McCain confused about his own energy policy
By Steve Benen Monday Jun 16, 2008 7:30amIt just keeps getting worse with the Arizona senator. From his press conference yesterday:
QUESTION: The European Union has set mandatory targets on renewable energy. Is that something you would consider in a McCain administration? [...]
MCCAIN: Sure. I believe in the cap-and-trade system, as you know. I would not at this time make those -- impose a mandatory cap at this time. But I do believe that we have to establish targets for reductions of greenhouse gas emissions over time, and I think those can be met.
As Kate Sheppard explained, McCain new position is "completely out of line with his own proposal for a cap-and-trade scheme, both the plan he proposed with Joe Lieberman last year and his own presidential plan, released last month. They both would, by nature, be mandatory -- hence the 'cap' in the name."
In other words, McCain doesn't understand his own policy. Or, as hilzoy noted, "The best you can say for McCain, on this point, is that he is completely unfamiliar with what is supposed to be one of his signature issues. Not knowing what 'mandatory cap' means, in this context, is like not knowing what a 'strike' is in baseball."
Login or Register to post comments.
The longer it goes on, the more it seems that McCain is just a dummy (literally) candidate...
Prepare for a bait-and-switch...
Frist!
Hey! You just used the word "confused" because, according to the right wing media, you REALLY mean to say "John McCain is really old" which is totally unfair?
See? You can't criticize McCain on anything because if you do, you hate old people, war heroes, veterans, people who dump their wives for younger, richer women who 'put on makeup like a trollop you c**t', people who use the word "c**t" to refer to their wives, apple pie, and America.
So, you see? This has nothing to do with the fact John McCain has no coherent policy plan on anything.... this is about C&L hating old people... and our freedoms. ;-)
He's also confused about words spoken by other people. The questioner asked a very specific question about renewables, and he mangled something about cap-and-trade that made no sense. In his current incarnation, he's an empty suit, just like Dumbya.
mccain equals epic fail since more than 5 months ago,the fake ass media gave him a free pass but he remains the same mccain/fail that he was before (probably worse now,more senile,coocoo)..none of this is news ..
Asiren @ 1:
Do you mean bait-and-switch like "compassionate conservative" or "uniter," or do you expect them to shock the world at their convention by saying, "Sike!"
if this guy wins the election....
One more way it will be like Bush's third term. He a bottom of his class moron.
JayDog @ 2:
Yes siree, that's the plan. Call McCain out on his screw ups and you are suddenly a person of disrespect for all things holy and everything else.
McCain will make no new friends in Florida. First he did not support the Everglades Restoration bill because he said it was full of pork. Then yesterday he suggested he was in favor of off shore drilling. About the only thing he could do to make things worse for him down here is if he said he hoped a hundred hurricanes would hit our state this year.
Lets see ... doesn't understand the English vocabulary, yep, that WOULD mean four more years of Bush.
hey, give him a break hes only a billion years old. It wont be too long before everything confuses him. Maybe he had trouble answering the question because his hearing aid is running out of battery.
Maybe he thought the questioner was referring to baseball caps. Maybe he thinks people should be able to wear whatever sort of hat they prefer.
Damn, I'm looking forward to the Obama/McCain debates. McCain will need more than an ear piece with someone telling him the answer. He'll also need someone to speak for him. He is really, really bad at public speaking and the size of the audience has nothing to do with it.
Cap & Trade is pollution policy not energy, renawable or otherwise.
Bela Lugosi talked about when he was a schoolboy in the Carpathians the Hungarians and Romanian kids would steal each other's caps from the cloak room. Lugosi was Captain of his Hungarian team, because he had so many Romanian "scalps."
ysbaddaden @ 13:
Good point, just before the Bela Lugosi part.
pissed off patricia @ 11:
Very funny.
A lot of people bad mouth cap & trade policy and compare it to the Medieval Church's selling of indulgences.
I say it's smart in that it makes it a business decision. Do you want the expense of buying carbon off-sets, or the additional revenue of having such a light carbon footprint that you can sell your carbon credits.
