Exxon [Hearts] Obama

Everyone is saying that Paris Hiltons energy plan is better then Obama’s or McCains. This is true. But the Hilton Plan is no different then what every average american has been saying for the last couple of months. Its common sense. Is common sense what the campaigns are lacking??? There are many americans like my self that feel like neither of these two are really fit to be president. But yet we are stuck with these two as our presumptive nominees. McCain seems to be slipping a little in his old age with one Gaff after another. Then there is Obama, He doesnt Gaff quite as much as McCain but he has his share. They would be an improvement over the candidates flimsy energy plans. I am hoping that I have a third choice in november. I just am having a really hard time figuring which one these two will do the least amount of damage to our country

It would be interesting to see if there is a split in the giving between the executives and regular workers of the oil companies, for example.

Both ways Barack — at it again. Guess it won’t be long before his alter ego, Backtrack Obama appears to clarify his position.

Barack Obama has bundlers — those Bundlers go to big business and say we need money. The big business execs then go to their employees and strongly encourage them to fund a particular candidate. The bundler gathers up the money and takes it back to the candidate. Its typical machine politics — Chicago style. Pay to play, if you will.

So…can Obama’s assertions that he is not funded by oil money be classified as “knowingly false?” Seems like it.

Does this mean that the employees of these companies are also tired of the big wigs of their companies living high on the hogs as they go without.
Obama has a great policies and plans and most the US agree. He will take the election by storm come November.
Go Obama 2008

McCain took $1.3 million from oil people just after he flipped on off-shore drilling.
That says it all.

So if the employee of an oil company gives to Obama, it now means that he is taking money from the company? This is the most asinine argument i have heard in a long time. My company has a lobbyist that support Republicans, but i give to Democrats. Does that mean that my company suddenly supports Democrats? This is foolish to the core. Obama has always said that he doesn’t take money from lobbyists, not common folks that make the traditional $2,300 individual donations. I mean, the media has such a man-crush on Obama, they will manufacture news about him just to have his name in the press.

” he has made a concerted effort to kick the lobbiest off the straight talk express.”
I guess if you repeat anything often enough, someone will believe it.

Corporations cannot make direct contributions to federal campaigns. Federal election law is very specific:
A corporation may solicit its restricted class to contribute up to $5,000 per person per year to its PAC; payroll “check-off” plans for these contributions are widely used. The PAC in turn can contribute up to $5,000 per election (the primary and general elections each count as one election) to a favored candidate. The corporation may solicit each member of its restricted class as often as it likes, and may even (subject to some important restrictions) solicit all its employees twice a year. The corporation may pay the PAC’s administrative costs, including legal, accounting, and fund-raising solicitation costs, out of its treasury funds.

The logic behind counting donations from employees when calculating a company’s political donations total is absolutely lost on me.
Should we count customers too, then? Or relatives of the employees? Subcontractors?

It would make alot more sense to list by company AND occupation, and both are required when you donate, so its not like the info isnt there already.

Obama, McCain and Big Oil. They are all joined at the hip.

I bettter in McCain side, obama new to the senate but he is as crappy the guys has been there for long time. I don’t trust him to lead our country.
Obama use those oil people donated to him as just regular people… obama is a liar

My goodness, the Obama hypocrite and liar. He also criticized about the Bush Cheney energy bill, and yet he voted for it, and McCain voted against it. Did you see Obama squirm when he was asked about this in an interview thsi week? He accused the reporter of being a “proxy” to McCain…..the guy just can’t take tough questions!

Obama sez…
McCain voted “against an energy bill that – while far from perfect – represented the largest investment in renewable sources of energy in the history of this country.”
renewable sources is code for corn ethanol, which has a carbon footprint worse than gasoline and as a bonus is driving food inflation and starving Africa….
Obama thinks you are stupid…

Hypothetically, lets say I, employee of umm IBM, gives Obama $5 million for elections. Does that mean IBM “hearts” Obama? Does that mean IBM does not “heart” McDrill? pshhh…NO!

