiks, having your home lose value, paying higher taxes, having family in Iraq and Godawfulstan, having your job and economy hostage to oil companies and countries like Russia, and living in a once proud country that is now the laughing stock of the world.

Purty sick, if you ask me, but takes all kinds.

[Redrover666]

The China thing started during the Clinton years when old Bill started selling our technology for cash.
Don't have any idea what Bush had to do with home values. Though, mine have risen.
I pay less taxes now, not more and Obama plans to take away the tax cuts we received and tax us more.
We wouldn't be hostage for oil had the left not blocked oil production and reactor construction for 30 years.

[marinade]

BTW, be sure to ask your members of Congress what specifically they have done to promote wind and solar energy.

Also, ask them specifically how much money they take from Big Oil. Why should you have to go look it up? They should provide it on their websites.

[Redrover666]

Great idea!
How about you cut and paste the last letter you wrote.
Just to help us all out.

[marinade]

Mr. Redrover,

Please forgive me for not jumping through hoops for you. I have better things to do.

Sincerely,

Mari Nade

[thegreatgiginthesky]

Tell me something I don't know. JM like B u sh is only capable of lip service. We will never have independence from foreign oil until we stop electing republicans into power. Stopping the use of foreign oil to power our cars and homes is a de ath sentence to big oil, you honestly think B u sh and Ch e ney want to do that? They will never allow that cash cow of theirs to d i e. However, they need to keep making statements like "we need to gain independence from foreign oil by drilling". However, no one wants to address the fact that even if we drilled offshore and in ANWR we would still not have enough oil to cover the needs of this nation. So where do we make up the difference, you guessed it - FOREIGN OIL.

[Redrover666]

Typical liberal circular thinking. Complain we depend on foreign oil, blame it on a republican, block domestic exploration, complain we depend on foreign oil, blame it on a republican block domestic exploration.....
Around and around, nothing but obstruction and whining, with no solutions.

[dawp]

We need to get off oil, not produce more of it. that only leaves us dependent on foreign powers.

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09/ff_agassi

read that article and maybe, just maybe we can kick this addiction.

[WoodyIV]

This is not liberal thinking, this is fact. Presently the oil companies only produce off shore oil from about 30% of the acerage allowed. Why on earth is it so urgent to increase the level of available acerage, when presently there is a 70% surplus. Why on earth should anyone balk at closing tax loopholes for oil companies, when by using similar loopholes the oil companies have failed to pay the state royalties for off shore drilling during the past 20 years? Why on earth shold we assume the risk of environmental damage, that has occured, (Though some Repub's deny it, eg oil spills in the gulf during hurricane season 2007), and the cost to other vital industries, the cost to health, the cost of cleanup, none of which are ever mentioned in the offshore debate, when the reward is NILL!!!. JM's energy policies are a shell game to protect the status quo. Unfortunately, the status quo rewards below average short term thinking, and the goal of short term profits at the expense of dimishing the middle class.

[melonman]

Uh, and what's your solution, big talker? More of the same?

[sydney01]

Actually, if you read the article MCCAIN is the one who won't compromise, so he is the one blocking domestic exploration.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

1. The oil companies are sitting on acres of leases that they don't even want to explore. So who is blocking who here? Why not explore what you have and if nothing is found we can move on. But don't lease stuff and sit on it and then whine about how they won't let u drill in ANWR.

2. I would have thought the solution would be clear but I guess I have to spell it out. The only way to be independent of foreign oil is to stop using it as our main source of energy. Which will require more R&D and more investment in infrastructure. But that does not work for the short sighted repubes does it? I mean what will happen to their wonderful cash cow if we did that.

[uvymopkq]

Typical liberal...........see all of the problems..........know none of the answers.

[marinade]

Typical Republicans.....always looking for easy, short term solutions......and have one favorite answer, war.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

I would have thought the answer would be obvious but it was my mistake in expecting a republican to see the obvious. The only way to gain independence from foreign oil is to stop using it as our primary source of energy. Which means vehicles that are not powered with gasoline or diesel. The US does not have an oil field big enough to satisfy the need of this nation. So drilling in ANWR or offshore is about as useful as peeing on a raging forest fire.

[gurukalehuru]

Vilsack for Vice? Obama could do worse. Iowa is a hotly contested state, even if it's not the biggest one. Tom Vilsack is sufficiently old, white and boring. He's not doing anything, so he's available. And, most importantly, he's not Hillary.

(I'm still hoping for Sibelius, though. I want to see the PUMA's frothing at the mouth)

[thegreatgiginthesky]

I hope it is Sibelius too.

[markie1111]

good grief, i hardly ever see television. so what was i greeted with this morning???: john mccain reading off 3X5's sounding and looking like "Tim Calhoun" as he read a scripted slam on obama's energy plan. if it wasn't so sad and serious, it would be hilarious..........convictions so strong he needs enlarged print 3X5's for a simple 100 word statement.

[ATime4Change]

New Ad "out of touch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek3jAkx9m10

[GrainOSand]

""We have been talking about our energy problems for 30 years," he concluded."And John McCain has been in Washington for 26 years."

You could replace the word energy in the above with almost all of the following:

Education
Poverty
Corruption in government
Societal cohesion
Immigration
Rising health care costs
Unbalanced and unfair administration of justice and law
Crumbling or aging infrastructure
Regulation of unfair business practices or corporate greed
The death of the family owned farm
Cost of living out pacing minimum wage

[tony2008]

In McCain's world, people who have less than 5 million bucks are poor. LOL

When you own 9 homes, thats how you think. Scary guy.

[uvymopkq]

I am Barack Obama and I approve this attack ad.

[marinade]

(Hey, everybody, look. A Republican hypocrite, whining....)

[grata2ude]

McCain always has and always will put McCain first. In his own words the only reason he's running for president is because of his own ambition.

[emory]

Americans should have listened to carter 30 years ago and we wouldn't have this problem

but republicans are in bed with big oil and americans are therefore 30 years behind the democrats.

If we did what carter said to do we would not be in oil wars, we wouldn't be paying $4 a gallon, we wouldn't be a trillion dollars debt to chine and we would still be the greatest country model on the planet,

OH,YAH THAT GLOBAL WARMING THING WOULDN'T BE HAPPENING EITHER.

and don't tell me that carter was a bad President because that is what the republicans have told you and I could say they don't know what their talking about but they do know what their talking about but their just lying to you

[jinxed]

Great post! I so agree with you. Reagan was the beginning of the slime machine and its gotten worse with each election.

One of the things I found of interest was that one of the first things Ronnie did when he moved into the White House was to have the solar panels removed. That just showed which direction the Republicans were looking and it wasn't America's best interests.

[Redrover666]

You forgot to mention that it was a Republican president that had them reinstalled.

[Superbus]

Vilsack - ethanol subsidies - 'nuff said

[jinxed]

I SO HATE ethanol. I watch mu gas mileage diminish 30 - 50% every winter when it is added to the gas because it burns cleaner. My problem with that is, if the mileage goes down on each car so more gas is bought and burned, does that really help the air quality?

I think I would rather run moonshine or wood alcohol in my engine. Bet the mileage would be better.
Oh, and I don't drive a gas hog either. I survived the 70's gas crises and have always drive fuel economy cars.

[Yasir]

The money for every other sonny might be what"s funny about the bunny.

[Msohio]

The leeches are flocking to the Gulf coast as we speak. Ecological peril could be in the balance.