Newt Gingrich: Inflate Your Tires, Inflate Big Oil's Profits?

Ronald Bailey | August 19, 2008

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich told Sean Hannity that Barack Obama's suggestion that properly inflated tires save gas will actually put more money in the pockets of greedy oil companies. First, who knew that Gingrich was an enemy of Big Oil?

Gingrich's information is impeccably sourced to an email from a former military officer who apparently asserted that the profit margins on air pumps are higher than those at gas pumps. As the highly partisan folks at Think Progress point out, gas station owners rather than Chevron-Texaco, BP, Exxon Mobil or Shell garner any profits from air pumps. So Gingrich is now evidently against small retailers.

In any case, how much gasoline might one save by properly inflating one's tires? Information varies. The folks at the consumer auto rating site, Edmunds.com, ran some tests and found only a modest improvement in gas mileage. Popular Mechanics cites U.S. Department of Energy figures that suggest that underinflated tires cost about 3.3 percent on fuel economy. PM further notes:

Will maintaining proper tire pressures make a huge difference in the enormous amount of oil we import? No. But it can make a dent, albeit a very small one. According to the Department of Energy, underinflated tires alone cost the country more than 1.25 billion gal. of gasoline annually—roughly 1 percent of the total consumption of 142 billion gal. According to the Annual Energy Outlook 2007, published by the Energy Information Administration, offshore drilling would increase domestic production of crude oil by only about 1 percent.

We opened this discussion with Sen. Obama's assertion that we can offset the need to reopen offshore drilling—and save money at the pump—by keeping our tires inflated properly. He's right, although he's ignoring the potential for making a serious dent in natural gas production rates.

Finally, inflating versus drilling is a false partisan dichotomy. Why not do both?

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Coincidence?|8.19.08 @ 1:51PM|#

Back when service stations checked your tire pressure gas only cost 35 cents a gallon.

|8.19.08 @ 1:51PM|#

Inflating your tires doesn't deplete anything.

I'd rather be the last country to use up its oil reserves than the first.

I'd rather tap offshore oil fields at $400/barrel than at $100.

Neu Mejican|8.19.08 @ 1:52PM|#

Finally, ~~inflating~~ organic farming versus ~~drilling~~ industrial farming of GM products is a false partisan dichotomy. Why not do both?

Alan Vanneman|8.19.08 @ 1:55PM|#

Newt's pretty "inflated" with "hot air" himself! Plus natural gas! Oy, I crack me up! Stop me before I slay again!

|8.19.08 @ 1:55PM|#

This is yet the latest, and stupidest incarnation of the moronic culture war spin on the energy issue.

Stuff like this makes me glad I've not been a Republican for a long, long time.

Episiarch|8.19.08 @ 1:55PM|#

the profit margins on air pumps are higher than those at gas pumps

Well, duh. You pop in a few quarters and they run a compressor for a few cents' worth of electricity. When we pump even 1/1000th as much air as gas Newt should get back to us.

Each time I think this election can't get dumber...

Naga Sadow|8.19.08 @ 1:55PM|#

Joe,

You and I will be long dead before this country uses up its oil reserves.

|8.19.08 @ 1:59PM|#

Naga,

Please tell me you're not one of those "oil comes from underground Jesus factories, not dead stuff" people.

Please?

Bingo|8.19.08 @ 2:02PM|#

joe considering that we're getting biodiesel from algae, I think it might be time to re-evaluate your stance on the "underground Jesus factories."

Elemenope|8.19.08 @ 2:03PM|#

Maybe it's just weird here, but every gas station I've gone to allows customers to inflate for free after purchase of gas.

If they see your tire going flat (happened to me), sometimes they'll even let you inflate without a purchase to you can get to a place that can patch it or at least sell you a fix-a-flat can.

Elemenope|8.19.08 @ 2:05PM|#

Bingo --

There's a world of difference between "we can use technology to make diesel from algae" and "oil comes from algae".

p.s. If Jesus comes from algae, I don't even want to consider the theological consequences.

Bingo|8.19.08 @ 2:07PM|#

Elemonope: I'm rather agnostic on the issue, but the idea should get consideration instead of a condescending partisan brush-off. It's pretty amazing that we are able to use living organic matter to generate a fuel, and it wouldn't surprise me if some natural process that did a similar thing.