…
“Exxon employees have given Obama $42,100″
Employees? So…Exxon employees are American citizens before they are Exxon employees. They have the right to donate their money to Obama. That translates to being bought by big oil? lol

MCCAIN in the beginning made fun about wind generation—-he said nuclear was not safe–he scoffed about solar power—he has always been for drilling he wants congress to vote on it–now he has changed again and is advertising about renewable energy—-SEAMS TO ME HE IS SIMPLY PANDERING AND DONT HAVE A CLUE ABOUT ANYTHING—-HE JUST READS WHAT IS PUT IN FRONT OF HIM—HE IS NOT A SELF THINKING PERSON–BUT AN UNIMFORMED PARROT

yea I always read the Rupert Murdoch Journal for unbiased news on the working mans plight. At least Obama knows that Iraq and Pakistan don’t share a border and that Czechoslovakia is no longer a country. Time was when a real Republican would have applauded a call for common sense measures like keeping your vehicle in proper working order, instead of making campaign commercials about celebrities. You think we’re a nation of “whiners” in a “mental recession”, fine, vote Republican. They are obviously so good at running something they don’t believe in. Wake up and smell the country being run into the ground by incompetent fools.

ummSurprise surprise Obama lying Again

JUST REMEMBER GANG THAT RENEWABLE FUEL CAN BE PRODUCED BY ALMOST ANYONE –AND THIS ALONE BREAKS THE MONOPOLY THAT OIL HAS IN THIS COUNTRY AND THE WORLD–SMALL LOCAL COMPANYS CAN PRODUCE AND KEEP JOBS AND THE MONEY HERE WHERE IT—WE ALL WOULD BE OF BENIFIT IN EVERY WAY—DONT LET MCCAIN AND BIG OIL KEEP A GRIP ON OUR COUNTRY—YOU SHOULD PRINT THIS AND KEEP IT AS A CONSTANT REMINDER—-IT IS THE ANSWER-ALONG WITH WIND AND SOLAR–PLUS NUCLEAR–BIOFUELS CAN START TO BE PRODUCED TOMORROW NOT IN 8 TO 10 YEARS.

The donations from oil companies “employees” is much different than the money McCain took recently from Hess Corporation. The employees are subject to the $2300 limit.
I looked at all the Exxon donations to Obama a month or two ago. Exxon had about 54,000 employees, which came out to about $24 per employee. A large number of the Exxon “employees” gave donations of less than $1,000.

Here’s a novel idea. How about Obama and the rest of the demagogues stop demonizing companies for delivering much needed and desired goods. Then all this “you receive more money!” “No, you do!” nonsense wouldn’t matter. Delivering oil to the American people is not an evil occupation, and a politician receiving support from such people is not dirtied by it. Too bad no one has the guts to say this truth.

The title of this little article should be:
Exxon [Hearts] McCain 3x what they [Heart] Obama.

Your caption reads: “McCain received three times more money from oil industry but workers heart Obama.”
This is an extremely inaccurate statement. It implies that McCain is getting his money from the companies while Obama is getting from the “workers.” In fact, the money we are talking about comes from company employees, not from the companies themselves (which are not allowed to donate to candidates). So the point you are making (I think) is that while McCain is getting more money overall from employees of oil and gas companies, Obama is getting more money from employees of some of some companies, including the “Big Oil” companies he is most trying to demonize.
If this is your point, you have managed tto bury it in confusing and inaccurate llanguage.

“So, it is wrong for Exxon-Mobil employees to donate to the political party or candidate of their choice?”
–ddave
Too funny. This is the same kind of logic twist that perpetuates the wedge between corporate America and politics. You’re absolutely right that the employees can donate how they wish. But here’s a news flash for you – the employees are the companies. You can say you leave work behind at the office each night, but corporations are nothing without employees.
You might say it’s ‘the man’ who’s running the show. Perhaps they (CEO’s & executives) do steer the ship. But nobody’s stopping you from jumping off. It’s the same lame argument launched against lobbyists. Let’s give the label a bad connotation and everyone will have the vapor known as corporations and lobbyists. At the end of the day – it’s all driven by all of us working for them. We ARE them.

Obama already payed off big oil with his vote for their giveaway. It’s all bullcrap just like his NAFTA fake. No oil compnay is afraid of Slick Barry. Maybe that should be Oil Slick Barry. Already paid his bribe, now playing holy.

CHECK ON HOW MANY MILLIONS ARE BEING SPENT ON THIS ELECTION BY BIG OIL AND BIG BUSINESS—-SEE IF IT IS FOR WHAT YOU WANT OR WHAT WHAT BIG BUSINESS OIL WANTS—JUST THAT SIMPLE–WHAT ARE THE LOBBYIST DONATING–COME ON GUYS CHECK IT OUT

Regular Employees earn their money …
CEO’s rip the whole country off by raising gas prices …
CEO’s are lobbying McCain …
Obama will NOT allow himself to be influenced by Oil Companies no matter what …

IT IS AMAZING HOW ILL INFORMED YOU ARE FOR THE MOST PART—YOUR HERO MCCAIN WILL KEEP THE STATUS QUO AND BURY US ALL—–JUST DO THE HOMEWORK
GOODBY

Big Oil and all it’s lobbyists LOVE McCain …
Joe Schmoe who works at Exxon and makes 11\hr loves Obama because he knows Obama is going to work hard to keep more of that 11/hr in his pocket rather that it going to the CEO’s making billions an hour …

Patrick, tell us why Obama voted for the big oil giveaway. Didn’t that show the oil companies he wasn’t a threat, a little pre-campaign gift almost under the radar? Can you think of another reason?
I’d love to hear your theory. McCain and Hillary voted against it. Why didn’t he?
Can you think objectively at all without making vile accusations against good people?
Try.

