No, we wouldn’t have new oil supplies ‘within a matter of months’
For crying out loud — when John McCain isn’t lying about foreign policy, he’s lying about domestic policy.
John McCain again pushed for offshore drilling Monday, and suggested it could provide relief to American consumers “within a matter of months.”
“There are some instances within a matter of months, they could be getting additional oil. In some cases, it would be a matter of a year,” McCain said at a press conference in Bakersfield, California. “In some cases, it could take longer than that depending on the location and whether or not you use existing rigs or you have to install new rigs. But there is abundant resources in the view of the people who are in the business that could be exploited in a matter of months.”
No serious person could possibly believe this. John McCain couldn’t possibly believe this. It’s pure fantasy. The oil industry doesn’t even have the necessary equipment to start drilling the coasts for new oil, so there’s nothing to “exploit.” As Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) recently explained, “It takes at least two years to process the new leases. Industry experts tell us that there’s a three- to five-year waiting list for new drilling ships and other equipment.”
It takes real chutzpah on the part of McCain to lie this blatantly. Indeed, we know McCain is lying in large part because he already inadvertently told us the truth. On June 23, McCain told a town-hall audience that “it may take some years” before the effects of coastal drilling are felt.
McCain isn’t the only one who knows McCain’s wrong. His argument yesterday about resources being available “in a matter of months” is also contradicted by the White House, Bush’s Energy Department, and McCain’s own policy advisors. We could start drilling the protected coastal areas this morning, but it would be “at least seven years, and perhaps a decade, before the first oil begins to flow. No significant impact on domestic production or prices before 2030.”
The only way McCain isn’t lying is if we change the definition of “matter of months.” (I can hear Tucker Bounds now: “Well, the year 2030 is 256 months away. And 256 is a ‘matter of months,’ so technically, McCain is telling the truth.”)
As for why McCain is lying, he has two incentives — one obvious and one not.
The obvious one is McCain’s cynical belief that Americans are idiots. He and his campaign are hoping, desperately, that voters are just ill-informed enough that he can lie to the nation with impunity. And because consumers are desperate to see energy prices drop, they may not be in a position to realize that McCain’s smoke and mirrors are part of a massive deception.
The less obvious motivation for McCain to lie is that he needs the money — and the more he talks up a nonsensical coastal-drilling policy, the more oil executives fill up his campaign coffers.
Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling.
Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month — three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban — compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May. […]
“The timing was significant,” said David Donnelly, the national campaigns director of the Public Campaign Action Fund, a nonpartisan campaign finance reform group that conducted the analysis of McCain’s oil industry contributions. “This is a case study of how a candidate can change a policy position in the interest of raising money.”
The next time you hear someone talk about McCain selling out, remember, the charge is true both figuratively and literally.
Tom Friedman
says:After all these years of a highly politicized Department of Justice exclusively hiring orthodox Republicans, Obama needs to demonstrate he’s different by hiring Republicans.
wvng
says:“Obama needs to demonstrate he’s different by hiring Republicans.” No, Obama needs to show he is different by hiring competent people who are qualified to do their job.
CJ
says:…McCain’s cynical belief that Americans are idiots.
The Dems need to coordinate and really begin to push back on this big time. The Republicans think they have a winning issue for November with offshore drilling, and I’m afraid they might be right.
In fact, it appears that, nearly overnight, public opinion has moved in favor of drilling in environmentally-sensitive areas–despite the facts. So it appears that a lot of Americans are, in fact, idiots (thanks, in part, to the traditional media).
TomB
says:This is a situation where I think the MSM should confront McCain directly asking him to explain his obviously false statements and the connection between his flip flop on offshore drilling and campaign contributions. (But the media says that it’s Obama’s job to challenge the veracity of McCain’s statements and it’s their job to simply report on the “cat fight.”)
If the MSM won’t challenge McCain themselves, then perhaps Obama could create a TV ad that exposes McCain, run it only in the MSM markets and hope that it generates a story which the MSM will then report. (It’s a shame that the “game” has to be played this way. I guess producers hope that their news coverage, or lack of it, can generate additional ad revenues.)
