The high price of ignorance

This week, Martin Wiskol of the Orange County Register asked John McCain when was the last time he pumped gas and how much did it cost? McCain's response: "Oh, I don't remember. Now there's Secret Service protection. But I've done it for many, many years. I don't recall and frankly, I don't see how it matters. I've had hundreds and hundreds of town hall meetings, many as short a time ago as yesterday. I communicate with the people and they communicate with me very effectively.

Yet McCain doesn't know the price of gas and how Americans are affected. And his "I don't see how it matters" comment is reminiscent of his recent cavalier remark "it doesn't matter how long our troops are based in Iraq."

How can such a completely clueless guy even be considered for the presidency?

So many properties, so many bills

From Newsweek:

"When you're poor, it can be hard to pay the bills. When you're rich, it's hard to keep track of all the bills that need paying. It's a lesson Cindy McCain learned the hard way when Newsweek raised questions about an overdue property-tax bill on a La Jolla, Calif., property owned by a trust that she oversees. Mrs. McCain is a beer heiress with an estimated $100 million fortune and, along with her husband, she owns at least seven properties, including condos in California and Arizona.

"San Diego County officials, it turns out, have been sending out tax notices on the La Jolla property, an oceanfront condo, for four years without receiving a response. County records show the bills, which were mailed to a Phoenix address associated with Mrs. McCain's trust, were returned by the post office. According to a McCain campaign aide, who requested anonymity when discussing a private matter, an elderly aunt of Mrs. McCain's lives in the condo and the bank that manages the trust has not been receiving tax bills on the property. Shortly after NEWSWEEK inquired about the matter, the McCain aide e-mailed a receipt dated Friday, June 27, confirming payment by the trust to San Diego County in the amount of $6,744.42. County officials say the trust still owes an additional $1,742 for this year, an amount that is overdue and will go into default July 1. Told of the outstanding $1,742, the aide said: "The trust has paid all bills shown owing as of today and will pay all other bills due."

See a virtual tour of the numerous McCain homes from The Jed Report:

Money to burn

Despite the costs of maintaining all those properties, John McCain still has plenty of money to fund his campaign. He's taking full avantage of a legal loophole. Seems individuals can give up to $28,500 to the Republican National Committee (RNC), more than 12 times as much as the $2,300 an individual is allowed to contribute to Sen. Barack Obama's general election campaign. And the Republican National Committee uses that money to fuel McCain's campaign.

On June 24th, the Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to compel the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to investigate John McCain's decision to unilaterally withdraw from the FEC's matching funds program - even though he used the program to financially benefit his campaign by taking out bank loans with those funds as collateral.

Lacking an energy policy, McCain turns to psychology of off-shore drilling

"I don't see an immediate relief, but I do see that exploitation of existing reserves that may exist -- and in view of many experts that do exist off our coasts -- is also a way that we need to provide relief. Even though it may take some years, the fact that we are exploiting those reserves would have psychological impact that I think is beneficial," McCain told reporters.

Never mind the costs to the environment and the monetary expenses of drilling. McCain thinks off-shore drilling would have a positive "psycholgical impact??!!"

This guy wants to be president??!! What a frightening prospect.

Comments

[Lavinia Ladyslipper]

I would think that knowing the price of gas is essential. Some incoherent answers on this man's part. I'm not really following the American election, but there are similiarities in Canadian politics and politicians. "Out of touch" seems to be the name of the game.

[My Mélange]

I still am baffeld by how he got the nomination??!!

I have friends that will move to Spain if McCain gets elected. Our plans to move may move up as well. I just can't imagine!!

I agree with the Obama campaign when they say McCain is out of touch with Americans. Most think this is a crack about his age, but after the gas price comment and the Iraq comment, it is obvious to me that age has nothing to do with it!!!

[Just Jen]

It matters! McCain doesn't pump his own gas and he can afford it.
;p

[rochambeau]

Mr. McCain's thoughts about gas are appalling. IS ANYONE out the LISTENING!
People who are clueless but feel entitled to take what ever they want, make me crazy!
Thank you for publishing this!

xo

Constance

[holli]

Couldn't he have meant that it didn't matter when he last pumped gas? Because that was the actual question. The thing that annoys me about these types of posts are that they really have nothing to do with solutions - they're just written to make one person look bad. I know you think I favor one nominee over another - but I take being an Independent seriously.

I hate party politics - I hate focusing on people's private lives. Who cares about Cindy McCain's financial affairs? That's just as bad as looking up Michelle Obama's college thesis - or blaming Barack for the whole Jim Johnson thing.

What are these candidates going to do to fix the economy? What are they going to do to fix things in Iraq?

To me this was an error in phrasing. I'm not ripping you, Tara. This is just my opinion. Faith is now crying because I've ignored her and her arm is stuck in a sleeve. gAH!

We're both looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks.

xox

Tara responds:
This post was specifically about McCain's recent statements. For information about Barack Obama's solutions for the economy, go here: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/ You can also read his views about Iraq and other pertinent issues. As for McCain's views about the economy - while he has admitted to knowing little about it, his statements about the economy change from one day to the next. The mainstream media is not doing a good job of reporting McCain's frequent misstatements, gaffes and confusion about key issues and the specific players involved (i.e. Iraq).

Cindy McCain's property and beer business and how her businesses would continue if her husband were president have a lot more bearing in this election than anything anybody did or didn't write in college.

[Philip]

No surprise why Mr. John McCain doesn't know the price of the gas...