Obama cannot be trusted! With anything!

John Doe … If Obama raises taxes on oil companies, or succeeds in a “windfall profit tax”, then essentially those taxes will be by you and me.
Taxes are included in the product price. That goes for any company. A higher tax rate will just be passed on to the consumer. That is not helping the “average guy”.

John Doe: We were talking about CEO salaries. Don’t change the subject. Read what’s written.

People, the US oil companies are NOT controlling the price of oil on the world market. The only way they would be able to do that is if they joined together by selling less oil, which they are obviously not doing since they are making massive profits.
The US oil companies do not have enough control over the supply to control it.

I disagree in Obama’s energy policy except for when he said, strategic oil reserve are for emergency only because I believe high cost of fuel is not considered an emergency but Obama has flipped his view on the use of strategic oil reserves. I am also surprised in the number of his flip-flops within the span of one week. He is now advocating the Clinton’s energy policy he criticized during the Democrat primary. Is this how Obama going to lead this country? I also disagree in his latest ad “in the pocket of big oil” because both him and McCain are on the receiving end of big oil contributions. In addition, Obama, not McCain, was the one who voted for the Bush-Cheney energy bill. Furthermore, it seems Obama and the Democrats are not consistent with each other. ——————————————————————-***Obama is becoming more confusing, the more he changes his energy policy.

Rodney,
Alas, McCain has a bunch of generic bullet points about what he supports and very few concrete proposals.
Number one on his list is expanding oil production including drilling pretty much everywhere. Same as Bush!
He wants more nuclear power facilities and wants to invest in Clean Coal.
All of the above are potentially environmentally harmful.
Other than a three hundred million dollar prize for battery technology, the rest of his proposals are generalized statements and all of them are top-down solutions rewarding corporations.
There is no foreign policy linkage to his proposals, and virtually nothing that would use government power to curb the corporate interests that have lead to the problems we have today.
His basic approach is exactly what George Bush is doing.
The majority of the environmental organziations give him low-to middle ratings.
Contrast this with the comprehenisve Obama plan (which is far more detailed),
in which Obama focuses on renewables, conservation, stronger incentives and regulation, McCain’s plan looks like he constructed his plan by hurling darts at a board.
Yes, I do read, and I also actually evaluate and contrast. Something very few people seem to do, including yourself.

I usually vote Republican but I agree when McCain’s daughter said, “It’s time to reinvent the Republican Party. And I think my dad can do it.” I am totally against congressional earmarks and the Republicans are equally as guilty as the Democrats. Senator Steven is second on the list on the amount. Congress is wasting too much tax dollars on pork projects. McCain has a record of ZERO in comparison to Obama’s, a junior senator, $97M in 2007. Earmark is also a reason for me to go against Obama’s tax increase. Why increase tax when our politicians are wasting our money on their personal pet projects. I see the tax increase as way to put more money into the pockets of politicians.

Obama’s repositioning (i.e. flip-flop)on energy exploration doesn’t fit the Democratic left-wing mantra on which he was nominated. He is merely trying “triangulation” to win the general election. However, he appears much more clumsy about altering his positions than did Bill Clinton. Bill was so smooth on the stump–a natural. Obama has trouble connecting without a Teleprompter. Truly a virtual “empty suit” media candidate! Have we found his Achilles heel?

Obama will say anything even if it contradicts previous positions. Why people cannot understand his chameleon changes is truly hard to fathom. Maybe they like being made fools of??

ITS JUST LIKE G W BUSH LITTLE BUSH MCCAIN TO GET PAY OFF FROM THE BIG OIL CO. THEY CARE ABOUT THE POOR PEOPLE ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS THE RICH THEY DONT NEED IN THE WHITE HOUSE THEY NEED A LONG TIME IN PRISON

I want to know who is going to recharge my car battery when I am on the road and need a charge…instead of a gas station we are going to have electic stations…remember the huge east coast black out about 5 years ago…from Ohio to New Hampshire? Well, at that time it was determined that the conditions of our electric grids is so antiquated that we are a disaster in the waiting! How many zillions of dollars will be needed to fix the grids to accomodate all these new electic cars? Good thing there are only about 150 on the roads in the country!!

