[UPDATE]: Welcome, Instapundit readers.
Glenn Reynolds reminds me of this paragraph by Allahpundit in response to the news that the President has been aware of the true magnitude of the BP spill all along:
The real disgrace here is why, if he really did know right away that this was the oil equivalent of an asteroid strike, he didn’t scramble some sort of all-hands-on-deck emergency operation to protect the coastline. Remember, Jindal reportedly requested five million feet of hard boom back on May 2, long after Obama (according to Wolffe) knew about the magnitude of the disaster. By May 24, not even 800,000 feet had arrived. What happened?
So, seeing as it’s been clear all along to the White House that we had an ecological disaster on our hands: why did the President not act in a timely fashion to try to keep the oil off of the beaches in the five Gulf of Mexico states?
| State | Governor | Party | Election Year? | Note |
| Alabama | Bob Riley | Republican | Yes | Open race |
| Florida | Charlie Crist | Independent | Yes | Former GOP |
| Louisiana | Bobby Jindal | Republican | No | GOP leader |
| Mississippi | Haley Barbour | Republican | No | RGA head |
| Texas | Rick Perry | Republican | Yes | Re-election |
Gee, I don’t have the slightest idea.
Moe Lane
Crossposted to RedState.
Moe- I’ll go you one further. You may have read where the EPA came in here about 2 weeks ago to TX and basically hijacked the states refinery operation permitting process for the Flint Hills Refinery- we have 29 other refineries along TX coast (including one of Exxon’s largest refineries) who’s operating permits are set to renew in the next two months. This has always been something left to the state to regulate and issue until the EPA came in and stripped it away. So if Obama is shutting down all offshore drilling and all refining capacity via the EPA, what do you think that is going to do to tens of thousands of industry related jobs and the price of gasoline? What do you want to bet he will hold these industries hostage as leverage to blackmail Gulf Coast state Senators for Yes votes on Cap/Trade? He did say the other day he didnt have the votes now but he intended to find them- This tactic was also used if you recall for getting Yes votes for Healthcare from 2-3 CA Congressmen who were on the fence but voted yes in exchange for having the irrigation water turned back on to the farmland that was in thier district which the Govt had turned off to protect some fish- the farmland had dried up putting unemployment through the roof in those districts.
GULF….I thought you meant GOLF!
You got it, teach these white Republicans a lesson.
Whatever it takes….
Ah, it takes the Chinese time to make those million feet of hard booms, and we don’t have the money or credits to pay for them. All stimulus moneys are already in some cronies’ pockets. What could the One do? Make the booms himself?
FDR did the same thing with most if not all his new deal programs
Well, the Republican governors is certainly PART of an explanation for the slow response. I think there is no question from left, right and independent at this point that this was a slow and inadequate response. Cap and Trade is DEFINITELY the answer to why the slow response. Would this party really hold Americans hostage to their agenda? YES!
Now if you really want to go in for conspiracy theories UK Guardian is reporting that “BP chief Tony Hayward sold shares weeks before oil spill.” If that isn’t scary enough check out Prison Planet which is floating the story that this was deliberate–the spill that is!
Agenda comes first. Cap and Tax. http://www.prisonplanet.com/
What will they do to enact VAT?
What will they do to enact the bank tax?
UNLIMITED UNELECTED INDIVIDUALS–controlling “elected” officials. Remember Farrakan’s words, “Before he was elected he was selected.” http://www.breitbart.tv/farrakhan-on-obama-before-he-was-elected-he-was-selected/
Another point, of those states listed only one, Mississippi, voted for him – McCain won the other states. And in the case of Alabama he lost badly and as a result Alabama has been targeted since day one by this President. The state still has not received any bail out money.
Well said. Barry O’s endless gassing about BP only serves to distract from his statutory responsibility to oversee a response to the spill. The federal response has been nothing less than total failure. But, since 1994, the law has required the executive branch to have a National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan just to respond to situations such as these (see: http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/lawsregs/ncpover.htm). Yet rather than actually respond to the spill, the Democrats would rather demagogue BP. If BO had even the slightest interest in minimizing damage from the spill he would have at least offered a reward to whichever party can stop the spill fastest. But why do that when the situation can be exploited to advance the cap and trade agenda?
OK, lets be conspiracy nuts together. I saw where a recent poll showed a “majority of Americans” are now opposed to offshore drilling. Here’s my question . . . since Obama knew right away the spill was a major problem of longlasting impact, do you suppose he deliberately was dragging his feet to drive public opinion against drilling? Was it political calculation rather than incompetence? I know what my answer is. What’s yours?
If the Americans really thought Obama was as callous as he is said here to be, it seems they would not suffer him to continue in office.
Has anyone noticed that Obama has not shown up in Nashville after their Noah-esque flooding last month? Another Republican state.
Slow response + slow-pedalling the marshaling of gov’t resources + current economic problems + the One’s stated energy plan: (“under my plan, energy prices will necessarily sky-rocket”) = Jobs Program?
While Barry states the obvious- i.e. showing he’s keeping his boot on the oil company’s neck and is making sure they’re paying for everything (great job, Barry) which is already a part of the existing law – though the liability to the Feds is probably limited – the One hasn’t explained the Federal response or the required partnerships with state and local areas or the lack of urgency in either his rhetoric or federal response in seeking a concerted response with preventive measures.
Maybe his teleprompter has been fouled by the oil plume?
This is a long-term disaster with long-standing repercussions, but it accomplishes almost all of Obama’s desired goals with response to energy costs, drilling cutbacks, (eventual) Federal control of the Oil/Energy industry, jobs creation, regulation (meaning removing the authority from State and Local concerns and consolidating it with the Feds) and the eventual resulting Socialist Utopia.
Talk about conspiracy theories!