Haik Bedrosian
says:(I can hear Tucker Bounds now: “Well, the year 2030 is 256 months away. And 256 is a ‘matter of months,’ so technically, McCain is telling the truth.”)
Oh Snap- you beat me to it! But let me help out with this one…
“…In some cases, it would be a matter of a year,”
This is not a lie either because A) It “would be” a year (from the point at which it is a year away- whenever that is); or B) It “would be” a year (if it was, but it isn’t).
HA!
Capt Kirk
says:The more money he gets from big oil, the faster the lies fly and the number of months just magically melts away. And don’t forget that lying to the American public provides a much needed psychological relief, it’s therapeutic, I know I feel better already!
nepat
says:So the question is: why did the MSM, with its very high opinion of itself, fall for this guy in the first place? He’s small-minded, intemperate, equivocating, shallow, bile-filled, cantankerous, and has used the media to advance an entirely fraudulent “maverick” persona. It’s clear they’ve been conned and yet…they persist in the con! What gives? Is fear of being labeled a librul by this guy’s farce of a campaign that big of a threat? Reality-based minds want to know.
DougEFresh
says:Here is something no one is going to like hearing, both sides are blatantly lying and are ignoring the reality of the oil business. Liberals like to talk about the evil speculators raising the prices, which is untrue according Paul Krugman. McCain has even jump on this bit of idiocy. It does make sense from a propaganda point of view, since the problem is difficult and politicians need an enemy, so who better than nameless, faceless, vague speculators.
At least liberals aren’t blaming ExxonMobil as much, maybe some of the previously clueless corporate bashers realized that Hugo “Viva” Chavez controls more oil than Exxon. Though he is too incompetent and corrupt to get it all to market.
DougEFresh
says:Nepat, the MSM fell for this guy because for years he bashed Bush pretty regularly and it provided a great story. So much so, John Kerry considered him to be his VP.
Another thing he did was treated the media well. A lot of politicians carefully control their messages and avoid the media. Bush and Clinton would rarely chit chat with media members on their respective private jets. Obama used to do it when he really needed the media and now needs them less and is becoming more stand-offish. McCain has always been a crappy fundraiser, so he has to brown nose the media more than Bush did or Obama now.
N.Wells
says:As much as I hate to defend McCain, I think this claim is not quite as bad as it sounds. I think it fits with something McCain said a few days ago, about the price dropping because of talk about opening up some moratorium areas. He’s claiming that speculation in oil cools down as speculators learn about new potential sources of oil coming to the market, such as “we will be drilling in ANWR” or “we will be drilling off Florida”. It is true that there is a psychological aspect to speculative bubbles. However, I just don’t see such an announcement having a big effect, given the context that oil sells in a global market facing high demand at around peak production, so the market is liable to shortages and price run-ups for plenty of shorter-term reasons. Thus I don’t see speculative cooling lasting beyond the next hurricane, refinery fire, worker’s strike, Nigerian election, or whatever problem of the fortnight.
Phil
says:“The obvious one is McCain’s cynical belief that Americans are idiots.”
I just saw a headline via US News & World Report that McCain leads in polling among likely voters — so yes, Americans are indeed idiots. McCain’s latest batch of lies are resonating to the electorate, largely because the gushing MSM is printing them as legitimate policy positions. Obama and the Democrats need to work on this quickly.
BuzzMon
says:(I know that I shouldn’t feed…..)
Hey Doug –
Remember a long time ago, something called “the housing bubble”? Remember how people called “speculators” moved in and bought up a lot of the housing stock, and sent the prices of all homes sky high?
Well, right now there are a lot of speculators in the oil futures market, many times more than in even the recent past. Do you think that it’s just possible that this speculation is doing the same thing to the oil market that happened to the housing market?
And Chavez may be bad, but at least he didn’t steal the last election (where he lost out on a big power grab) like the Republicans did in 2000.
Shalimar
says:If I were in Obama’s campaign, I would hold fire on this until October to let McCain get more in bed with the oil industry, then hammer him on the connection for the whole month before the election. 8 years of a oil-controlled president has been more than enough, this kind of thing would be sickening to the vast majority of Americans if they knew what was happening. Trouble is, gas prices are going to go down right before the election and the oil industry is going to count on people forgetting what the summer was like.