I believe “The One” is actually “The Hypocrite”. It’s so easy to point your fingers at others, but in this case Obama should take a long hard look at himself, in the mirror. Now, you know why your dropping in the polls.

People we are all going to have to pay taxes no matter who gets into office. Also about the prices of oil OPEC (group of middle east nations) produced 30 million barrels of oil thirty years ago. Today they produce 32 million barrels and they have added more countries since then. What is wrong with this picture? Plus China and India economy is growing at a alarming rate (supply and demand). That is why our gas prices are high (speculators). WHAT THE DEMS HAVE BEEN PREACHING!!!

I can’t believe that some are actually comparing donations from the employees of oil companies to the companies themselves. There is a huge difference. It just goes to show that the working men and women of America support Obama while the oil companies support the tax breaks and windfall profits that Old McSame would give them. It also goes to show how gullible and naive some people are to think there is no difference between the two.

This is a joke right?
You are seriously saying that a difference of around $10,000 of money from the employees of those companies makes up the difference of around $1,000,000 in direct donations? Really?
Heres a take that seems a bit more realistic. How about THESE EMPLOYEES ARE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE SUPPORTING THE CANDIDATE THEY LIKE MORE! How about that? Simple, obvious and falls directly in line with randomly polled expectations.
This article is seriously grasping at straws.

Obama is nonthing more than an accident, looking for a happening.

To the people who have no clue: it’s not the “employees” who are giving Obama money from the oil companies; it’s the EXECUTIVES in the oil companies. I live in Houston and know that the “employees” do not like and will not vote for Obama on a large scale; they dislike the man. It’s the ones with lots of money who are giving it to him, at these hugh homes where the gatherings are held. These EXECUTIVES do not have to worry about where their next paycheck is coming because they have already stashed it away and will get $$$$$ when they leave their company; it is in their contracts. Not many oil company employees have contracts.

Lobbyists for Hess Oil:
Wayne Berman, McCain’s national finance co-chairman
John Green, the McCain campaign’s chief Congressional liaison since March

Obama came to Houston about a week agao and raked in loads of money from executives of the energy companies. That is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He has private fund raisers with these folks, some who paid a lot just to talk w/him, others paid more to get a photo with him, others paid a lot more to hear him at dinner. Mostly Oil and Gas executives. Obama is a liar. I live in Houston; it was in the newspaper with the names of the energy executives. Most of Obama’s donations come from corporate people, mainly lawyer who sue all the time. Not that much comes from “small donations via the internet” as Obama has led most of you to believe. You’ve heard the old saying……..his pants are on fire.

There is such a stark difference between Obama’s and McCain’s energy policy. McCain has advocated opening up the shores for drilling based on state’s interest in it. Now Obama says he is for it since 70% of Americans say they like the idea. McCain is also for developing alternate energy at the same time we are drilling offshore. He proposes openning 30 nuclear energy sites in the next decade or so. Obama says that we should be an oil free nation in a decade. Yeah, right! He believes that all Americans should keep their tires pumped up full of air. Will they now have police officers that will stop us and give us citations because our tires are flat? Would Big Brother watch all Americans to make sure that our cars are running efficiently and not consuming too much oil? I think Obama needs his air checked with one of the tire guages that McCain was handing out. Let me say that I am not against inflating tires to improve gas mileage but it should not be a energy policy!!!

jeri
i give regular to obama—-my nane is not exxon

looks like big oil will win again –just like in the 70s–but remember each time we have a crisis it will get a lot worse—-DO YOU LIKE BEING USED AND CONTROLLED BY FOREIGN OIL—THE EXTRA 1 TO 10 % WE MAY GAIN THROUGH DRILLING WILL BE NO MORE THAN A DROP IN THE OIL BUCKET—-WE BEST ALL START GETTING A LITTLE WISER NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE

McCain took the lead and wants to drill off shore. Obama changed his mind, adopting McCain’s energy policy of drilling. Here is proof, McCain is a leader and Obama follows.

IT IS SAD THAT SO FEW OF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING—WE MUST BECOME A LOT MORE INDEPENDANT AS WE ONCE WHERE—WE HAVE BEEN SOLD OUT TO BIG OIL AND BIG BUSINESS AND THE WEALTH IS GETTING INTO A FEW HANDS AND WE GET NOTHING.–T-H-I-S I-S O-U-R C-O-U-N-T-R-Y

I agree with Republican Governor of Minn. Tim Pawlenty’s advice to GOP candidates running in 08 “mimic Senator Barack Obama” Good advice!
McCain should be listening and talking to Pawlenty instead of Paris Hilton, what a loser!

