Matthews wrongly suggested Obama exaggerated cost of a tank of gas
SUMMARY: Chris Matthews suggested Sen. Barack Obama was exaggerating the price of gasoline when Obama reportedly noted a friend's complaint that it cost "$85 to fill up my tank." In fact, numerous trucks and SUVs have gasoline tanks large enough that, based on current prices, it costs $85 or more to fill them up.
On the April 1 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews suggested Sen. Barack Obama was exaggerating the price of gasoline when Obama reportedly said, "Gas prices are killing folks. ... I got an email from a friend of mine; it says, just in case you're not living in the real world, being driven around by Secret Service, it just cost me $85 to fill up my tank." After airing a different clip of Obama discussing gas prices during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, Matthews stated: "I think he talked about an $85 tank. That's a hell of a big tank, even in today's prices. Eighty-five dollars? What is that?" In fact, numerous trucks and SUVs have gasoline tanks large enough that it costs $85 or more to fill them up, based on "today's prices."
For instance, the Ford F-150, according to Edmunds.com, "has been the most popular vehicle sold in the United States for nearly every year of the past three decades." Fueleconomy.gov, a website that describes itself as being "maintained jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency" in order "to provide accurate MPG [miles per gallon] information to consumers," states that the 2007 four-wheel-drive (4WD) F-150 offers a gas tank in sizes ranging from 26.0 to 30.0 gallons. As of March 31, the average U.S. retail price for regular fuel is $3.290 per gallon, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). Pennsylvania's average gas prices for regular fuel as of April 2 are slightly lower than the national average, at $3.289 per gallon for regular fuel, according to the American Automobile Association's (AAA) Daily Fuel Gauge Report. (The DOE does not list the average fuel price for Pennsylvania.) Therefore, a full tank of gas for the F-150, based on the national average, would cost between $85.54 and $98.70. Based on Pennsylvania's average price according to AAA, it would cost between $85.51 and $98.67 to fill this F-150 model's gas tank.
Other popular trucks and SUVs, in addition to the F-150, cost at least $85 to fill a full tank of gas:
|
Vehicle |
Fuel tank size(s), in gallons |
Cost to fill tank (national avg) |
Cost to fill tank (PA avg) |
|
2007 Ford F-150 4WD |
26.0-30.0 |
$85.54-$98.70 |
$85.51-$98.67 |
|
31.0-39.0 |
$101.99-$128.31 |
$101.96-$128.27 |
|
|
26.4 |
$86.86 |
$86.83 |
|
|
26.0 |
$85.54 |
$85.51 |
|
|
26.0 |
$85.54 |
$85.51 |
|
|
27.6 |
$90.80 |
$90.78 |
In addition, the 2007 GMC Yukon Denali 1500 AWD has fuel tanks ranging from 26.0 to 31.0 gallons. But this vehicle requires premium gasoline, which, according to the DOE, averaged $3.512 a gallon nationally as of March 31. According to AAA, the average cost of premium gasoline in Pennsylvania as of April 2 is $3.621. Therefore, it would cost approximately $91.31 to $108.87 to fill the 2007 Yukon Denali, according to the nationwide average, and between $94.15 and $112.25 to fill it in Pennsylvania.
From the April 1 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:
MATTHEWS: OK, let me go to this, Jonathan Capehart. Not only does Pennsylvania use gasoline, it also heats the homes. It's a cold state.
JONATHAN CAPEHART (The Washington Post): Right.
MATTHEWS: It's above the Mason-Dixon line, so it hits people at home and on the road.
CAPEHART: Right, yeah. This gives both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama an opportunity to talk about their, you know, clean energy proposals, what they want to do. And I think Senator Obama yesterday talked a little bit about this. And I actually was impressed that he didn't shy away from -- he talked about the need to do something with coal, the need to do something to wean the United States off of dependence in foreign oil. But he also talked about the need to look at how to make nuclear power part of the mix, which, you know, for I think the Democratic Party constituency, is a rather courageous thing to say.
MATTHEWS: It sure is. Let's take look at Obama today on that point.
OBAMA [video clip]: I was in a bar with [Sen.] Bob Casey [D-PA] -- great guy. And we were catching a little bit of the Final Four, and we were talking to a guy sitting next to us who was out of work. And he made a point that should be obvious to so many of us, but, you know, you sometimes don't think about; he's out of work. He's having to drive around looking for work, and he's saying it was killing -- "it's killing me to try to fill up my gas tank just to get to a interview for a job." You're out of work, and here you are just burning money filling up the tank.
