Adventures in Missing the Point 1

Senator Obama has said many times on the campaign trail:

“America has 3% of the world’s oil reserves and uses 25% of the oil.”

His point is apparently that we cannot “drill our way” out of the energy crisis.

Has anyone claimed that we could? Drilling will not solve our long term problem. Drilling will ease our short term situation.

The way Sen. Obama talks, you’d think all kinds of alternative energy technologies are mere months away from commercial use. The truth is we have no idea how long it would take to switch our economy to non-fossil fuel energy.

We do know that we’re sitting on a lot of fossil fuel, though, and that accessing it would lower prices and loosen some of our entanglements in the Middle East.

Sometimes I think Sen. Obama has another “point” in his 3%/25% line. He likes to point out that we use so much of the world’s oil.

Assuming his numbers are correct, we use 25% of the world’s oil supply. We also produce 20-30% of the world’s GDP. That seems like a fair trade.

More Debate Followup

A couple more things from the last presidential debate.

First, Sen. Obama says Americans weren't greeted as liberators in Iraq. I don't remember it that way:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVeUEABXDfg

Now, I know their attitudes have been as fluid as ... well, ours, but that doesn't change how they originally received us.

Second, the question about healthcare being a right, privilege or responsibility caught me off guard. I kind of wanted to say it was a right, but I saw they would want to make that mean we should provide healthcare to everyone free of charge. I knew that wasn't true, but it took me a while to put my finger on it. (This is why I'm a blogger, not a debater.)

I think healthcare is a right. If we're all created in the image of God, if we all have an unalienable right to life, then healthcare should be a right -- anything that is essential to life is a right.

The disconnect is that the left would say anything that is a right should be provided by government. That is obviously not true.

We all have a right to free speech. That doesn't mean government has to provide everyone with a laptop and Blogger account. It means government can't interfere in our right.

A right to healthcare only means that no one should be denied access to healthcare -- ala, "only party members are permitted this procedure" kinda stuff.

Obama on War

UPDATE: I've been asked to provide quotes to support my claims regarding Sen. Obama's statements. They all come from the CNN transcript of the town hall session.

We learned a bit about Sen. Obama's philosophy on war at last night's debate:

=He doesn’t have any problem invading a country who isn’t a direct threat against the US.

Brokaw: What is the Obama doctrine for use of force that the United States would send when we don't have national security issues at stake? (emphasis added)

Obama:...we may not always have national security issues at stake, but we have moral issues at stake.

=He supports invading countries where people are suffering from their government.

Obama (to same question): If we could've stopped Rwanda, surely, if we had the ability, that would be something that we would have to strongly consider and act.

=He doesn’t have any problem ignoring the UN and doing what he thinks is right.

"...we will never take military options off the table. And it is important that we don't provide veto power to the United Nations or anyone else in acting in our interests."

=He doesn’t want people who are friends with terrorists to have dangerous weapons.

"We cannot allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon.... it would also create a possibility of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. And so it's unacceptable. And I will do everything that's required to prevent it."

So, why did he oppose invading Iraq?

Despairing Over Government and the Credit Crunch

Since Justin Taylor's tapped into the wit of Despair, I thought I'd share one of their "demotivators" with application to our current situation:




See the original (and lots more) from Despair, Inc.

Credit Chaos

Lots of people talking about the current mess are lawyers, politicians, and people with no credentials other than having a radio show. I really want to hear from economics and finance specialists on this subject, especially regarding the consequences of not bailing out these corporations.

I've found a couple of good collections of links I want to share with you:

"What the $700 Billion Proposal Means for You" is an article from Motley Fool, an investment website.

Culture 11 brings us "5 Easy Pieces" on the economy.

Also, Investor's Business Daily shares some of the history of this mess: "The Real Culprits In This Meltdown"

Finally, here's a little video history courtesy of Fox News (I know, not exactly neutral):



(Click here to view this at YouTube. HT: Verum Serum)

Detecting Government Screw-Ups

Gov't rushing to finish huge financial rescue plan
Rushing: a sure sign the feds are about the drop the ball.

Headlines 9/15/08

=Obama Tried to Stall GI's Iraq Withdrawal
Shocker: Sen. Obama tells two stories to two audiences!
Further evidence that Mr. "Post Partisan" is as partiasn as anyone in Washington.

=On an unrelated note...
Records show McCain more bipartisan

=Eating veggies shrinks the brain
Solid evidence this is not, but still I'm going to have some fun with this :)