There are other ways than just writing a check for corporations and businesses to support a candidate. The corporation or company may give the employees paid time off to help with a campaign, they may pay for printing, postage, mailing list costs, they may reimburse employees to attend campaign functions and even give bonuses with the understanding some of the funds goes to a candidate. There are a dozen ways to help a candidate by a corporation. Unless it is very excessive, no one notices or questions the practice.

YOU GUYS ARE SO TIED UP WITH GAS PRICE YOU CANNOT SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES
gas prices will drop in time for electons and repubs will take the credit.i would say under 3.00—since bush visited arabs you now know why —it is all politics

sally
do you realize that obamas policy right from the primarys —-are now proposed to be mccains–the guy is a super parrot —and just mimics obama

You Obama supporters are so gulible.
Obama and the libs go on vacation while people are losing jobs because of the oil shortage. Obama is for the little people taking money NOT!! from oil companies and then lying about it
So i hope they enjoy their vacations while the Republicans in the house are trying to solve the problem
The dems want to destroy our great country, everybody else is drilling, but us, their is more oil in the US territories then the whole middle east, Russia and Canada combined
I hope Pelosi and the the libs enjoy themselves.
See they can vote to allow drilling now and then come back and look into alternative, the minute they allow drilling prices will drop like a stone and they know that , but since Obama and Pelosi and the rest of the libs own oil stock and ethynol stock they want to make money while we lose our jobs!!

Oil Slick Obama is showing his inexperience, again. Slick wants to increase the tax on big oil, they pass this tax onto the customer, by raising the price of fuel. I hope McCain will expalin this situation to Obama and hopefully, he will learn. This is just one of many reasons Obama is not leadership material. President McCain has the leadership and wisdom to lead our nation out of the energy crisis.

The artical is misleading and so are all of the articals I read so far. There appears to be no distinction, between excutive bundlers and personal givers. They are lumping many of us, who contribute our own hard owned money to the upper management money bundling. The CEOs and the executives bundle money based on their industries interest. All the hopefuls executives follow the leader and donate to the campaign that the senior executive is supporting in fund raising events.
For majority of us, we contribute from home. Our contribution has no ties with where we work. We do not generally donate. But this year we were inspired and we are making sacrifice by donating. Our contributions add up, because generally we do monthly or weekly donations. Similar to many people, I resent my donation being implied to be tied to my work. It is personal. I donate for the future of my children.

What’s new about Obama? he’s the same old politician, two face politician, blast Mc Cain with negative speeches then we find out he is no different.

ABE
spoken like a true repub loud but not to smart.lets hear a little more—this should be good.

Good grief, why do we have to have these two idiots as the only viable candidates!!

Let’s assume we start drilling in Anwar and oil starts gushing out. What are you going to do when that company that does the drilling starts selling all of their oil to China, Japan, and India? What then?

President Honest Man McCain

iraq vet
you need to talk to some of the nam vets about mccain. it is very interesting—-

@ Sherlock:
Very impressive, but true.

Are these examples of Obama’s “small donors”?

what’s funny about the “evil big oil” is that their price gouging only gets them an average of 7-8% profit margin. Exxon oil was at 10.3%. They also have paid 64 billion in taxes in the last 3 years. Drilling would help to deter speculators which would in turn lower prices for the short term. Then after we drill we work towards alternative energy, and this is laid out in what the repubs want to do in congress right now. Then the demorons, sorry I mean democrats, like Obama wants everyone to drive plug in cars, oh and by the way 90% of our electricity comes from coal plants, and he wants to reduce our electricity use by 15%.

No one has any room to go after McCain and voting considering dummy Obama claims that he is too boneheaded to figure out how to vote correctly and wants his voting record changed and now mostly just votes “present.” He is a very stupid man.

Hittin’ the Road

Mm-mmm! Hittin’ the Road this weekend. Hopefully MDD will have some posts. Maybe DAS will step in. Things are getting interesting: Are Democrats having Buyer’s Remorse? Victor Davis Hanson answers that question in Hillary’s Growing Shadow. Walter Shapi…

I realize posting any information stating positions is going to be twisted or ignored by the Republicans reading this but I am glad to see that, unlike your candidate, you can at least use “the tubes” (to quote indicted Republican Ted Stevens) to get online.