MATTHEWS: I think he talked about an $85 tank. That's a hell of a big tank, even in today's prices. Eighty-five dollars? What is that? Anyway, my thought, Linda -- let's ask politics here. [Rep.] Jack Murtha [D-PA] was on the show tonight, and he said that Hillary Clinton, his candidate -- and I find it a surprise that she's his candidate, because he's a big anti-war guy -- will beat Barack Obama in the state of Pennsylvania later this month by double digits. Is that a bridge too far? Is that a marker that can't be met, or is that about right?
LINDA DOUGLASS (National Journal): Well, I mean, if you look at the polls, the polls seem to indicate that she could certainly beat him in double digits. We have to see who these newly registered Pennsylvania voters are. It's a steep climb for Barack Obama. This oil -- gas price thing, again, has been very helpful for him, one would think, in Pennsylvania, 'cause it allows him to connect on kind of a working-class, kitchen-table issue --
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
DOUGLASS: -- of the kind that he really hasn't been able to excel in before. But she's way ahead.
Quick Tweety!
How much is a gallon of milk?
A dozen eggs?
A loaf of bread?
Shut up Matthews, you pampered, pusillanimous punditainer...
How much is a gallon of milk? About three bucks.
A dozen eggs? About two bucks
A loaf of bread? One to four bucks, depending on the brand and variety.
Proof that I know more than Tweety. :-)
Last fill-up before I sold it: $88.33
Suck it Tweety.
I filled my Chey pickup today. 32 gallon tank. $105.00. If I weren't a builder I'd drive a scooter.
Maaaaaan, back in the day I had a 200cc scooter. It would go 80 when I needed it to, and got 52 miles per gallon on the highway.
The Bronco got 11...13 if I drove like my grandma. Them's Hummer numbers. I just couldn't take it anymore.
When I learned to drive in 1970, I drove a '56 VW Beetle with a 36-hp engine. Gas was around 35 cents a gallon back then. I could drive all week and it only took about two bucks to fill the 7-gallon tank.
Those were the days......
How many are willing to bet Matthews doesn't know because he doesn't drive? He is in New York, after all.
And I too, have a 12 gallon tank and paid my first $40 tank of gas the other day.
I think he talked about an $85 tank. That's a hell of a big tank, even in today's prices. Eighty-five dollars? What is that?
This is what the article is harping on? MMFA certainly does have it out for this guy. So gas prices are high but CM didn't know they were that high. Wow, what a fraud he is. . . . pushing the conservative agenda like that
The point is that he was casting doubt on Obama's assertion when none was warranted.
Obama was truthful. Calling out Matthews for suggesting he's being untruthful is right in line with MMFA's mission statement.
Steve,
It's a false frame and that falsely frames and worms its way into the hiveminds of dopey Americans who will then soak in the narrative that Obama is out of touch, stupid, or just overinflating the gas prices to make his case politically, and then people will not worry about gas prices so much and this is good for McCain as he aligns himself with Bush and the not-so-greedy gas companies.
Whew, I think I covered all the leftwing conspiratorial rants out there.
Tommy,
By calling legitimate concerns about media discourse in this country "leftwing conspiratorial rants," you are part of the problem.
As usual.
Tommy, look at the bright side. The silver lining to gas prices being so high is that (in theory) consumption goes down, which in turn should help the environment and global warming concerns and it should also steer people towards mass transit which the liberals also want, so really a lot of positive things are happening as a result of the oil companies holding us hostage.
Think positively.
'Tis true. Many committed, serious global warming advocates want a huge tax on gas to discourage its use - and then there are the rest of those who say they are concerned about global warming but get all pissed off at Bush and the evil oilbarons who keep prices artifically high.
But I think I have figured it out. Private companies making tons of money is a bad thing for liberals, but if that money goes to government, it's a good thing.
Why don't you just donate to Exxon-Mobil instead of charity?
Thousands do that every day, at Exxon-Mobil's gas pumps.
"Private companies making tons of money is a bad thing for liberals"
It's a bad thing for all of us when we're all spending money we don't have to secure control over a resource so that the petroleum companies can make tons of money.
It's a bad thing for all of us when we're all spending money we don't have to secure control over a resource so that the petroleum companies can make tons of money.
