It didn’t take long for FactCheck.org, those intrepid truth-seekers at University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Public Policy, to shred Sen. John McCain’s latest TV ad, which essentially said Sen. Barack Obama is responsible for record gas prices. In an analysis titled, "A Full Tank of Nonsense," FactCheck.org refutes just about everything in the spot. We covered a lot of this yesterday, so here are some of the highlights:

As we have pointed out previously, the Energy Information Administration estimates that if the go-ahead were given right now for such drilling, it would be 2030 before there would be enough oil flowing to have a "significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices"…


One could note, for example, that McCain has voted against increases in corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards on two occasions, in 2003 and 2005, even though he teamed with Democratic Sen. John Kerry back in 2002 on a bill to raise the standards to 36 mpg by 2015. McCain’s Website proposes enforcing existing CAFE standards, not tightening them, as Obama would do.


But no one person can be pinned with the credit or the blame for something as vague as "rising prices at the pump." OPEC policy, the weather, wars in oil-producing countries, refinery capacity, consumer demand, environmental concerns, the value of the dollar and a host of other considerations factor into the cost of a fill-up. In fact, McCain may be paying Obama an inadvertent compliment by alleging he has such influence…


The ad comes full circle as the narrator tells us, "One man knows we must now drill more in America and rescue our family budgets." Let us reiterate our earlier point that opening up the OCS for drilling now wouldn’t have much impact on supply or prices until 2030, according to the government. So forget about rescuing "our family budgets." In 22 years, it’ll be other families’ budgets – maybe our children’s – that will be at issue.

These analyses are becoming a ritual for FactCheck.org. This is the fifth McCain campaign ad cited by the Website for spreading false information in the last month. It’s safe to say there is a pattern developing here. McCain has frequently criticized Obama as "just another typical politician who will do and say whatever is most expedient for Barack Obama." We suggest McCain take a long, hard look in the mirror the next time he gets the urge to say such things.