Bang the Drum - Latest Comments in Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

Re: Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

Carl S. — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:55:31 -0000

Maybe Suebob has a key to what matters: incentive to conserve on driving. For all the pristine pictures of California's coastline, what impact do noxious car emissions have? Not as immediate as an oil spill but probably as deadly over the long haul.

Now I know that's easy to say when you live in New York City with a glut of mass transit - and God bless everyone with hybrids that drastically reduce emission output - but before we personify our frustrations in politicians, we need to evaluate the whole picture and the part we all play. Heck, our tax dollars are paying to fill McCain's tank anyway. But when someone's sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on Flatbush Avenue in a giant SUV pumping out poison, I think there's enough blame to go around.

I remember the message to the older generation in the 70s was "what are you doing to the earth we are going to inherit?" But what have we become with iPods, cell phones, 100 hundred cable channels that we watch while also using a laptop to go online? We are using more energy than ever! Maybe if people rethink the size and type of vehicle they drive, or reconsider some trips, the overall picture will change.

Re: Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

OMG! WTF? — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:48:58 -0000

I'll tell you why it matters - because McCain is only reminding everyone how 'out of touch' he is - he is a 71 year old man that doesn't: 1. work weekends, 2. know how to use a computer, and now 3. know how much the average person is paying for gas.

that is all.

Re: Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

Dr. Thomas Ho — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:42:36 -0000

Well, I've had a Prius hybrid since December 2000 so I guess that I've been "conserving" for a while myself. :-) However, it is ironic that you don't "worry" as much when you drive a hybrid although I will admit that $4/gallon gas has made even me think about each trip!

Re: Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

Karoli — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:43:49 -0000

I agree on the conserve incentive though here we were conserving back at $2.50 a gallon, because I can remember when it was under a buck and thought $2.50 was outrageous. I walk mostly everywhere anyway, or else catch a ride with whoever is going my way. But still...dang it all, it matters.

Re: Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

Karoli — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:42:38 -0000

That left a really funny image in my mind. LOL.

Re: Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

Karoli — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:42:17 -0000

Interesting theory but I'm not sure I buy it. Particularly when I don't believe he's pumped his own gas in years, not months.

Honestly, I would have probably let it pass, had I not already let the Bush surprise at gas going to $4/gallon pass, and had I not let the "it doesn't matter how long troops stay in Iraq" comment pass.

Let's accept your argument for a minute, that it was just a dropped comment with no meaning.

What DOES matter?

Re: Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

Suebob — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:26:20 -0000

I spent $45 filling up the Honda Fit yesterday (10.8 gallon tank and it was almost dry). The strain on my finances is pretty bad but I do like the fact that it makes me think hard about every little trip. It is a real incentive to conserve.

Re: Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

Earl E Morningwood — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:55:49 -0000

Greetings, I hope this election doesn’t hinge on who pumped their own gas last, I can see the CNN reports showing Obama and Mccain holding the NASCAR fuel cans over their head to show their solidarity with the little people :D

Re: Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

Dr. Thomas Ho — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:46:37 -0000

I'm "with" Ken. I'm a McCain supporter and I'm even getting tired of Sean Hannity parsing Obama's words as well!

Re: Pumping Gas: Let’s tell McCain why it matters

Karoli — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:06:29 -0000

Ken, I know he has to know that gas is $5/gallon. But when he says it doesn't matter whether he's pumped his own gas what that tells me is that he doesn't really know what the impact is on folks who DO pump their own gas.

When you've got a driver and are not dealing with it on any kind of real level, how can you know whether or how it matters? He doesn't. He doesn't walk in our shoes and hasn't.

This is a very real problem with the 'let the market sort it out' theory. We've tried in California to set CAFE standards higher than the Federal minimum and had the Bush administration hammer us for it. That's not right. It's not right that we now are hammered with some of the highest gas prices in the country, or that those gas prices are now driving up food prices nationwide, and all the while speculators are laughing all the way to the banks.

So what was in his head matters less to me than the message it sent, which was that he's completely out of touch with what the 'rank and file' are dealing with.

This isn't the first time he's glossed over a real issue with the 'it doesn't matter' line, either. I don't want someone telling me it doesn't matter that we have troops in Iraq for 100 years because they're not being killed. Hell yes, it matters. Those troops in Iraq have families and we're paying for them to be there instead of home protecting this country.

Iraq was a botched attempt to control Middle East oil. Now Bush is trying it with Iran, and McCain is supporting it.

Hell yes, this stuff matters.