FWIW, isn’t it interesting that gas prices always go down in the fall now, coincidentally while Republicans are in power, but I distinctly remember George W. Bush making an issue of releasing oil from the national reserve in 2000 because gas prices had gone up something like 25% leading up to the election?
CJ
says:Liberals like to talk about the evil speculators raising the prices, which is untrue according Paul Krugman.
With all due respect to Paul Krugman, he’s wrong.
“Evil” speculators are, in fact, likely responsible for rapidly rising oil prices. Yes, prices have risen by over 400 percent since Bush took office…no, demand has not risen by nearly that much (some estimates are that demand has increased from 3 to 10 percent since Bush took office).
Increased demand is part of the problem and the falling dollar is another component, but the main source of our pain is lack of transparency and regulation in the market (i.e. speculation).
petorado
says:A report on how much money oil companies are spending on lobbying and what their priorities are pointed out that oil companies are jonesing for a free trade deal with Columbia — and hey, isn’t that where McCain recently took a trip abroad? Must have something to do with Columbia being right next door to oil-rich Venezuela. McCain may be a shameless and idiotic old fool, but he hasn’t forgotten how to operate the Republican party’s ATM.
bcinaz
says:I am hoping that Obama will have what it takes to point to McCain during tne debates and ask the American people one question:
“Do you really want to again elect a man who has no policies to address the most important issues facing Americans today and who lies 100% of the time?
IMO-going at McCain from this direction will probably provoke some kind of fit of rage – untreated PTSD thing – and you know, great TV, bad GOP PR
Charles
says:The article is misguided.
Current prices depend on only on current production but on future production.
If it is newly discovered that production will be higher than expected in the future, the current price will fall. (Lower incentive to hold reserves so current demand will fall.)
SteveT
says:Like I said in comment #13 in the last post
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16361.html#more-16361
It’s time for Obama to hit back — hard.
One of Obama’s campaign people needs to say:
“Senator Obama is puzzled at how Sen. McCain can make such an obviously false statement, especially one that is so easy to disprove. Does Sen. McCain believe that the American people are idiots, who will believe anything? Does he believe that the press, which he has called “his base”, won’t call him on this? Or is Sen. McCain truly confused and he doesn’t remember that only last month he said that it would take ‘years’ for new offshore drilling to have an effect? We just don’t understand how the ‘Straight Talk Express’ has gone so far off the rails.”
This would become the dabate. It challenges McCain in a personal way, which the “journalists” would love. It also challenge the corporate-controlled media’s pro-McCain bias, but without confronting them directly.
Answering McCain’s lies with facts won’t work. it will devolve into a “balanced” debate, where each side’s “facts” are treated as having equal merit. It’s time for Obama to take the gloves off.
hark
says:No one ever mentions the 100 million acres or so the oil companies already have access to and are ignoring. Why aren’t they producing oil from these areas? Why aren’t they producing new refineries? Why are they spending so much money buying back their own stock, rather than investing in increased production? I simply cannot understand why these questions are apparently considered irrelevant to the debate. It’s not just that it will take decades to fully develop protected coastal areas and ANWR, it’s that most of the recoverable oil is already available to the oil companies. There’s nothing to debate.
And, of course, there is Iraq, which is poised to produce an additional 2 million barrels of oil a day within five years, far more than ramped up production here could ever accomplish, and in far less time. Why is this considered irrelevant to the debate?
I feel as if I’m living on another planet, where nothing that matters seems to matter. How is it that McCain and the Republicans are so successful in framing this issue with lies and fantasies? The real facts speak for themselves, but even the Democrats rarely mention them. And never, when it comes to Iraq.
Racer X
says:McLiar: “In some cases, it could take longer than that depending on the location and whether or not you use existing rigs or you have to install new rigs.
Existing rigs?
Wow, I guess we have existing rigs out in the areas that haven’t been drilled because of the moratorium (which McFlipflopper used to support). Maybe the oil companies have drilled virtual wells already, and that’s what McDumbass is talking about.
