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

[IowaKid]

Thank you Mr Vilsack and you also made a great governor in Iowa.
The day will come when big oil will bottom out just like the housing industry, and big tech.

[athenasword]

Now THAT had some teeth! Thank you Tom

[toochie50]

GOOD SLOGAN NOW KEEP UP WITH IT - OIL FIRST - NOT COUNTRY, OIL FIRST, NOT COUNTRY, WE NEED AN AD!!!!!
AND OVER AND OVER - THE WAR IS COSTING US $10 BILLION PER MONTH (oR IS IT WEEK? ) AND WE DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY OUR GAS AND NECESSITIES FOR LIVING.
NO MORE WARS!!!!!!!

[thereigoagain]

yeah, that will really work LOL McCain pow for years doesn't put country first. hilarious. I'd love for Obama to do that.

[Sabreen60]

Tell us what Mc.Cain has done in his 26 years in office.

[TovSquirrel]

The Senator, while his service was admirable, was not unusual. He did as he and the other POWs were instructed/trained to do under those circumstances.

Being a POW does not qualify you for the office of president.

The Senator has no qualifications/accomplishments he can tout to make a case for his election to the presidency. Running on his false "hero" status is smoke and mirrors.

A failed Navy Aviator. A POW. A Senator that flip-flops with the wind and caters to corporate interests and not the nation. That is his resume.

[emory]

He failed by getting caught, in a war we as a country failed by losing and we as a people failed the moral war by not even declaring it a war.

Also Obama was 20 in 1980 what war was he supposed to be a prisoner in Granada?

One more thing being a prisoner of war is not a choice, it doesn't take a Hero to be captured, throw himself on a grenade then call him a Hero because the term is over used!!!!

[bluesnot]

Americans should adopt a new slogan:

"Take your oil and shove it"

[Redrover666]

Sure they should. So, did you give up using oil?

[emory]

I would as soon as you people and big oil gets out of my way

[Redrover666]

This winter when millions of families are paying in excess of a thousand dollars a month to keep warm, how do you think they'll view people like you?

[shotgunblast]

McCain has live in extravagant luxury for YEARS now. Does anyone struggling in this country believe that McCain really cares about gas prices, food prices, etc.? Obama may have some cash now, but he came from modest beginnings. CASE CLOSED. BTW, would you really vote for someone that doesn't believe we're in a recession?

[nogimmicks]

Also, McCain frequently forgets what he puts first. In this case he puts Lieberman first. He always knows what he wants.

[Rescisco]

Now that is the truth. "Oil first, last, and always" is the Republican mantra. Anybody who believes we have an energy policy that is appropriate for the challenges of the twenty-first century (or that we will under McSame) is misinformed. What we have and will continue to have is welfare for Big Oil (WBO).

[SMP]

what do you think Georgia is......McCain/Bush/Cheney are now competing with Russia for control of Georgian pipeline................stupid.........it is OIL to them not lives

[Mildmannered]

Thank you Tom Vilsack.

[beauwin]

VIL CRAWL BACK IN THE SAK U LOOK WACKED!!!!

[demfriend]

Why has big oil buying Mccain fallen from the headlines that he was on previously? Although many states might have cheaper gas/fuel than before I can tell you in California the reduction of price is not near what you might have!! Mac is bought and paid for. He has sold his soud to the lobbyists so he can win the oval at any price. Doesn't that tell you he is Bush 3?

[okayigive]

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack is so right when he says Mcc "is putting the interest of oil companies first." If people took the time to start calling Mcc on his rant of "putting everything on the table" and start questioning him about why he's not supporting a bipartisan proposal them the real truth would come out. I cannot comprehend how some people don't understand that Mcc is part of the problem, he's been there for 26 years supporting and ignoring the energy plight this country is in. "Exxon John's" mantra of more drilling is not the answer to our energy crisis and only put money in his lobbyists pockets and "Big Oil" while failing to give any of us real relief. Sadly, some are happy with the psychological fix of just knowing they are drilling.

McCain said "U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil Was A Security Threat", yet he voted against reducing that dependence. In 2005, McCain voted against legislation calling on the president to submit a plan to reduce foreign petroleum imports by 40 percent. This is what experience will get you.

[Tortork]

If 82% of Americans are saying we are going the wrong way some of us are blind? Well even blind people can see we are moving in the wrong direction?

[luvienne]

The Iraq war is about oil. How long has it been? Has it paid off? No. Neither will offshore drilling, for many years to come. After the Republicans have siphoned off more millions. Mccain is a joke. Any scheme that gains traction in the media, he jumps on it. Americans are smarter than you and the Republicans think Mccain..

[johnthomascook]

McCain -- tax beraks for big oil. Did not pay taxes for 5 years on his vacation home.

[whatsthatsound]

Well, yes, it has "paid off", as the oil companies are soaked in profits, and the oil kingdoms erect one glitzy skyscraper after another. If you mean, has it paid off for Americans, and the families of the brave sons and daughters fighting it, then no, sadly, it has not paid off.

But that was never really the point.

[Mildmannered]

don't worry, iraqi oil will pay for the war

[rabprevent]

THEY TRUTH WILL ALWAYS SET YOU FREE!

[JennieB]

Thank you, Tom! May we have another?