United States News
See other United States News Articles
Title: Republican's Oil Spill Gaffe Hands Advantage Back To Administration
Source:
THE HILL
URL Source: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/67 ... age-back-to-the-administration
Published: Jun 17, 2010
Author: By Michael O'Brien and Ben Geman -
Post Date: 2010-06-17 15:47:13 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 523
Comments: 29
The top Republican gift-wrapped a gaffe about the oil spill and handed it to President Barack Obama on Thursday, ceding the GOP's advantage on a disaster that has plagued the administration for weeks and called its competence into question. Rep. Joe Barton (Texas), the senior GOP lawmaker on the House energy committee, apologized to BP and accused the White House of a "$20 billion shakedown" for forcing the oil company to set up a vast clean-up and compensation fund. The Republican leadership, caught flat-footed by Barton, immediately distanced themselves from Barton, who told a congressional hearing that he was "ashamed" of the Obama administration's treatment of BP. “It is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case a $20 billion shakedown,” Barton said during opening remarks at the Energy and Commerce Committee hearing where Hayward was giving testimony. The White House and leadership offices in Congress immediately pounced on the comment, looking to tie the GOP to the comment, and forcing Republicans to disavow his sentiments. In a later line of questioning, Hayward said he "certainly didn't think it was a slush fund." "As we said yesterday, the fund is a signal of our commitment to do right to ensure...everyone who's been impacted by this is kept whole," he said. "That is what I've said from the beginning of this, and that's what we intend to do." Asked at his weekly press conference if he disagreed with Barton’s characterization of the deal struck Wednesday at the White House, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) quickly responded, “I do.” “BP agreed to fund the cost of this cleanup from the beginning and I’m glad they’re being held accountable,” Boehner told reporters. Adding to the pressure on Barton was Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), whose Pensacola district is among those areas hardest-hit by the oil spill in the Gulf. Miller called on Barton to step down from his position as ranking member of the committee, a spot that would set the Texas lawmaker up for the plum chairmanship next year if Republicans were to win control of Congress this fall. "I condemn Mr. Barton’s statement. Mr. Barton’s remarks are out of touch with this tragedy and I feel his comments call into question his judgment and ability to serve in a leadership on the Energy and Commerce Committee," MIller said in a statement. "He should step down as ranking member of the Committee.” Hayward's testimony before the committee took an immediate backseat to the controversy over Barton's statement on a day in which Republicans sought to hammer away at the Obama administration for its response to the ongoing spill in the Gulf. Democrats, meanwhile, saw the gaffe as a major opportunity to shift the dialog on the oil spill, an issue on which Obama's approval rating had been flagging, and on which they had sought traction to advance an energy and climate bill yet this year. The White House quickly pounced on Barton, and put pressure on other Republicans to reject the comments. At the daily press briefing, Vice President Joe Biden called Barton's comments "incredibly insensitive, incredibly out of touch." The congressman's comments were "a pivot point in the BP oil spill," Democratic National Committee (DNC) communications director Brad Woodhouse wrote in an email to reporters. "Republicans have a plan," he said. "Politicize the Oil Spill. Apologize to BP. Turn their backs on the Gulf Coast."
"What is wrong with that? How is that a shakedown? I dont know. I find it a pretty outstanding comment."
"Congressman Barton may think that a fund to compensate these Americans is a ‘tragedy,’ but most Americans know that the real tragedy is what the men and women of the Gulf Coast are going through right now," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. "Members from both parties should repudiate his comments.”
Subscribe to *Spill-Baby-Spill*
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
(laughing) Uh Huh...lets see how this wishful thinking is holding up on day 75.
Just 10 days prior to the explosion, the Obama administration’s regulators gave the oil rig a pass, and last year the Obama administration granted BP a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) exemption for its drilling operation.
GOP TO BP: We're sorry...
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
Sorry loser, the dots don't connect. Simple stuff, we have an administration that turned down every request to ameliorate the problem. Tell the Dutch and Brits we don't need your help and then let the problem become a crisis. Like Rahm Emanuel said "Never let a good crisis go to waste", or whatever.
Day 258 of the worst enviromental disaster in history: The Owe-bama Administration claimed Joe Barden, George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the little dog Dorothy carried in the Wizard of Oz were the primary reason for the BP Oil rig disaster. Apparently not getting the bump they expected from publicly executing BP Executives under Sharia Law......etc etc etc....
Just 10 days prior to the explosion, the Obama administration’s regulators gave the oil rig a pass, and last year the Obama administration granted BP a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) exemption for its drilling operation.
Expect to see a lot of GO(B)P between now and November.
Being a Republican means you get to choose your own reality.