I think Steve hit the right strategy on the head, we need to tell the American people that John McCain thinks you’re stupid and won’t figure out that he’s lying.
jen
says:David Gergen last night on CNN said straight out that McCain was not telling the truth – about Obama’s failed attempt to visit the troops being tied into wanting to take the press along. It was the first time I can recall that anyone on CNN saying flatout that McCain was openly saying things which have been proven to be false. Maybe McCain can carry the lies too far.
CJ
says:If it is newly discovered that production will be higher than expected in the future, the current price will fall.
Nonsense. Newly discovered production will not cause the current price to fall. First, the oil companies have no incentive to increase supply, even though they can (they currently have leases on millions of acres that they’re not utilizing). Second, for every barrel of oil that an American company adds to the market, OPEC would remove a barrel. Third, we use around 25% of the world’s oil but only have about 3% of the world’s reserves (including offshore and ANWR).
Anybody who thinks that adding even more leases to big oil’s stockpile will reduce the price of gas at the pump is entirely mistaken.
Viggs
says:Call me bitter, but here’s my prediction: Congress votes to allow off-shore and ANWR drilling. Gas prices drop a buck. Everyone thinks McCain is so the man, and it wins him the election. Sometime within the next year, something happens with Iran and another war starts. Gas prices skyrocket. The economy collapses. People learn finally that it was all a scam, there was no oil to be discovered (Do we really think that the environmentalist groups really have more dollars to funnel into lobbying groups to sway policy than big oil?)
cowboy249
says:I read a Forbes magazine article last week that said the US refineries are shipping 1.6 million barrel’s of refined diesel and gasoline out of the country a day. I guess they dont care if the prices stay high now do they.
Aeolus
says:Polling in the midwest shows that offshore drilling is immensely popular.
Here in California, we think it’s find for them to drill off the coast of Iowa or Kentucky if they think it’s such a great idea.
But the real solution is building massive hydro-electric projects on the Ohio, Missouri, Mississipi and all of those other under-utilized rivers. It might flood a few flyover states, but as long as it can provide cheap power for our new plug-in cars, it’s worth the sacrifice.
Steve
says:The picture that needs to be played out—repeatedly; endlessly; with both malice and intent, and without even a shred of remorse—is a picture of John McCain with the word McLIE emblazoned across the bottom in bright, bold letters.
Stapled to telephone poles, plastered onto billboards, and hung up in windows everywhere.
A CafePress site would work nicely, too. I’ll take three t-shirts and a long-sleeved jersey, please….
ml johnston
says:McCain , true to himself says whatever the NEOCONS, LOBBYISTS and KARL ROVE want him to say. He says these lies and deceits with authority and makes it sound true. Why any American wants to contiunue with the same Republican lies and deceits is beyond me. If McCain winss BYE BYE America Land of the FREE.
jhm
says:The idea that front month futures would fall because, as Hon. Sen. McCain claimed, the President* called for drilling in an area which has not been explored in forty years (ergo it will take years from the time that rigs can be found to even know how much oil is even available) is so beyond the pale loony, that the fact that he isn’t laughed off the stage makes me despair for our future.
DougEFresh
says:The housing bubble and the run up in oil prices are two seperate matters. People held on to houses thinking the price would skyrocket, there are not hedge fund constructing large tanks to hold onto crude oil until it reaches $200 a barrel.
If you look at other markets, there has been a rather spectacular run up in the price of concrete, which is not sold on a commodities market, but it is sold based upon negociations between the producer and the buyer. So concrete is immune from a futures market yet it has increased in a similar fashion to oil.
Many growing economies (China and India) have subisdized their gasoline which insulates the consumer from the price shock. They have recently lessened these as the price got too high to continue these policies. This should help slow demand.
Also, production from many large oil countries has declined which places upward pressure on prices. Mexico recently said one of its largest oil fields is on the decline.