Of course it could just be old dead stuff too.

|8.19.08 @ 2:08PM|#

I knew I could smoke one out.

BTW, "oil comes from algae" is a true statement, as long as you add "that lived millions of years ago" into the statement.

|8.19.08 @ 2:10PM|#

I think the Jesus factory idea should get a condescending bi-partisan brush off. As it did before one of the two parties decided that science was inconvenient.

They find the fossils in the oil fields. They find the half-processed material. They find the imprint fossils in coal beds, too.

Bingo|8.19.08 @ 2:10PM|#

Also, even if oil does come from underground Jesus factories it doesn't change the fact that it releases pollutants. The source of oil should have no effect on a "go green" philosophy.

SIV|8.19.08 @ 2:11PM|#

Underground Jesus Factories

|8.19.08 @ 2:12PM|#

Per Wikipedia: "At 3.3 trillion tonnes, the oil shale deposits in the United States are easily the largest in the world."

That's a shitload of oil.

Dagny T.|8.19.08 @ 2:13PM|#

LMNOP,

Maybe it's just weird here, but every gas station I've gone to allows customers to inflate for free after purchase of gas.

Here you've gotta pay, unless you're a pretty girl who feigns mild confusion. If you're short 75 cents, might I suggest high heels?

Bingo|8.19.08 @ 2:14PM|#

Gee joe, if you dig a deep hole pretty much anywhere you're going to run into fossils. Correlation isn't causation.

|8.19.08 @ 2:14PM|#

LMNOP,

Quickest way to piss off a service station attendant is to have them repair a flat tire that you used Fix-A-Flat on. They really hate that stuff.

|8.19.08 @ 2:15PM|#

Neu: Finally, inflating organic farming versus drilling industrial farming of GM products is a false partisan dichotomy. Why not do both?

Way, way ahead of you. See my 2002 column in which I argue for combining relevant organic and biotech techniques to create a truly sustainable agriculture:

The Swiss researchers did find some true benefits from organic farming, including greater water retention by the soil and a higher presence of beneficial insects. Unfortunately, they did not test their organic systems against the newest form of conventional agriculture, no-till farming combined with genetically enhanced crops. This uses much less energy and less pesticides than the old-fashioned systems examined by the Swiss scientists.

Since no-till farmers don't plow, their tractors use less fuel. Also, since weed control is achieved using environmentally benign herbicides instead of mechanical removal through plowing, even more fuel is saved. Finally, no-till farmers use less insecticide, since genetically enhanced crops can protect themselves against pests. Against all this, organic farming's 19 percent energy advantage would likely disappear.

No-till farming matches several other advantages of organic agriculture as well. Both methods offer improved soil structure, more water retention, greatly reduced soil erosion, less pesticide and fertilizer runoff, and a higher presence of beneficial insects. Although organic farmers refuse to see it, switching to genetically enhanced crops would go a long way toward accomplishing their avowed goals of restoring their land and helping the natural environment.

One final argument often offered by organic enthusiasts is that organic farming is more profitable. Of course, the reason organic foods command a premium at supermarkets is that so many consumers have been bamboozled into thinking that they are somehow superior. If organic farming became widespread, that premium would dissipate and take its higher profitability with it.

Now if only the organickers would stop their purely ideological campaign against biotech.

Now please go back to bashing Gingrich.

It's pretty amazing that we are able to use living organic matter to generate a fuel

Isn't that what ethanol is? I hardly think that ethanol is amazing. Hell, the oldest fuel in human history came from living organic matter; it's called wood.

Elemenope|8.19.08 @ 2:15PM|#

That's a shitload of oil.

Yeah, but getting it out will be like squeezing oil from a rock. Er...yeah.

Episiarch|8.19.08 @ 2:16PM|#

unless you're a pretty girl who feigns mild confusion...might I suggest high heels?

Well, he does dress up and wear high heels, but he's not a girl. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Elemenope|8.19.08 @ 2:17PM|#

Quickest way to piss off a service station attendant is to have them repair a flat tire that you used Fix-A-Flat on. They really hate that stuff.