Yes, John McCain has gotten 1.3 million from oil and gas industry and Obama c. $400k. So far so good. You forget a few things. Obama has gotten about double what McCain has gotten in total. In fact O&G gave McCain almost 1% of his total take, but less that 1/8 of 1 % of Obama’s.
McCain takes PAC and lobbyist money, and Obama doesn’t.
Another funny thing is that so many of the political sites are dishing out the same erroneous conjectures that are trying to change McCain’s obvious love for Big Oil and it’s money to a demerit for Obama. So I guess the McCain camp passed around the talking points and some of you guys are just printing up the free news analysis.

alpaig52 – Obama never said he did not receive any contributions. He said that McCain received $2 mil from the oil industry, the majority of which he received after he flipped on offshore drilling. Particulary, large donations from the Hess Corporation including the office manager and driver. No wonder McCain changed his mind seemingly overnight. Enquiring minds really do want to know.
To say Exxon hearts Obama and not even mention the suspicious block/group donations from Hess to McCain was very partisan of Jake. But then again, that’s how his columns have been going since the election started. First HRC in the primaries and of course,his main Boo from his days on the straight talk express, McCain. I’m sure Jake’s next step to move to the AP with Liz Soditi.

Los Angeles Times Article sums it up pretty good:
CAMPAIGN ’08
McCain’s energy record is on/off
The Republican presidential candidate has swerved from one position to another over the years, taking often contradictory stances on the government’s role in energy policy.
By Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 1, 2008
WASHINGTON — Crisscrossing the country over the last two weeks to promote his energy plans, Sen. John McCain promised a forceful national strategy to combat global warming and end U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
“We must steer far clear of the errors and false assumptions that have marked the energy policies of nearly 20 Congresses and seven presidents,” the presumptive Republican nominee told a crowd of oil executives in Houston.
But McCain’s record of tackling energy policy on Capitol Hill shows little of the clear direction he says would come from a McCain White House.
Instead, the Arizona senator has swerved from one position to another over the years, taking often contradictory stances on the federal government’s role in energy policy.
At times he has backed measures to ease restrictions on oil drilling off the coast and in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Other times he has voted to keep them.
He has championed standards to require that automakers make vehicles more fuel-efficient, yet opposed standards to require that utilities use less fossil fuel by generating more power from renewable sources, such as wind and solar.
McCain has rejected federal tax breaks for renewable energy producers, but backs billions of dollars in subsidies for the nuclear industry.
He has criticized corn-based ethanol for doing “nothing to increase our energy independence.” Yet while campaigning in 2006 in the Midwest corn belt, McCain called ethanol a “vital, vital alternative energy source.”
Senior McCain policy advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin said McCain’s positions reflected a pragmatic approach to governing. “Sen. McCain is interested in getting results,” he said.
But many environmentalists see it as inconsistency. “There is a very sporadic pattern here,” said Tim Greef, deputy legislative director of the League of Conservation Voters.
McCain has shown more interest in confronting global warming than most of his GOP colleagues, a facet of his record that has helped shape his image as a straight-talking maverick who stands up to his party.
A self-proclaimed acolyte of former Democratic Rep. Morris K. Udall of Arizona, the legendary environmental lawmaker, McCain was among the first Republicans to call for action by the federal government.
In 2002, he collaborated with Democrats on legislation to require automakers to increase vehicle fuel efficiency. And he has broken with his party to push legislation to create a federal system for capping greenhouse gases.
At the same time, McCain became a vocal critic of government subsidies, particularly for oil and gas producers. In a debate, he derided the 2003 energy bill for “increasing our dependence on conventional fuels” and was one of six GOP senators to oppose it.
But the senator’s legislative work on energy and climate change is also full of contradictions. McCain — who argues the federal government should not be “picking favorites” — has routinelybacked federal subsidies for some energy producers but not others.
While McCain has talked tough about giveaways for oil companies, for example, he has only occasionally challenged the industry.
In 2003 and 2005, McCain criticized his colleagues for giving tax breaks to oil producers. “It doesn’t make fiscal or common sense,” he said in one debate, “to provide billions of taxpayer subsidies to encourage the production of energy by companies that are already gaining tremendous riches at today’s sky-high oil and gas prices.”
He has also acted to protect the industry’s bottom line. In 1999, McCain backed efforts to prevent the Interior Department from collecting more royalties from oil companies drilling on public land.
The department wanted payments to reflect the market price of oil, a change that could have boosted receipts by an estimated $60 million a year or more.
Six years later, after rejecting offshore drilling, he voted for legislation that opened up large sections of the Gulf of Mexico to exploration, a major industry priority.
Holtz-Eakin said McCain believed that states should have the authority to decide whether there was drilling along their coastlines. (In contrast, McCain voted to deny governors authority to veto liquefied natural gas terminals in their states.)
McCain announced two weeks ago that he favored more oil exploration off the nation’s coasts to bring down the cost of gasoline. “We must deal with the here and now,” he said.
On his recent energy tour, McCain also called for 45 new nuclear plants by 2030, a goal he is prepared to back with billions of federal dollars.
That too is a change for the four-term senator. Earlier in his congressional career, McCain was a consistent opponent of subsidies for nuclear power, voting five times in the 1990s against taxpayer aid for research on new-generation nuclear reactors. As recently as 2003, McCain opposed federal loan guarantees to help the nuclear industry finance new plants.
Three years ago, however, McCain began pushing more taxpayer assistance to help develop nuclear power as part of his proposed legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions.
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Public Citizen estimated a version of McCain’s bill would authorize more than $3.7 billion in subsidies for new nuclear plants.
Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington-based group that has worked with McCain to fight pork-barrel spending, said that kind of aid used to trouble the senator.
“Sen. McCain was a leader in going after subsidies,” Ellis said. “Government support for an industry that can’t stand on its own two feet seems to contradict his record.”
McCain now defends the subsidies as essential to kick-start the industry. “If we’re looking for a vast supply of reliable and low-cost electricity, with zero carbon emissions and long-term price stability, that’s the working definition of nuclear energy,” he said recently.
On the campaign trail, McCain has also said the federal government should spend $30 billion over the next 15 years to help companies develop less polluting ways to burn coal.
And he has indicated support for legislation to force automakers to build more vehicles that can run on fuels other than gasoline.
“This can be done with a simple federal standard to hasten the conversion of all new vehicles in America to flex-fuel technology, allowing drivers to use alcohol fuels instead of gas in their cars,” McCain said last week, adding he is prepared to sign a bill to do that.
Yet McCain has been a consistent opponent of standards that would require utilities to derive a minimum percentage of their power from renewable sources, such as wind, solar or geothermal.
“I have heard from utilities in my own state that a federal mandate of this sort is largely a requirement to import wind,” McCain said during a 2005 Senate debate. McCain has voted against renewable standards at least four times since 2002. He has also opposed tax incentives to encourage the development of power from sources other than nuclear.
In 2002, he ridiculed a proposed federal incentive for companies trying to convert animal waste into power, asking on the Senate floor: “What’s happened to man’s best friend, the dog? Why can’t he make a deposit to help reduce our energy dependence?”
He opposed tax credits in 2001 and 2006 for companies that generate power from solar, wind, geothermal and ocean wave energy, all of which produce no greenhouse gases.
McCain derided the same tax breaks two weeks ago as a “patchwork of tax credits” that are “temporary and often the result of who had the best lobbyist.”
“We will reform this effort,” he promised, “so that it is fair, rational and permanent, letting the market decide which ideas can move us toward clean and renewable energy.”
But when McCain summed up his energy initiative last week — recapping plans for more oil exploration, more nuclear plants, and federal support for cleaner coal plants and new car batteries — he offered no proposal to expand the use of renewable energy.