Jeremy
says:The writer of this article obviously knows his audience but unfortunately he knows nothing about oil production. First and most importantly I’m not sure who this quote is from “at least seven years, and perhaps a decade, before the first oil begins to flow. No significant impact on domestic production or prices before 2030.” but drilling hasn’t even started yet and just the mere mention of more drilling has pushed the price down by 16%. Just before Bush announced he would like more drilling oil was at $147 a barrel now this morning it’s at $126. So it didn’t take seven years it didn’t even take seven days to have a positive impact on the price of oil. Second the oil industry it’s self has said that they can have new wells online within 18-24 months now that’s not saying that every well we will need will be online but every drop counts. The biggest threat to your pocket book isn’t Bush or McCain it isn’t even Obama it’s the environmental lobby because every time they take an evil oil company to court you and I pay for the litigation either in the evil corporations passing of their litigation expenses of a win or by the constriction of supply by a loss and then they also pass on the litigation costs in a loss. Yes I want clean air I want clean water but taking an energy producer to court every time they want to expand production only hurts the little guy (that’s you and me) and only helps people to feel better about themselves. Things like higher taxes and higher minimum wages and tougher environmental controls sound really good but when taxes get too high companies move out of town or state or even to a new country. when wages get too high companies move when controls get too strict and therefore too expensive companies move. Then the people start asking why have all the jobs moved overseas and other countries start collecting the tax revenue on the products that you still buy only now your paying a higher price because now it has to be shipped back. Instead of a factory worker getting $5.00 an hour their getting $0.50 instead of moderate pollution controls there are no pollution controls. And yet by forcing these things on American companies we get to feel good about ourselves and the former American companies get bigger profits and whatever country they move to gets to collect the tax revenue.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. — Gautama Buddha
Mark D
says:DING! DING! DING! We have a winner!!!
Drilling offshore or in ANWR is a smokescreen, folks — there’s not a single damn thing stopping these greedy bastards from drilling on the land they already own, nor is there anything stopping them from opening refineries in areas where they have permission to do so (admittedly limited, due to their incompetence, but there are spots available).
So this notion that they lack access to enough oil is a flat-out, undeniable, easy-to-disprove lie.
The fact McCain — and so many others — are peddling it is because they are either:
1. Clinically stupid
2. Ignorant of the facts
3. So desperate for anything that even dumb ideas sound smart
4. More concerned with getting McCain elected than actually solving the problem
5. More concerned with making huge profits than actually solving the problem
I’m going with #6 — all of the above.
CJ
says:…just the mere mention of more drilling has pushed the price down by 16%
I call bullshit on this one too. More right-wing nonsense. No economist or oil analyst subscribes to this line of crap that says Bush’s action resulted in falling prices…not one.
In truth, the Energy Department reported that commercial inventories had unexpectedly increased (due to the decrease in U.S. demand over the last several months), a short-term strengthening of the dollar, speculation of further decreases in demand because of recent reports of high overall inflation, and other factors are responsible for the recent drop in prices.
Incidentally, these same people who keep saying that speculation has little to do with current prices cannot justify a drop in oil prices by 16 percent over the course of just a few days. While demand and supply swings mildly and slowly over the long-term, oil prices have been swinging wildly and quickly over the short-term.
The short-term solution is, undoubtedly, to reign in the speculators.
BBC
NYTimes
Yahoo
CJ
says:the biggest threat to your pocket book…it’s the environmental lobby because every time they take an evil oil company to court you and I pay for the litigation either in the evil corporations passing of their litigation expenses of a win or by the constriction of supply by a loss and then they also pass on the litigation costs in a loss.
Oil prices are high, in part, because of big oil’s attorney fees? I almost feel sorry for the oil companies. How do they even make a profit?
BuzzMon
says:Doug – good points @ # 29.
Market models don’t correspond 100%, but I am sure you see the inherant logic of more speculation = higher prices. I never claimed that all of the higher prices were attributed to speculation, but a lot of that $146/barrel was indeed the workings of an unregulated market.
Concrete is yet another market, but there are 2 factors invovled with oil prices connected to concrete:
1) Concrete is an energy intensive industry (i.e. it takes a lot of energy to produce it); and
2) Concrete is a sustitute for oil (asphault) in roadbuilding, a very large market.
So, as oil (and energy) prices go up, so will concrete prices.
Your last 2 paragraphs highlight the need for alternatives for oil. There’s only so much of it (fields get used up), & markets will respond as prices change.
