New Obama Ad: Mitt Romney and his 'Big Oil' Pals Are Ruining Everything

The money-grubbing rich dude and his corporate oil barons screwing you over, America. Yawn:

For a careful explanation of why this ad's first-out-of-the-gate "eight year high" claim is grossly misleading, read this piece from Erika. Then ask yourselves a few questions: (1) If these "tax subsidies to Big Oil" are so egregious (incidentally, the exact same subsidies apply to American companies across many sectors), why did Barack Obama support them in the Senate? Could it be that the president is flogging a perennial Lefty bogeyman simply to distract attention from his dismal economic record, persistently high unemployment, an out-of-control national debt, and his wildly unpopular healthcare law? (2) Even if these particular subsidies are wasteful and unnecessary -- conservatives would argue in favor of lowering the corporate income tax rate in exchange for zeroing out spending in the tax code -- how will increasing energy companies' tax burden lower energy costs for consumers? Here's a friendly reminder of the answer to that question, courtesy of Senate Democrats:

The ad also boasts of Obama's efforts to "double renewable energy." How's that grand project coming along?

A California solar energy company that was unable to meet a deadline for an Energy Department loan guarantee last year has sought bankruptcy protection in Delaware. Solar Trust of America’s Chapter 11 filing on Monday listed assets between $1 million and $10 million, and liabilities between $50 million and $100 million. The filing comes amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Solyndra, a solar firm that received a half-billion dollar federal loan and was touted by the Obama administration before declaring bankruptcy last year. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and California Gov. Jerry Brown were on hand last June when Solar Trust broke ground on a 1,000-megawatt project in California. The project was touted as the world’s largest solar power plant and a keystone of the Obama administration’s efforts to promote solar energy.

Ah, that's right. But it's somehow Mitt Romney -- and not the president squandering billions of taxpayer dollars to fend his failing pet projects -- that's the problem. The Romney campaign fired back:

"It's no surprise President Obama is spending his soon-to-be $1 billion war chest to attack Mitt Romney and deflect blame for his failure to control gas prices. His own Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, said in 2008 that we have to find a way to get the price of gas up to the level of Europe. It looks like he's succeeding, and, unfortunately, the American people are worse off for it," said Romney campaign spokesperson Andrea Saul.