i dont understand why you people cant conceive the policies of politicians. they all hide their true traits but between two, obama is much better. what i assume, he will surely be a better president than old mccain.

I really wish people would research Sen Obama’s vote on the 2005 Enery bill. If they did, I think they’d stop throwing it up as proof that he somehow did something to be criticized about. With that in mind, has Pres Bush become such a political paraih that even if he may/may not have gotten something right, it’s still radioactive? That really is the most troubling thing about this election. It’s like the next guy to take over will be the newly elected Captain of the Titanic and his first order will be “FULL SPEED AHEAD!”

Research Obama’s vote on the Bush/Cheney energy bill…
Let’s see…
This is a hard one…
Was it “Yes” or “No”?
It was…YES!
Now, that was worthy of research…
Why is it that everything Obama says or does, including his votes, have to be explained?
Could it be his inexperience?
Could it be his tendency to flip/flop?
Could it be his ulterior motives?
I wonder…

So is it Obama voted for it before he voted against it ? Or Obama voted against it before he voted for it ?? Both seem to apply to Obama. He just doesnt want to be pinned down now does he ?? The EVER Changing Candidate – Change you CANNOT believe in…

As a retired ex-employee of a large electric utility, I can assure you the company pressured it’s employees to make political contributions to candidates that supported the companies interest.
So, many oil company employees actually become the contribution surrogates of the oil companies they work for. Obama has made issue with the many millions of small contributions made by regular folks like you. Is it then possible to assume that many of those contributions were proxy contributions by big oil employees?
All politicians are in the bag of some of our biggest corporations and for one candidate to accuse the other, is just plain politics.
Are you smart enough to recognize this?

What am I hearing here? So independent people cannot contribute to campaigns without others bitching about where they work? I work at a company, I donated money, does that make my candidate corrupt because I work for a company that has interests in a certain candidate?