BP started drilling in October, only to have the rig damaged by Hurricane Ida a month later. The company switched to the Deepwater Horizon rig and resumed drilling on Feb. 6. The rig was 43 days late for its next drilling location by the time it exploded April 20, costing BP at least $500,000 each day it was overdue, congressional documents show. As BP found itself in a frantic race against time to get the job done, engineers cut corners in the well design, cementing and drilling mud efforts and the installation of safety devices known as "lockdown sleeves" and "centralizers," according to congressional investigators. In the design of the well, the company apparently chose a riskier option among two possibilities to provide a barrier to the flow of gas in space surrounding steel tubes in the well, documents and internal e-mails show. The decision saved BP $7 million to $10 million; the original cost estimate for the well was about $96 million. In an e-mail, BP engineer Brian Morel told a fellow employee that the company is likely to make last- minute changes in the well. "We could be running it in 2-3 days, so need a relative quick response. Sorry for the late notice, this has been nightmare well which has everyone all over the place," Morel wrote. The e-mail chain culminated with the following message by another worker: "This has been a crazy well for sure." BP also apparently rejected advice of a subcontractor, Halliburton Inc., in preparing for a cementing job to close up the well. BP rejected Halliburton's recommendation to use 21 "centralizers" to make sure the casing ran down the center of the well bore. Instead, BP used six centralizers. In an e-mail on April 16, a BP official involved in the decision explained: "It will take 10 hours to install them. I do not like this." Later that day, another official recognized the risks of proceeding with insufficient centralizers but commented: "Who cares, it's done, end of story, will probably be fine." The lawmakers also said BP also decided against a nine- to 12-hour procedure known as a "cement bond log" that would have tested the integrity of the cement. A team from Schlumberger, an oil services firm, was on board the rig, but BP sent the team home on a regularly scheduled helicopter flight the morning of April 20. Less than 12 hours later, the rig exploded. Of course they could have just blamed Obama, right?
Being a Republican means you get to choose your own reality.
The "problem", Gump, is that oil is leaking into the Gulf.
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
Another falsehood. http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/825059--palin-adds-oil-to-the-fire Jeremy Mayer, associate professor of public policy at George Mason University in Washington, called the interview another embarrassing moment in the public spotlight for Palin. Being a Republican means you get to choose your own reality.
Did you see that Badeye believes Shell is an American company and that Exxon and "Mobile" [sic] are two companies?
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
Seriously?
Being a Republican means you get to choose your own reality.
Yep...then there is this gem: Dueling Boofers: "Just 10 days prior to the explosion, the Obama administration’s regulators gave the oil rig a pass..." "Damn shame the Obama administration granted all those exemptions for the previous 12 months worth of inspections."
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
Why are we punishing Shell, Exxon, and Mobile, all American owned companies, for BRITISH PETROLEUM'S mistake? Badeye posted on 2010-06-16 10:06:18 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
Badeye posted on 2010-06-16 10:06:18 ET Reply Trace Private Reply Unfreaking believable. Hey, BP does $10 billion a year with the U.S. government, where's the "Defund BP Now" movement?
Being a Republican means you get to choose your own reality.
I wonder if they edited out her praise of the little Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the dike and saved the day?
C'mon it was FUNNY too, tho. Palin's "interview" was hilarious...the problem is...the average IQ has a lot of residents below it...that's her support group and they are allowed to vote...
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
McCain in a blond wig and that funky hat?
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
Don't forget the crazy-eyed lear.
Chuckles..wish I was good at Photoshop.
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
Only ignorant, statist, cryoto-communist scum such as the demonRAT partee and the rest of you Hate America FIRST! droolers, would consider a congress critter pointing out the OBVIOUS violation of the RULE OF LAW, and the feral gooberment's, (under the messiah "king" obammy's diresct control), total usurpation of power, in direct contravention of the US Constitution, to be a "gaffe". "Up is down!" "Light is dark!" All HAIL the messiah "king" obammy! Useful fools UNITE! Death to America! You F ing vile lying foul wannabe tyrant scum.
Quoted by PDS insane assholes every where.
Now I know where Palin got that idea from.
The Owe-bama administration failed to inspect for a full year before the explosion. Thats documented. I don't blame Owe-bama FOR the explosion...in contrast to those on the Left that blamed Bush for a freakin Hurricane, then suggested he bombed the levees of NOLA, then 'didn't like black people'. The above is the irony here, GO. Your side's BDS has changed the political discourse, and your Messiah's administration is now reaping what YOUR SIDE sowed. Unreasonable, deranged, blame games. Pick up the check. You ordered up this 'meal'.