It's also a bad thing for all of us when the cost of everything goes up because the cost to transport merchandise from one place to another goes up. Do you remember the inflationary spiral we went through after the Oil Shortage in 1973-74? I do.
The '79 shortage was toward the end of the inflationary spiral. It started in the '60s because of expenditures for the space program, the interstate hiway system, and our involvement in Vietnam, got worse after the '73-'74 oil shortage, and continued getting worse throughout the '70s.
To give you an indication of how the inflationary spiral affected things in this country, the first full-time job I got after graduating from technical school in 1973 paid $2.85 an hour - and that was considered good money at that time...
They pay YOU and ME for those leases.
Get a clue, and stop beating yourself up ( your pension fund probably owns oil co. stock).
God you're ridiculous. Government props up the oil industry with billions in subsidies, so don't even pretend these oil companies are operating and profiting in some kind of "free" market.
Take those subsidies, invest them in clean renewable energy development and see how well those oil companies can "compete" in the "free" market.
Conservative thinking is a contradiction in terms.
Tell your pension fund managers you will no longer accept profit made by those nasty oil companies. In fact, have them calculate how much you have benefitted from them in the past, and send it back.
You'll get a warm, righteous feeling if you do that.
Make some sense. At least try to create a response that has something to do with what we're talking about.
Villainizing the oil companies and their profits is the new national pastime.
All the while, the lemmings doing the bashing have AN INTEREST IN said oil companies and their profits via ownership through pension vehicles and/or mutual funds, but seem totally ignorant of that fact. Is that possible?
Perhaps the bashers should disavow their share of the profits, since it's such filthy money.
Send it back!!!!
Yes, all sorts of positive things are happening.
Never mind that the cost of diesel is sprialing out of control, putting independent truckers out of business.
Never mind that higher energy costs leave people with less money to spend on goods and services, which also cost more because shipping cost more because fuel costs more.
Never mind that auto manufacturers continue to drag their feet on efficiency and alternatives.
Never mind that the government gives your tax money to an insanely profitable and self-sustaining petroleum industry with the misplaced hope that they will use it to research alternatives.
Never mind that the price you pay at the pump doesn't include what we're all paying to secure control over the resource and ensure petroleum industry profits.
Never mind all that. Everyone is riding the bus now, so it's all good.
I understand that, but there are some people out there who want this 50 cent tax on a gallon of gas because they think that would reduce consumption and be good for the environment. Bruce was making that point in light of the way some think, and he was being a little facetious, I believe, in his "think positively" statement. He rarely, if ever, unlike me, offends anybody - you know that.
NASCAR-NHRA Americans love their cars and they love their horsepower, and 50 cents a gallon is not going to change that. I don't know what will.
I know what will do it Pete. In increase of a DOLLAR OR TWO OR THREE. Don't think it isn't going to happen. Five years ago fuel was $7.50 per gallon in England (back when dollars were really worth something). Two years ago in France I couldn't rent a car with automatic transmission. They don't use them there because of high fuel costs. I rented a Ford built 6 speed diesel wagon that got almost 50 MPG. A nice car built for the German market. You can't get it in the USA.
I don't know what gas tax dollars in your city and state are used for, but in mine, they are used to maintain roads and bridges.
If you contribute to the wear and tear on roads and bridges, you pay for the repairs with the gas you buy.
So if you take away road and bridge funding, as you want to do, don't start whining when the roads and bridges fall into such disrepair that they are no longer passable. But at least your gas will be cheaper.
Besides, I though taxes based on usage were a good thing in the eyes of the right wing.
No thanks.
Any solution must include open accountability to we the people. The project needs to be of the public, for the public.
So? what's your point?
Is there anything wrong with public transportation?
Here's a thought...
TRY BEING ORIGINAL.
So when liberals here give their "rightwing perspective", they are lowering themselves to some lower level, when they are capable of so much more?
If you say so....
At least Tommy stays in the fight.
Solon just disappeared when asked what a fair Union wage would be for delivering a newspaper or working at a carwash.
How 'bout it, Solon? Just give a coupla numbers--not your usual page-length fuming. CAN you give a straight answer to a straightforward question?
Personally, I don't think a living wage can be considered without including health benefits and profit sharing. In other words equality of compensation from the bottom up is the winning solution.
See I believe this because people are most productive when they are included as equal partners in the success or failure of the company they work for.