The Japanese are rolling out a new car today the FCX Clarity (not sure of the first three letters) that runs on electricity and hydrogen cells.
Today's NYTimes has a story titled "How Close McCain Is to Bush Depends on the Issue" by Elisabeth Bumiller that seems to be fairly balanced in terms of highlighting the similarities and differences between Bush and McCain. What the article does not do is offer a timeline to show when each of McCain's positions was first articulated, and when he flip-flopped on it. Whether a McCain presidency (gods forbid!) will be a third Bush/Cheney/Rove (or worse) term depends on the date, time, and phase of the moon.
The election this fall is about the 2010 and 2012 elections. The Repubs have already given up on this tragic, confused, mixed up old dope. McDumb is actually campaigning against himself.
Cats r Flyfishn @ 12:
Ear piece? How about a ventriloquist.
ysbaddaden @ 16:
They Rolled out another one about a month back that converts water to hydrogen and in the process makes electricity. This was the idea of an American (I'll get the name in a bit) who went to the US Government with his idea but they screwed with im so he went to the Japanese. The new car is at Genepax ..
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ in Chiang Mai @ 20:
Here is the information on the American Guy in Florida who dreamed up the process of Water for Fuel
I can't help but wonder if at their convention they will select someone else to run against Obama. They know he hasn't a chance and a last minute surprise switch would really shake things up.
I also wonder now that he has flip flopped on off shore drilling off the coast of FL, how will that go over with voters in FL? I think age has to become a real issue with this guy.
Asiren @ 1:
yes ive long said were bashing the wrong candidate, mccains a ruse! even the repubs arent dumb enough to wind up the 08 election with him as thier candidate, at the repig national convention mccain will be dumped and replaced by the candidate they really intend to run, the time for getting dirt on thier new cancidate will be to short to get, and with diebold the victorys a done deal, enjoy the possibiltys!
ysbaddaden @ 13:
Bingo!
While everyone else argues about cap and trade, few seem to get the fact that his answer doesn't even go with the question.
What McCain knows is that he wants to be president. What he doesn't want to do is take the time to study and do the hard work necessary to actually learn what a good president should know. He doesn't care that much about being a good president. He just wants to be elected president. After eight years of Bush, why in the world would a Republican candidate feel the need set a high standard as his competence?
diamondmc @ 23:
Check my comment number eight.
I really hate to say it, but John McCain looks as if he has a "winner" with his energy policy. "Drill, drill, drill" is a simple answer his trailer park audience can grasp. With the help of Fox News, they beat this theme into the minds of the droolers and mouth-breathers and they eat it up! Obama's position requires more than a three word solution, thus making it too confusing for the simpletons. Obama better get some better writers and advisors and learn a thing or two, or he's destined to be painted as another elitist like John Kerry.
McGrampa is the spitting image of herr dubyah: a lazy elitist who got by through life without having to push himself because everything was handed to him on a silver platter.
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ in Chiang Mai @ 20:
A lot of people seem to believe that you can run reactions back and forth and generate electricity. Shucksters know how to present a con. They appeal to greed, the dream of something for nothing.
No one has found a way to create matter and energy out of nothing at all. And let's hope they don't. If we unravel the structure of the universe, we'll end up turning the planet into and easy bake oven.
Water is like ashes. You can't burn it again. You have to put more energy back in, to separate the oxygen and hydrogen., than you get back out. Because you lose 90% of your energy to low grade heat.
These people are con artists, looking to rip off investors.
Actually, McCain sounds intelligent compared to your average repuke. His age gives him a bit of eccentricity when sounding so out of touch. Kind of like the senile Uncle who keeps looking for his tractor that he sold 15 years ago.
The rest of the GOP on the other hand, has no excuse for sounding so evil and batshit crazy.
pissed off patricia @ 8:
You live in FL, POP? I'm visiting Tampa right now....house hunting. I'm moving here in Aug.
Wacko in Waco @ 28:
The oil industry is drilling wherever it is profitable to do so. What they want is more subsidies to pay for unprofitable drilling. If it's unprofitable, then it's probably a net energy loser.