Just 10 days prior to the explosion, the Obama administration’s regulators gave the oil rig a pass, and last year the Obama administration granted BP a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) exemption for its drilling operation.
Dueling Boofers: "The Owe-bama administration failed to inspect for a full year before the explosion. Thats documented." "Just 10 days prior to the explosion, the Obama administration’s regulators gave the oil rig a pass..."
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
What you say is true; some of those moonbats were blaming Bush, not for the response, but for the very hurricane itself.
Why are we punishing Shell, Exxon, and Mobile, all American owned companies, for BRITISH PETROLEUM'S mistake? Badeye posted on 2010-06-16 10:06:18 ET Reply Trace Private Reply Unfreaking believable. Whats so unbelievable? Should we also punish GM for Toytota's sticking accelerator pedals?
Just 10 days prior to the explosion, the Obama administration’s regulators gave the oil rig a pass, and last year the Obama administration granted BP a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) exemption for its drilling operation.
FACTCHECK: In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by AP, the agency has released copies of only three inspection reports — those conducted in January, February and April. According to the documents, inspectors spent two hours or less each time they visited the massive rig. Some information appeared to be "whited out," without explanation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boofer...why is it that NOTHING that you ever post stands up to scrutiny?
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
Do they use the same engineering? But to answer your other question, what is unbelievable is that a 52 year old man doesn't know that ExxonMobil is one company and ROYAL DUTCH Shell is not American.
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
Its documented, there is no denying it.
Just 10 days prior to the explosion, the Obama administration’s regulators gave the oil rig a pass, and last year the Obama administration granted BP a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) exemption for its drilling operation.
Okay, maybe this shows something resembling an inspection was conducted, but do you really think this is worthy as a defense for the Kenyan?
Boofer is a Kenyan? And what makes you ***think*** I'm defending him?
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
#2. To: Brian S (#0)
#3. To: Brian S (#0)
#4. To: reaganisright (#3)
(Edited)
#5. To: Brian S (#0)
#6. To: Badeye (#4)
(Edited)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100614/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
#7. To: reaganisright (#3)
#8. To: reaganisright (#3)
Tell the Dutch and Brits we don't need your help and then let the problem become a crisis.
“The Dutch,” said Palin, who insisted the Obama administration was refusing help from foreign governments. “They are known, and the Norwegian. They are known for ... for dikes and for cleaning up water and for dealing with spills.”
In fact, it was noted following her interview, many foreign nations are contributing to the efforts to combat the gusher, including the Norwegians and the Dutch, although in the early days of the spill, when oil giant BP was wildly underestimating the extent of the spill, their offer to help was declined.
“There are foreign vessels out there right now,” Ken Wells, president of the Offshore Marine Services Association, said recently. Reports to the contrary, Wells added, are “misleading and misinformed.”
“The Bill O’Reilly interview was disastrous because in addition to having her facts wrong, she was also asked what she would do to stop the spill, and she had nothing, absolutely nothing,” he said.
#9. To: go65 (#8)
#10. To: war (#9)
Did you see that Badeye believes Shell is an American company and that Exxon and "Mobile" [sic] are two companies?
#11. To: go65 (#10)
#12. To: go65 (#10)
#13. To: war, badeye (#12)
Why are we punishing Shell, Exxon, and Mobile, all American owned companies, for BRITISH PETROLEUM'S mistake?
#14. To: go65 (#8)
They are known for ... for dikes and for cleaning up water and for dealing with spills.”
#15. To: go65 (#13)
(Edited)
Unfreaking believable.
#16. To: Skip Intro (#14)
#17. To: war (#16)
McCain in a blond wig and that funky hat?
#18. To: Skip Intro (#17)
#19. To: Brian S (#0)
#20. To: go65 (#8)
“The Dutch,” said Palin,
#21. To: go65 (#6)
Of course they could have just blamed Obama, right?
#22. To: Badeye, go65 (#21)
#23. To: Badeye (#21)
in contrast to those on the Left that blamed Bush for a freakin Hurricane
#24. To: go65 (#13)
#25. To: Badeye (#21)
(Edited)
The Owe-bama administration failed to inspect for a full year before the explosion.
#26. To: Badeye (#24)
(Edited)
Should we also punish GM for Toytota's sticking accelerator pedals?
#27. To: no gnu taxes (#23)
#28. To: war (#25)
FACTCHECK: In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by AP, the agency has released copies of only three inspection reports — those conducted in January, February and April. According to the documents, inspectors spent two hours or less each time they visited the massive rig. Some information appeared to be "whited out," without explanation.
#29. To: no gnu taxes (#28)
(Edited)
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]