E85 Boondoggle of the Day: Barack Obama
Readers who depend on this series to elevate their blood pressure will know that democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is not so tough on E85 or the causes of E85. In fact, he's downright giddy at the prospect of federal subsidies for corn juice, and getting the damn gas stations to sell it. And so we turn to The Socialist Worker for a run-down on Barack's "fly me to the moon" (in an ADM private jet) relationship with the agribusiness interests who love them some E85. [We could have linked to The New York Times, but that was June, this is now.] Nicole Colson's rant is not new news, but it's a well-written summary and, dare I say it, accurate. "During his first year in office, Obama introduced a number of measures that benefited the agribusiness industry–such as the "Obama Amendment" that offered oil companies a 50 percent tax credit for building gas stations that offer E85 fuel. Obama also voted for the Bush administration's 2005 energy bill and opposed a proposal to lower tariffs on cheaper sugarcane-based ethanol from Brazil and other countries." Would John "Just Say No to Subsidies For Now" McCain dare confront Barack on this issue? What are you, kidding?
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Don't listen to a word either McCain or Obama say - their words don't mean jack. Simply look at what their record is and vote based on that. Comparing flip flops is an exercise in futility, as is comparing who is bought by big oil and who by agribusiness. Who cares if ultimately it's the consumer that gets bent over a bicycle rack. Food AND oil prices are through the roof. The question really is who will do the least amount of damage in the four years they have to work with. Good times...
Obama. Could he be any more useless? Vote Alice Cooper '08.
Obama is nothing new-he's the classic hand-picked socialist frontman, designed to do exactly what he is doing, the Saul Alinsky ends-justifies-the-means cobra sway, entrancing all the wishful thinking idealists who still haven't/refuse to come to terms with the reality of the world in which they live.. as well as the "ask what my country can do for me" crowd. This E85 example is just one of plenty of pandering moments from this guy; he's smart enough to know that E85 is no more of a savior than is he, but he's hoping you're not smart enough to figure that out. He's counting on the starry-eyed simplicity of his acolytes. And that's the type of "hope" he's about-if you believe he's really about "hope" and "change", check out the state of Chicago politics under his tutelage. McCain's no savior-but, unlike with Obama, most of those voting for him realize that. And he's got substance vs Obama's mere imagery; though he's far from perfect, I'll take the seasoned veteran over the glittery crypto-marxist neophyte for a position of this magnitude. "Hoping" that the guy with 12 hours in the Cessna is the right stuff to take control of the Space Shuttle is a bit much. kkt:you need a citation? Just look & listen a bit more closely, and decide for yourself if someone who's campaigned in all 57 states is up to the task of facing down a Putin.. a leftist professor in his classroom is about as sterile an environment as can be had.