Clearly, there's a lot that Barack Obama doesn't understand. For instance, he thinks there might be strategies for weaning the nation from foreign oil that don't involve more profit for American oil companies. He thinks conservation might be part of the answer. To quote Barack's good friend Paris: "As if."
Take his cockamamie suggestion that drivers make sure their tires are properly inflated before they pull out of the gas station. First, those little measuring contraptions are hard to operate; you have to know how the air goes into the tire before you can figure out how much is in there. Second, they cost money. The chrome-plated model on Lowes.com was running $3.29 when I checked today. (I, for one, wouldn't be caught dead with one of those cheesy, non-chrome-plated 99-cent versions.) And how much gas is all the fuss going to save, anyway? The U.S. Department of Energy says keeping your tires properly inflated and your wheels aligned could improve gas mileage by around 3.3 percent. First, since when do we trust the government? And second, 3.3 percent doesn't sound like very much to me.
If we're using 20 million barrels a day, then blowing up our tires would save something like 660,000 barrels a day. See what I mean? Not very much. Especially when you consider that drilling offshore could produce 200,000 barrels a day of additional oil (not to mention oil-company profits!) by the year 2030. You do the math.
Next thing you know, the government will be suggesting that we should take our cars in for regular maintenance, too--even though that's only going to improve gas mileage by a measly four percent. It just doesn't make sense to ask hard-working Americans to take care of their cars if they don't want to, when all it's going to save is some 800,000 barrels per day.
As one of President Bush's spokesman once said, ours is a blessed way of life. And if we want to drive on mushy tires, then dammit, we should be able to drive on mushy tires. Oh, and go shopping. That's the American way.
This post originally appeared on vanityfair.com
At least, I assume it was satire. If youa ctuallu DO believe all of that ... well, perhaps we can take up a collection and get you help. ;-)
I think she makes an excellent point in her satire.
consumption by hornswoggling drivers to underinflate their tires!
Ms Meyers is familiar with such conspiracies, and I see no reason
to believe this is not another one of them.
Oh fer cryin' out loud, that has got to be the blondest thing I ever read on Huffpo! Waaah! I can't take responsiblity to do my part for global warming.... it's tooooo haaard!!!!
LEARN!!
if inflating our tires properly saves us 660,000 barrels a day, you are saying that is not worth something, and could go on long on our energy consumption? are you kidding me?
tell me, Ms. Myers (since you are such an expert on what Barack doesn't understand) fill us in what it is that you understand...
I thought that this was exactly the scenario that the Socialists in Congress have been shooting for for decades... only the Kennedys, Pelosis, and Heinz-Kerrys can afford gas, keeps the riff-raff out of the way of their limos.
Why don't you just spell out your real energy policy:
...everyone that matters takes the MTA - the rest of you rubes gives us all of your earnings, then die.
Ba'Bye !!
And, the main part, they don't begrudge your existence.
btw, how does me inflating my tires help reduce wasteful gas use in Beltway gridlock? I missed that?
article in a recent Boston Globe about how locals are delighted about
a major highway renovation near Cape Cod that makes it soooo much
easier to drive out to the Cape, in our Prius's of course.
Main thing is to not be devaluing the dollar so much by sending huge amounts
over to you-know-where every year. It's wrecking the economy, you know.
Unless the candidate is so out of touch with the common man that he thinks we are all too stupid and inconsiderate to not already be doing it.
Belief You Can Change In! '08
The American way.
there might be strategies for weaning the nation from foreign oil that don't involve more
profit for American oil companies. He thinks conservation might be part of the answer.' ...
Clearly, a dangerous assertion. I'm thinking there's not much he doesn't understand.
There may instead be a vast right-wing conspiracy to 'inflate' gas
consumption by hornswoggling drivers to underinflate their tires!