Only if you neglect to tell 'em you used it. The guy at the station I use said they hate it because people don't bother to tell them the stuff is in the tire, so when they go to deflate it they get the shit in their equipment. IIRC, he said there are easy countermeasures, but you have to know it's there first.

Elemenope|8.19.08 @ 2:18PM|#

If you're short 75 cents, might I suggest high heels?

I don't think it would help, as I look nothing like Tim Curry. ;)

Dello|8.19.08 @ 2:19PM|#

joe,
"I'd rather tap offshore oil fields at $400/barrel than at $100."

At $400/barrel, nobody will be using oil anymore.

Dagny T.|8.19.08 @ 2:20PM|#

Jesus might not come from algae, but:

"I'm not NOT licking frogs... Save me, Jeebus!"

|8.19.08 @ 2:21PM|#

Questions for anyone:

When a company wins a lease for oil drilling do they pay a set fee to the US government? Does the company pay more if they hit oil? Does the company pay more if the price of oil rises? What is the financial arrangement? And, how does the amount that the US gets paid for its oil fields compare with other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Norway, and so on?

Correlation isn't causation.

Oh, for the love of...let's put this dodge to be now, shall we?

Correlation does not prove causation, but repeated and reliable correlation is strongly indicative of a some relationship, which is coroners who find dead bodies next to syringes look for track marks and run a toxicology screen.

And it is also why geologists looked for indicators of the anaerobic decomposition process, and found them in the form of transitional forms.

And let's not pretend that the "correlation" was between fossils in the general sense and oil. No, there are not fossilized elephants and eggplants in oil deposits, but there sure is a heck of a lot of fossilized plankton.

|8.19.08 @ 2:22PM|#

Elemenope - no time for a response, gotta run - off to a meeting then to the CC for a quick round of golf with my son and maybe a baby panda for dinner. Yummy!

Per Wiki:

"The cost of a barrel of oil extracted from the shale ranges from as high as US$95 per barrel to as low US$12 per barrel. The industry is proceeding cautiously, due to the losses incurred during the last major investment into oil shale in the early 1980s, when a subsequent collapse in the oil price left the projects uneconomical."

|8.19.08 @ 2:25PM|#

Dello,

If people have alternatives that allow them not to use oil, it won't ever get to $400/barrel.

If there are not - if our efforts to get off oil fail - then it will go up to $400/barrel. Which would suck, because a whole lotta people won't be able to afford it, and will just be doing without energy. Yet even in that circumstance, being able to pump a large amount of $400/barrel oil and sell it to whomever is still buying would help to alleviate the economic pain.

Neu Mejican|8.19.08 @ 2:25PM|#

Now if only the organickers would stop their purely ideological campaign against biotech.

Now please go back to bashing Gingrich.

You started so well Ron, and then had to get in that little partisan dig.

Organickers?
Really?

Dogmatic thinking should always be criticized, but you are too quick to lump a whole movement under the flag of the zealots.

It gives your arguments a partisan sheen that detracts from their power.

|8.19.08 @ 2:28PM|#

Inflating your tires doesn't deplete anything.

You need a compressor to pressurize the air in the hose, which uses as much energy as your car air conditioner (that Obama was also discouraging excessive use of). Or are you one of those who thinks electric cars are carbon neutral since electricity comes from power outlets, not fossil fuels?

|8.19.08 @ 2:29PM|#

I sense a plot by the tire gauge manufacturers...

|8.19.08 @ 2:31PM|#

Oil could easily get to $400/bbl. All the Fed has to do is extend credit that deflates the purchasing power of the current dollar to $0.25.

Heck, that's half the reason we have oil over $100/bbl now.

Kevin

Franklin Harris|8.19.08 @ 2:33PM|#

The source of oil should have no effect on a "go green" philosophy.

Fortunately, I have no "go green" philosophy.

Gilbert Martin|8.19.08 @ 2:36PM|#

"Gingrich's information is impeccably sourced to an email from a former military officer who apparently asserted that the profit margins on air pumps are higher than those at gas pumps"

Even if that's true, no one is forced to used the air compressor at the gas station to inflate their tires.

Just buy one of those small compressors that plugs into an electric outlet and inflate your tires at home.

|8.19.08 @ 2:36PM|#

I'd rather tap offshore oil fields at $400/barrel than at $100.