McCain will work to deliver those subsidies that will have a net effect of reducing the energy we have available and drive up prices.
He used to be against ethanol too, until the lobbyists ponyed up for his campaign.
And yet CNN & MSNBC this morning were all about what an irrelevant bore it was for Gore to endorse Obama last night and how McCain is barely trailing Obama on most issues and way ahead of Obama on Terrorism & International Affairs!
Anyone notice how they showed Gore's speech last night and then immediately cut away to dissect and criticize Gore rather than show Obama's speech.
Because, God knows, it's more important for us to hear what the bobbleheads think of Gore than to actually hear Obama rather than their warped distillation of what Obama says.
And you wonder why so many people are misinformed.
On an issue that he is making his biggest distinction with the Bush regime, this answer reveals that he has no idea what he is talking about. As noted by some commentors, he was not asked about cap-and-trade at all but about the mandated use of renewables, something that is required in several U.S. states as well as in Europe.
Befuddled again on a signature issue.
rooth terrorist fist jab baby mama hussein @ 34:
I warned all of you before, after the primaries you won't hear many of Obama's speeches but McCain's will get full billng. Example, Faux covering the town hall meeting. The only editing of McCain's speeches will be if he says something real stupid, which seems to be happening more often then not.
If you really want to horrify yourself, think of what the Cheney wing of the Republican party would do to keep themselves in power. Perhaps work with some Blackwater thugs to stage a "terrorist" attack targetting the presumptive nominee? Seriously, it's terrifying.
Dr. (terrorist fist jab) Matt @ 32:
I used to live in Tampa. Still have in-laws there that we visit on some holidays. Now I'm over on the Treasure Coast of Florida, north of West Palm Beach.
JayDog @ 2:
Obama needs to get out in front of this as soon as possible. This (faux age discrimination) is really the only other stick (besides his race) that the Rethugs will appeal to.
I suggest that Hillary could be of some use here. She's not old, but she does have much support with older Americans (especially women) and could be very useful in advertisements appealing to elderly voters.
rooth terrorist fist jab baby mama hussein @ 34:
Cable news stations aren't anything new. They've been around for 3 decades or so. If you dont know by NOW that you cannot rely on them for real news, then you have no business even walking into a voting booth.
The headlines on C&L often are able to do double duty: you can use the whole sentence, or the first two or three words, and both are true. For example:
"Republicans lie" about something something something
"George W. Bush wrong" about something something something
"McCain Confused" about anything . . .
And yes it's because he's OLD, OLD OLD OLD OLD OLD OLD OLD. His age IS AN ISSUE BECAUSE HE DOES NOT HAVE THE MENTAL CAPACITY OR PHYSICAL ENDURANCE TO BE PRESIDENT. If I were conducting auditions for the role of President one of the requirements would be, physically capable of answering that phone at 3:00 a.m., and keeping pace with the crisis for the next three days. Or how about cognizant of what's going on around him?
The question was about "renewable energy" targets. which are not the same as "cap and trade" targets. One is energy policy, one is environmental policy. The two are certainly linked, but the worst part of that exchange for McCain is that he didn't understand the question in the first place, let alone mangle his response.
If McCain gets elected keyboards will come with a "McCain confused" key as innovative time/energy saving feature.
xoites defends Constitution @ 43:
Looking forward to truncating: WTF??!!ZZZzzzz...
"McCain Confused About . . . "
This is becoming a standard headline.
Mestinks mccain stole the answer key
But memorized the answers in the wrong order.
"What's the capital of Zimbabwe?"
"Pandaemonium."
Can you say "bumbling idiot"?
I almost feel sorry for the guy, if he hadn't sold his soul to the devil. I believe he is going to get shredded once the public eye begins to take a close look at this hollow politician.
What a team.....mcAncient and liverwurst. Maybe he'll be his running mate. Won't that be a team?
ysbaddaden @ 46:
"Who was the Father of our Country?"
"George Jefferson."
"What do you do with a light bulb?"
"Putin"
pissed off patricia @ 14:
It's always time for Bela.