And your formula for "equal partners" is? Does that mean everybody will be working equally hard, giving a $^*T equally, and taking equal risk? What should the founder's invested savings, borrowed money, and personal liability earn him?
Explain, please.
I said what I meant and meant what I said.
Protect and empower your people and they will be productive and loyal. I am so very lucky. I work for such a company. Our health benefits package is the same for the toilet scrubber as it is for the top dog. We are included in profit sharing are paid a living wage and are titans in our field because we are a Progressive company.
I'm lucky but I wish such a wonderful workplace for everyone. It's comin' too.
The dominance in our culture of your stupid conservative dipstick worldview is coming to end.
"This is what the article is harping on? MMFA certainly does have it out for this guy. "
Because it proves that he's a numbnuts who talks out of his you-know-what.
I think it was about the beginning of last month that I made a personal best for high cost on a tank of gas, it was $91 and change. Gas has come down maybe 10 cents since then.
There once was a true reprobate
Who does naught, except bloviate
He thinks that our jeeps
Run on hot air from creeps
Like him and his crass cable mates
JJ, I love your prose, but I gotta say, this one was a bit suspect.
C'mon, give it another try. Please?
"he thinks that our jeeps
run on hot air from creeps"
was my favorite couplet! ;-) If only all the bloviator hot air could be put to such constructive uses...
He's such a loud talker Chris Matthews
Spewing only a big pile of refuse
His mouth opens so wide
Giving GOP a free ride
And his lies we must disabuse
[I know, but I don't practice much]
I'm putting Chris Matthews' lack of knowledge of the amount of cash needed to fill a tank right up there with Poppy Bush's visit to a supermarket and his amazement at how the cashier scanned the UPC bar codes - something that had been common practice for at least ten years prior to that.
Or Barbara Bush's remarks about how good the Katrina survivors had it in the Houston Astrodome...
You're just lucky you don't have the Colonel-mobile to fill up with the extra tanks and all.
That looks like it was related to a ford maverick Col. A Mercury, or an Aussie variation?
I do wish that those who find driving a pain had a viable option. Probably not going to see a household wormhole (Its great with garbage too!) for a while.
Viable hydrogen extraction from water actually seems to be economicly doable. The storage media for transport thingies seems to be a choke point. An infrastructure to support the use of hydrogen is another. As an intermediary alcohol powered fuel cells driving wheels individually using light weight electrical motors, seems worthy of interest.
Printable solar cell tech could possibly be modified for use as auto paint.
Right now I'm waiting for a large socket so I can change out the rear axle bearings on a Ducati 748. Its economical, 40/gal, and the pain of operation means it takes short trips. Given that, you'd need about $100,000 worth of four wheels to keep up with it. Follow me into one of my favorite corners, with it. If you can keep up, your very good, extra points if you don't need to change your underware afterwards.
Sorry, Matthews. I simply cannot give you a pass on this one.
Overall, Chris is a fine journalist, a fair man, and an intelligent reporter.
But for Pete's sake, it's getting expensive to fill up my big Ford F-150!!!
Of course, as Colbert (I think) pointed out, Truth tends to have a liberal bias.
Of course, as Colbert (I think) pointed out, Truth tends to have a liberal bias.
That's because us liberals have more experience dealing witht he truth. And conservatives have more experience with lies.
Balance? Of course not. Truth? Always.
KO balances the other right wing BS on MSNBC. Now, give me an example of a KO lie, without going to some 3rd rate KO hating web site that we've debunked many times before.
Wait by your computer, Therick. I'm sure that'll be posted any minute.
Have you ever gone to the Olbermannwatch site (often linked to here by wingnuts)? In the interest of fairness, I've gone to several links, and it's hilarious. The headline says "Olbermann lies again!!!" and the text goes off into a meandering sidetrack designed to confuse the reader into thinking they're seeing what they were teased with.I have yet to see an item there that ever delivered. If my luck has just been bad, please, prove me wrong, dittoheads.
Colonel Sanders,
I woulda thought you'd be less of an Olbermann fan once it was public knowledge that he's a bad LAY.
Don't bad lays get kicked off the farm?
"nother chicken joke...
I'm not sure on this one. If you're used to driving a car with a 14-gallon tank, you're used to paying $40 or so most of the time. So $85 does sound like a lot from that perspective. It sounds to me like he's surprised that there are gas tanks that big, not that he's trying to pretend gas isn't expensive.
I see how it suggests Obama is exaggerating, of course.