Tell me again how that should be your choice? I mean, if you own a company, a rig and the offshore "land", great, don't drill until 400 dollars a barrel. Until then, we'd all appreciate if you'd quit substituting your own preferences for those who, y'know, actually own the stuff involved and have a stake in these things.

As a tangential, why would you advocate waiting anyway, joe? If oil is at 400/bbl, you can bet that the alternative techs that are currently too expensive will naturally step in and fill the gap.

|8.19.08 @ 2:40PM|#

Inflating your tires will save you money.

Even when an idiot tells you a good idea, it's still a good idea.

Cool Cal|8.19.08 @ 2:41PM|#

Like Ron Paul carries a pocket Constitution, I think it would be pretty funny if Obama every now and then whipped out a pocket tire gage at speaking events to demonstrate his ... whatever the fuck it is.

|8.19.08 @ 2:42PM|#

"At $400/barrel, nobody will be using oil anymore."
So who would be paying the $400?

|8.19.08 @ 2:44PM|#

Red, white and blue tire gauges!
Great idea, Cool Cat. I like the cut of your jib.

Episiarch|8.19.08 @ 2:49PM|#

Inflating your tires will save you money.

Even when an idiot tells you a good idea, it's still a good idea.

Yes. I have compact fluorescent bulbs in my house...because they use less energy and have to be changed less often. Everybody wins, and nobody had to force me to do it.

|8.19.08 @ 2:51PM|#

bendover, wiki is a funny thing..because in another article..it says the WORLDWIDE deposits are 2.8 trillion to 3.3 trillion tonnes...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale

Are all these deposits in the Unites States? Or as I do, check the references and the editors...the discussion pages on wiki can be pure entertainment.

Kolohe|8.19.08 @ 2:58PM|#

You and I will be long dead before this country uses up its oil reserves.

this is true.

Why?

At $400/barrel, [in 2008 dollars] nobody will be using oil anymore.

|8.19.08 @ 2:59PM|#

Tulpa,

You've got to be kidding me. I'm one of those people who can do the math and figure out that 1% of any car's mileage is a great deal more more energy than that used to power an air compressor for ten minutes. You know, those people. Good lord.

TAO,

Tell me again how that should be your choice? Because the oil and the land off shore are publicly owned. This is difficult?

|8.19.08 @ 3:07PM|#

Because the oil and the land off shore are publicly owned. This is difficult?

It's *not* publically-owned; it's governmentally-owned.

I'd like to add that you seem to positing a "national defense" rationale for holding off on drilling. Given the amount of time it takes to set up the prerequisites just to attempt to get the oil out of the ground, it makes sense to get that infrastructure ramped up now.

what reasoning are using to set a trigger point of 400/bbl? Are prices not high enough for you yet?

|8.19.08 @ 3:13PM|#

Bingo, I've considered showing your posts to my girlfriend who does industrial geology work for a living.

She would no doubt find your posts hilarious.

|8.19.08 @ 3:15PM|#

Red, white and blue tire gauges!

With JEEEEZISS on 'em.

Bingo|8.19.08 @ 3:15PM|#

Well okay, I was wrong sheesh! I have been thoroughly schooled.

As a layperson it made some sense that there was a possibility that there was a natural process similar to the industrial process. This is not the case and I'm wrong.

zero|8.19.08 @ 3:20PM|#

Cool Cal | August 19, 2008, 2:41pm | #

Like Ron Paul carries a pocket Constitution, I think it would be pretty funny if Obama every now and then whipped out a pocket tire gage at speaking events to demonstrate his ... whatever the fuck it is.

'Scuse me, while I whip this out...

|8.19.08 @ 3:25PM|#

Re: Oil Shale

There are two rather large issues with regard to developing oil shale resources.

1.) Because of the way it is embedded in the rock, it takes much more energy to extract the kerogen* than it takes to pull oil out of the ground with a drill rig. This energy usage gets factored into the end price. The best solution I've seen for doing this is using nuclear power plants to generate the energy. Nuke offers the most bang for the buck, and is safe. However, the odds that Big Oil would be allowed to scatter nuclear power plants willy-nilly all over the Western Slope of Colorado is practically nil.