If people would look at the whole story, Obama voting for the 2005 energy bill would be a good thing. Yes it gave 2.8 billion to oil companies. That is a side note however, considering the 10.2 billion in tax breaks for alternative and renewable fuels. Also that 2.8 billion for fossil fuels were subsidies for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. That bill was a huge step forward in America becoming energy independent, and only an idiot, or someone in favor of middle eastern oil would vote against it.
Well sure the employees of those oil companies mentioned have donated more money to Obama than McCain. Let’s look at the totals however, the employee donations bring Obama up to $393,000, while McCain is standing at $1,374,000. That $393,000 is almost too little to even notice compared to the amount of money Obama’s campaign has raised. So overall .1% of Obama’s funds have come from oil companies. McCain’s funds however are .92% from oil companies.

Most people don’t have the god given sence to come in out ot the rain. Potiticians like McCain tell them “drill here, drill now” and they will follow like he is the Pied Piper of Hamlin. Yet just a small effort of investigating the Oil Indurtry’s own publications will reveal to you the true state of drilling here & now. Just this year so far they have started 499 new off shore & inland waters wells. They also have started over 15,000 on shore well starts in the USA also. So all this crap about here now is just that crapola because they are drilling and alot.

No wonder Obama has flip-flopped on oil drilling. He’s getting more money from these big oil companies than McCain!

An employee of Exxon donating to the Obama campaign, is not an Exxon donation to the Obama campaign.
In America everyone is free to make their own political decisions, donate to whom ever they wish and vote as they see fit, irregardless of who you work for.

Is it OK to equate Employee contributions to Employer contributions in order to prove Obamo deceptive?

Obama points out that he thinks John McCain is in the pocket of the big oil companies? What about all the richy rich pockets he is in? He accepted lengthy contributor’s lists from gasbags like Kerry and Kennedy. You mean he won’t be in those contributor’s back pockets? Cut me a break! Whether you are in oil’s pocket or other richy rich’s pockets you are still owned by someone. So he shouldn’t be pointing his finger at McCain. He should point it at himself! He’s a joke! I am totally disgusted with the entire democratic party and I have been a lifelong democrat. People say a boycott doesn’t work politically but they are wrong. When Howard Dean heard that baby boomer women, for the first time in American Histoy, had to to be convinced to come back under the fold and vote for Obama, that absolutely proved that boycotts do work! He called our group and asked what it was we needed and we told him it is too little and too late. Way back when, someone should have told Obama to cut the sexist comments nonsense, so, he would not alienate a huge group of reliable voters, and the Democratic party stood by and allowed him free reign. If he hadn’t behaved so poorly towards Hillary Clinton he would be ahead in the polls by leaps and bounds. For the first time in American History the Dems can’t count on the older women’s votes and they have themselves and Obama and his big insulting mouth to blame. If all democrats refused to vote Democrat you would see how quickly the Dems would ask what our list of demands were, toot sweet! I am boycotting the Democratic party until they become more like the Democratic party of old and not like a second Republican party, because that is what they are now! They should be ashamed of themselves for dragging our party down like this! If Obama can’t win fairly his machine will buy his way in to the Presidency. I thought that Republicans acted like that, and that Democrats took the high road, so what is a Democrat doing acting the same way! Shame on them!

Obama got his contributions from individual people. He did not get it from industry companies lobbyists or oil company pac’s. A person who goes home and sends Obama a contribution who happens to work for Exxon doesn’t mean that money is coming from Exxon. Mine don’t mean they come from the U S Government I am retired from.

I don’t care where Obama gets his Money (although he has been getting most of it from the poor like me).
We VETERANS just want all the REPUBLICAN CROOKS LIKE MCAIN OUT OF WASHINTON DC.

The big difference between Obama and McCain is the wealth of their donors. With half of Obama’s money coming from small donors giving donations of $25 or less he is making regular Americans have hope that as president he will be standing up for them. And with Obama not accepting money from industry lobbyists and pacs, with his modest upbringing, his career path choice of turning down corporate law for public service, it is obvious that Obama’s heart and policies are concerned largely with poor and middle-class Americans.

The key word in this article is “employees”. “Obama has recieved more campaign cash than McCain has from employees of …. Exxon, Chevron, and BP”. What excactly do the emloyees of these companies have to do with policy decisions of these corporations. It seems to me this reporter is the one in the pockets of “Big Oil”.

what people above — save mr trapper — say is true: obama is receiving funds from average folks, not from influencers.
and THAT is the key. mccain is in trouble the more he dicsusses this issue, because influence is exactly what everyone will come around to, and then mccain’s long, long list of people on the take will become more broadly known.
and, no surprise, mccain continues his track of completely distorting reality.

Common scenario-
You are hired at $x. You get paid $y where y>x. You get “recommendations” to donate particular amounts to certain political candidates, the sum of which equals $y-$x.