Critical Thinking Gone Awry
Tagged with: 08 election • Obama • politics
Obama made the point the other day about we can do to help keep gas prices down, save oil, and help the planet. Two simple things, keep tires inflated to recommended levels and have regular tune-ups. Both are not just smart, but good for the car.
Well fanatacal Gingrich has let politics completely control his brain as he makes the following statement:
GINGRICH: He has a position that’s frankly ludicrous. We saw him yesterday. He suggested if we all inflated our tires, that we would solve the problem. Think about it. You ought to take that clip. I think that clip is far more devastating than today because it’s loony toons.
So is it Loony Toons? Let see what evidence would tell us…
The Department of Energy estimates that (based on gas costing $3.96/gallon), “you can improve your gas mileage by around 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure†which would ultimately save “up to $0.12/gallon†or, nearly the amount of the federal gas tax ($0.18/gallon), a tax Gingrich supports repealing. Moreover, the auto industry agrees with DoE’s assessment.
It really would not have been hard at all for Gingrich to spend a few minutes to find out if what Obama said was true. In fact he prolly doesn’t have to spend any time at all, he could have an aid do the work for him.
When you read people like me stressing the importance of education so we can all be better stewards of information, this is what we are talking about. We need critical thinking so when people hear a talking head spout off the BS Gingrich just did, we can say, “Wait a minute…”

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