2.) Oil shale processing requires tremendous amounts of water. The biggest shale deposits in the US are in the western half of Colorado, an area notable for its semi-arid climate and lack of water. If you're going to do any serious development of oil shale, you're going to have to figure out a way to pipe water there. Building that infrastructure will, of course, cost money and impact the ultimate price of the oil shale.

Oil shale extraction is also a fairly dirty process, so there is the environmental issue to contend with, too.

I'm not saying that oil shale is a completely impossible resource to develop, but it does face some fairly significant hurdles that are both technical and social.

*Which isn't really oil, but is close enough.

|8.19.08 @ 3:28PM|#

As a layperson it made some sense that there was a possibility that there was a natural process similar to the industrial process. This is not the case and I'm wrong.

It is somewhat possible that there are hydrocarbons generated by non-biological geologic processes. After all, Titan is supposedly covered in lakes of frozen methane.

However, if there is any form of abiotic hydrocarbon generation, it's in very small quantities and found at depths that are all but inaccessible with current or proposed drilling technology.

John Wright|8.19.08 @ 3:30PM|#

Why not do both?

Exactly.

|8.19.08 @ 3:31PM|#

If you're going to do any serious development of oil shale, you're going to have to figure out a way to pipe water there.

The Colorado River runs right through Parachute, Colorado, center of the Oil Shale Universe. Of course, you should be prepared for a lot of whining from people in Arizona and California when you turn their taps off.

|8.19.08 @ 3:32PM|#

Currently, the best hope that I hold out for alternative fuel development is algae-based biodiesel.

There have been a number of promising developments, and theoretically the facilities to create the stuff can be built just about anywhere, including in the middle of a desert.

The biggest challenge faced by biodiesel (other than the corn lobby) is building facilities large enough to supply even a small portion of our fuel needs.

Currently the US uses roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day, most of it for transportation. Any biodiesel facilities would have to be huge in scale as well as capital expenditure.

|8.19.08 @ 3:35PM|#

The Colorado River runs right through Parachute, Colorado, center of the Oil Shale Universe. Of course, you should be prepared for a lot of whining from people in Arizona and California when you turn their taps off.

Water rights is a HUGE deal out here. You're looking at years and years and years worth of litigation.

|8.19.08 @ 3:44PM|#

Finally, inflating versus drilling is a false partisan dichotomy. Why not do both?

Or neither. The former will never happen on a large scale as people are pretty lazy about their tires, and the environmental effects of the latter (in return for little to no effect on gas prices) make it a bad idea.

Mike Laursen|8.19.08 @ 3:46PM|#

Finally, inflating versus drilling is a false partisan dichotomy.

Is there any political issue hasn't been framed as a false dichotomy? If one of our two major parties had the correct political position on some issue and the other had the incorrect position, it would upset their balance of power -- the public might figure out the correct side to take rather than splitting at about 50-50 on each side of the false dichotomy.

|8.19.08 @ 3:57PM|#

Why not do both?

Still a question without a convincing "No" answer.

I'm curious, as well, about the assertion that off-shore drilling can only supply 1% of our oil. It looks to me like off-shore US oil could (conservatively) exceed 1% of world production, not just US consumption.

Government estimates assume that drilling off the eastern and western coasts offers just over 1 million barrels a day. Even John McCain - who has made offshore drilling a cornerstone of his energy platform - doesn't dispute that figure, which is dwarfed by worldwide production. Currently world production stands at about 73 million barrels of oil each day.
. . . .
We think the estimates are extremely conservative," said Brian Kennedy, a spokesman for the Institute for Energy Research, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that supports more drilling.

Kennedy said the government thought Alaska's Prudhoe Bay field originally held 6 billion barrels of oil. Since the field began producing in 1977, Kennedy said it has provided about 14 billion barrels of oil.

Other reports have shown the discrepancy between estimated production and actual production in Prudhoe Bay to be smaller, but still it ended up producing more oil than initial projections.

|8.19.08 @ 4:02PM|#

For his statement (saving 3-4 % on American oil consumption) to be accurate and true EVERY single car would have to have under inflated tires of at least 8-10 PSI on all 4 tires or at least half the cars on the road that do at least 50% of the driving miles to have tires under inflated by at least 16-20 PSI on all 4 tires. A quick and thoughtful analysis would tell anyone that not every single American who drives has under inflated tires nor do half the drivers have tires running around on 4 near flat tires of around 18 PSI. In addition auto's would have to be the only source of oil consumption for his statement to be true since he's equating an across the board savings for America in oil consumption of 3-4 %. Obviously automobiles are not the only source of oil consumption in the United States. In fact they are not even the largest consumers of oil. What is? The DOD. Yup that's right the US military is.