That's what happens when you change your policy on almost every issue in order to be your party's nominee. His whole environment policy is a gimmick in order to distinguish himself from Bush. I wish he were more independent on taxes or the war, but then Bush's base wouldn't vote for him. The guy is a complete fraud. To think that I worshiped him in 2000 makes me physically sick.
A more dignified kind of world leader:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDJgPCNzt5E
As I've pointed out before, the guy graduated in the BOTTOM ONE PERCENT of his class at Annapolis. It's time Democrats start taking that fact at face value and putting all of these gaffs in context.
By the way, did George W. Bush ever graduate in the bottom one percent of his class? As between Bush and McCain, could Bush actually be the smart one?
We'll be drinlling in Anbar or Anwar Sadat before too long... Poor old man, I feel sorry for how much shit he's going to eat.
^
When you listen to Bush's clips from the mid 90s, he was a lot more articulate. Then something happened. Could have something to do with all the alcohol/cocaine use in the past.
McCain, on the other hand, has never proven that he has any kind of exemplary intelligence. Many of us bought his maverick shtick in 2000 without actually analyzing the man in detail. He would have been exposed if he had beaten Bush. Now we see the real McCain, I guess.
bilhelm-axis of evil-X @ 54:
That's drilling, I can't even make a funny (I'm John McCain! OMFG!).
JeffS @ 55:
We didn't have YouTube then. We lived with the media filters, and liked it.
tyree @ 24:
So they'll drag this out -- hey it's mid-June already. McCain is raising funds. Hugging Bush. Kowtowing to the nutroots. If they fuck around until August, well they have the month of September and October to introduce that guy to the country. Who will it be? Huck? Huck's got some filthy skeletons in his closet. Rudy? We all know he's too slimy. Grandpa Fred? He would change out his little red pickup and campaign from a fucking golf cart.
Who else they got? Mitt the Mormon? Not going to fly, anymore than his dog would fly from the roof of his family car.
oh, wait. I know! It's gonna be rON pAUL, D00DZ!
Bill B. @ 53:
Probably, but it's like one of those graphs where the scale has been really reduced. I mean, yes, Bush is probably WAAAAAY up here, and McCain is WAAAAAAY down there, on a graph that only shows the scale between an IQ of 70 and an IQ of 71.
Old Man McCain can't be bothered with domestic issues like the economy and energy policy. He is a future war president, just like his hero, Imperator Chimpus Maximus.
mccain's controlling interest, and where he gets his energy from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-8j8c7iL3E
JEB BUSH.
Yes, the GOP is that stupid, or thinks we are.
But Jeb sounds like the name of the hick who blows on the moonshine bottle in a hillbilly band.
I'm afraid there is no way they are going to pull a bait and switch at the convention. McCain is the perfect candidate for them. He is just like Bush in that the real presidency can be run out of the vice-presidents office. Cockroaches thrive in the dark. McCain is the perfect puppet, because he has so reversed himself on policy in order to become president, that he doesn't know which way is up, coupled with his age, and probably being still somewhat psychologically messed up from being tortured for five years or whatever.
This is why if McCain becomes the president, you can expect at best a continuation of Bush's policies, and at worst....forget moving to Canada, get out of the hemisphere.
Yet BO is only ahead by 6% and losing badly in some key areas. When is the DNC going to get brutal because BO can't? Where's the ads with things like this? Now is the time to start defining. Where's the ad with McCain leavining his first wife because she's disabled and then calling Cindy a "c$%t"? If we are a bunch of pansies again and don't get brutal and it causes us to lose, I'm done. With everything against the R's, if we can't win this we may never win again.
MATLOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This hydrogen car business that's all over the Internet is pure bunkum. I had an interesting conversation with a fervent supporter yesterday. I asked the rather simple question "Where does the energy come from?" and was met with a hailstorm of prevarication and falsehoods. This is the best question to ask when presented with such technologies. If they are legit, they will be only too happy to answer that question in gory detail and you will learn a lot. If you get a lot of hemming and hawing and excuses, you've looking at pure snake oil.
duckfan @ 65:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHzLjRfgQqQ
Fran Taylor @ 67:
What I heard was that the current model is you get a solar cell to turn your water into hydrogen / oxygen.