My take on this? The Big Oil companies see an opportunity to get the right to highly coveted properties previously out of their reach. they know that Americans are hurting (partly for stupidly buying all sorts of gas guzzlers), and Big Oil knows the value of propaganda during stressful times.
And for a point on your comment before on Kerry considering him for VP, have you read some of Steve’s reporting on that?
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10398.html
I’m not clear if Kerry actually “considered” him, but it was McCain approaching Kerry, not vice-versa.
tomj
says:The only drilling that would take place is for exploration. Nobody knows what reserves are available, or what it would take to get the oil out. But if McCain is talking about oil from exploration, maybe he could be technically right?
But to use a totally inappropriate analogy, McCain is selling a biopsy as a substitute for an actual surgery.
Of course we still need additional refinery capacity, and there is no way to guarantee that additional oil would reduce prices, yesterday it was reported that SUV sales in China went up 40% this year.
chrenson
says:In McCain’s defense, I’m sure he meant to sway, “after the oil has been found, drilled for, extracted, shipped, refined and delivered, you’ll see a change at the pumps within a matter of months.”
Only an idiot would leave that part out.
joey
says:Obama needs to show he’s different by “firing” republicans who have managed to infiltrate the Judiciary. He needs a big can of roach spray. Competent people need to hired regarless of party affiliation….however if republicans applying for positions in Justice support and approve the actions of this corrupt Bush regime it should immediately disqualify them. “How can you best serve our president should also include “did you support the actions of our last president?”.
This isn’t a matter of republican/democrat as much as a matter of breaking the back of “the money party” who control the actions of many of our congressional leaders and cabinet members. The control of the DoJ and the Judiciary is crucial to allowing major corporations to dictate policy by legalized bribery known as campaign donations, hiring candidates family members and offers of future employment when members leave government service(Hasstert demonstrates how vile the practice has become).
McCain doesn’t believe a word he’s saying about off shore drilling but does so merely because of corporate pressure and money. It’s an example of what we are really up against… corporate owned and operated congressional leadership. Time is running out on being able to prevent a corporatocracy and the Rule of the Money Party which is represented by McCain.
Is McCain able to lie at will without fear of consequences? Has our establishment press become this vile? 5million people will lose their vote due to republican voter ID laws to catch 5people convicted of voter fraud. That’s right …5 people a year in the past 5yrs have been convicted of voter fraud and this is the excuse republicans use to purge the rolls of over 5million legitimate voters new ID laws are preventing from voting.
Lie, steal and cover up…the lights come on…the roaches run for the walls…and dem leaders say I see nothing here. The surge and off shore drilling can prevent AIDS
DougEFresh
says:It is my understanding that concrete went up for the same reason steel did awhile back, because the Asian economies were greatly increasing the demand. While more speculation can lead to higher prices, from certain economists I have read(both right and left), the high amount of short positions on oil futures contradicts those who blame speculation.
I am somewhat pessimistic at the short term prospects for finding an alternative solution, other than a worldwide economic slowdown due to energy prices hitting devoloping countries. These cheap cars that are being planned for the Indian market will consume huge amounts of gasoline, especially if their government subsidizes gasoline. It is possible for there to be an alternative to oil, but I fear it will be a ways off and expensive
Jeremy
says:WOW! two whole people understand economics. Most just want to call McCain a lier o.k. he’s a lier but he’s telling the truth about drilling for more oil. Does anyone remember economics 101? Increase demand without increasing supply prices will rise, increase supply without increasing demand prices will drop. Demand has already risen and so have prices we might as well increase supply to help reduce prices, yes it’s that easy no trickery no slight of hand there are only two choices decrease demand or increase supply and seeing as next gen power sources still cannot compete with the price of oil there really is only one choice. And before you say wind or solar does the wind blow all day? can you count on the wind blowing at a specific time or at a specific strength? what about the sun does it shine all day? so what do you use for fuel during the dark hours? wind and solar can supplement our current power sources but until we can figure out how to make the sun shine all day or how to keep the wind blowing constantly oil or coal are our only choices. I know thats not what you want to hear but it’s true.