In 2005 Jet fuel accounted for approximately 70% of DOD petroleum purchases:

http://wearesc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44549

Gilbert Martin|8.19.08 @ 4:12PM|#

"Obviously automobiles are not the only source of oil consumption in the United States. In fact they are not even the largest consumers of oil. What is? The DOD. Yup that's right the US military is."

I would guess that all those houses up through the northeast that have furnaces that burn heating oil use a good chunk as well

|8.19.08 @ 4:31PM|#

Ronald Bailey calling for tire inflation. No worries. In two years, we'll have Radley Balko bringing our attention to SWAT teams knocking down the wrong garage doors over neighbors allegedly not having their tires at the right pressure. Oh, and family dogs being killed.

|8.19.08 @ 5:00PM|#

Bingo, I've considered showing your posts to my girlfriend who does industrial geology work for a living.

She would no doubt find your posts hilarious.

Yeah, right. Like you're about to show your girlfriend what you do with all that time you should be spending with her. And right after that, you're gonna show her all the empty cases of beer in the garage.

|8.19.08 @ 5:09PM|#

People do believe the strangest things. Last weekend a friend expressed his heartfelt belief that Obama was correct. "If only we inflated our tires to their proper pressure, we would save enough gas to counteract the evil oil company profits."

This is not a normally stupid person, but the assumptions in his statement are completely unfounded. It just goes to show that simplistic political rhetoric is seductive. I fully expect to see "air pressure police" during the next administration. Hell, I'm cynical enough to expect rewards for reporting your under-inflating neighbors.

|8.19.08 @ 5:43PM|#

joe, if you did the math, you would know the statement "inflating tires doesn't deplete anything" to be false. But you wrote it anyway. Maybe this incident will teach you not to overstate your case.

|8.19.08 @ 8:14PM|#

Tulpa,

de·plete [di-pleet] -verb (used with object), -plet·ed, -plet·ing.
to decrease seriously or exhaust the abundance or supply of

Running an air pump doesn't decrease anything seriously, it doesn't exhaust the abundance of anything, and it doesn't exhaust the supply of anything.

|8.19.08 @ 8:15PM|#

You decided to reply to a substantive point with a niggling semantic shot, and you couldn't even get that right.

fist of justice|8.19.08 @ 8:30PM|#

If you're going to be anal about the definition, then nothing I do can deplete the world's fossil fuel supply. Running my air conditioner 24/7 and leaving my windows open with the furnace blasting during the winter isn't going to come close to making a dent in the world's oil reserves.

You know what you were saying.

Eatin Some Pez|8.19.08 @ 9:37PM|#

Am I the only libertarian who realizes that even if Obama is correct on the numbers, the only way we Americans could collectively save the amount of oil he claims could be saved is if the government imposes a draconian regime forcing every single driver to keep their tires optimally inflated at all times? Good intentions, as we know, won't guarantee success either. Plenty of people intend to lose weight. Only a fraction do. As Homer Simpson once said "Son, you've learned a valuable lesson. If something is hard to do, it's not worth doing. Now let's go watch some TV."

|8.19.08 @ 11:02PM|#

Really? Are there folks here that really believe Obama's going to have jackbooted thugs go door to door enforcing tire pressure?

It is hilarious how liberals go from being limp-wristed pussies in one thread to ubermen disappearing non-compliant libertarians in the middle of the night in a government van in the next.

Since we love sourcing Wikipedia so much here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histrionic_personality_disorder

You know what? I checked the air pressure on my truck tires. They were low. I'm getting better mileage now. Thanks for the tip, BO.

And I didn't even have to leave my house, used my made-in-the-usa air compressor. Wouldn't most red-blooded American men own the tools necessary to work on their homes, vehicles, and property or is it just us Kool-Aid drinking Obama supporters? I may have lost track of the narrative.