Which provided the cell produced enough electricity, would work. The process is dead simple.
"What I heard was that the current model is you get a solar cell to turn your water into hydrogen / oxygen.
Which provided the cell produced enough electricity, would work. The process is dead simple."
The process of converting the energy to hydrogen and back incurs large thermodynamic losses. You get far better efficiency by using batteries, because the heat generated is minimal. Any technology for creating mechanical motion that generates heat is a big loser efficiency-wise.
Well personally, I'm not confused by McCains confusion... the guy up and admitted economics is not his strong suit.... And all his actions and words on the campaign trail pretty much confirms and highlights this ignorance anytime he goes and opens his piehole on some aspect of the issue. Flip-flopping? He ain't even aware enough to know when he's stuck his foot in his mouth again... I ain't an econ major either but I know what I feel in the pocketbook...and it ain't good folks. So,all I got to say is.... given what we already know about him, his policies and his background and support for the current abomination running things around here these day is.... Vote accordingly....
IF you want another term of the same ol same ol with another moron mouthpiece up on the stage promoting and touting these neocon/conservative policies that have put us in the toilet, then vote for this old man.... IF you want change, something better..... or just something different, some new perspective brought to the table on all these issues, be it economic, military or what have you.... then, you know who to vote for... And it ain't this feeble old fart. I ain't a huge Obama fan but he's all we got this time out and he's still ten times better than the republics empty suit candidate...........JD
Another problem with hydrogen is that its energy density is very low compared to fuels like gasoline. In order to store an effective quantity, you have to compress it. Compressing hydrogen is a tough job; the pump must have excellent seals. These excellent seals cause quite a bit of friction and the pump gets very hot. Again there is heat which just kills your efficiency.
Old Billy Hussein @ 66:
I was thinking Barnaby Jones, the detective played by Buddy Ebsen.
talk about double-speak! so he supports restrictions as long as they aren't...restrictons?
Let's call Bush and McCain who they really are: Dumb and Dumber.
Not even the MSM can put lipstick on this pig. Can't wait for the debates. Obama will destroy Dumber. If I were the republicans, I would cancel any venue that shows McCain and Obama side by side discussing any issue. The strategy would be to get McCain to say a few things, highlight them on MSM, then pretty much ignore Obama. Then he still won't win.
Wacko in Waco @ 28:
Then its up to us, to inform them. Its up to us to point out that Big Oil is sitting on drilling leases that Bush expanded 300% since 2001, its up to us to tell them that Saudi Arabia loves the 'gas tax holiday' idea, its up to us to point out that it takes $150 of our devalued money to buy a barrel of crude, its up to us to point out that its not in the interests of Big Oil to repair/build refineries to increase supply, its up to us to point out that drilling in ANWR and else where will take up to 10-20 years to be viable and at best a 6 month supply (ANWR), its up to us to point out every time McBush & Bush crime family rattle their sabers with Iran the speculators & Hedge Fund Managers push the price of crude up another $11....
The one thing we must not do, is allow them to think its right, you challenge them with reality, watch their heads spin looking for a way out and then hit them with that again...
It may not penetrate, but it could bounce off the surface of the wingnut and hit home with others listening in on the conversation...
um yea, he doesnt even understand the question. the reporter is asking about targets for renewables, i forget what they are, but something like 10% of energy from solar sources, or wind or biomass by 2020 or something. whatever. then he goes on to prove he doesnt understand what the 'cap' in 'cap-and-trade' is. way to go john. better hope voters are worried about boys kissing than all that important thinky stuff.
What I don't get, is why didn't Obama leap at the offer to town-hall with this meandering windbag? This guy could lose a debate to a statue in the park, without ever noticing the pigeon poop. Sure, town halls aren't debates, and they're supposedly his strength... which I don't understand, since how could anyone not look intelligent by contrast in the same room as this buffoon, when asked to give spontaneous responses to unprepared questions?
ysbaddaden @ 16:
Really??? That's just bizarre.
Login or Register to post comments.