Gilbert Martin|8.19.08 @ 11:21PM|#

"It is hilarious how liberals go from being limp-wristed pussies in one thread to ubermen disappearing non-compliant libertarians in the middle of the night in a government van in the next."

No liberals are still (and always will be) limp-wristed pussies.

As always, it will be the hired guns who do the heavy lifting for them.

|8.19.08 @ 11:29PM|#

"No liberals are still (and always will be) limp-wristed pussies."

...said the guy on the internet.

And who will be these hired guns? If all real men are conservatives, wouldn't they be the only ones qualified for the position? Wouldn't they turn it down on principle and then write a letter to Bill O'Reilly? Would they take the job and put your limp body in a bag, tears in their eyes as they wrestle with their conscience? Surely not!

Who then, would do all of this heavy lifting?

Enjoy your fever dreams!

Mike Laursen|8.20.08 @ 2:07AM|#

Really? Are there folks here that really believe Obama's going to have jackbooted thugs go door to door enforcing tire pressure?

You missed Some Pez' point by 180 degrees. He was arguing it is unlikely we will have jackbooted thugs checking our tire pressure, therefore it is unlikely that Obama's numbers would pan out in real life.

I'm not sure how it is in other states, but the Democrats in the California legislature demonstrate a belief in the magical power to solve the world's social evils by sitting around in a legislative chamber thinking of new laws to add to the books.

No thought about unintended consequences. No thought given to how or whether the law will be enforced. No thought of how the program will be financed. If finances are provided, no thought of tracking them, nor evaluating progress.

Mike Laursen|8.20.08 @ 2:09AM|#

If all real men are conservatives...

All real men are apolitical.

|8.20.08 @ 2:20AM|#

OK, I can't be the only regular guy who actually owns his own air pump. Actually 2- my wife and I both have air pumps that we keep in our trunks. We use them for the car as well as for the sports balls and bike tires that all normal people have in their household. Who pays for a gas station airpump? I have before, back when it was free or 50 cents at the most and before I learned to splurge the whole 10 bucks it cost for an air pump which has lasted me several years and pumps up all kinds of household essentials.

I don't mean to be an air pump elitist, but I assume anyone that has a knife and fork and pots and pans around the house probably does or should have access to an air pump. It's like a normal household tool like a phillips screwdriver and an adjustable wrench.

Gilbert Martin|8.20.08 @ 8:03AM|#

"And who will be these hired guns?"

They'll be type of people who have always been hired guns. The mercenary types who care about cash - not politics.

"...said the guy on the internet."

Yeah just as you and everyone else here is the "guy on the internet".

So what?

zbillster|8.20.08 @ 8:19AM|#

Screw the gas station quarter eaters ... I went to Performance Bike Shop and bought a bike floor pump with the LARGEST diameter cylinder I could find for about $12. Not only is it FASTER, QUIETER and MORE RELIABLE than the cigarette-lighter-powered portable air compressors, you get a good upper body workout too! I check mine once a week or after a major temperature change.

Us car enthusiasts know that keeping your tires a few PSIs above the factory recommendations makes your car handle much more livelier, in addition to whatever fuel savings you get.

VM|8.20.08 @ 8:50AM|#

"you get a good upper body workout too! I check mine once a week or after a major temperature change."

like to follow the shrinkage?

[ducks]

|8.20.08 @ 9:52AM|#

In order to run an air pump you need electricity right? Since the enviro-nazis got building more nuclear power plants banned we need oil to generate most electricity, right? Catch-22?

|8.20.08 @ 10:32AM|#

"Thanks for the tip, BO."
I like how mantooth needed Obama to tell him to inflate his tires.
Hey, mantooth. Obama says to floss after meals, too.

|8.20.08 @ 11:15AM|#

I like the way that an statement about what an individual can do about a problem, which involves that individual acting on his own, with his own money, effort, knowledge, and time, to address the operation of his own car, is cited as proof of a jack-booted storm-trooper fetish.

|8.20.08 @ 11:28AM|#

It's almost as funny as looking at a statement about using a little bit of energy (an air pump) to save a lot of energy (gas mileage) as evidence that the speaker hasn't considered that there are tradeoffs.

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