Louisiana has face two major crisis in recent years. The first was hurricane Katrina handled by former President Bush. The second was the Gulf oil spill handled by current President Obama. A PPP poll asked likely voters who they think is better at handling crisis, Obama or Bush. 54% chose President Bush. Only 33% picked President Obama.
81% of Louisiana voters support offshore drilling.
While support has nearly returned to previous levels elsewhere, support in Louisiana has, if it were possible, also increased, to 81%, with only 9% not in favor
This could lead to the worst case scenario. Pressure tests indicate the wellbore structure may be compromised “down hole.” This means they may have to uncap it to take pressure off the well and prevent a total collapse of the well due to erosion. The possibility of this horrific scenario was explained in detail by an oil industry expert at The Oil Drum. It's a long post, but well worth your time. This expert claimed everything BP and the government were doing indicated they knew of a leak “down hole.” Although BP statements have hinted at this possibility, this information has not been widely reported. If the wellbore is destroyed, the entire 2 billion barrels (barrels not gallons) in this reserve are coming out into the gulf and there would be nothing anyone could do to stop it. So far, the oil expert's June 13th post is looking very credible. Let's hope he is wrong. However, AP is now reporting on this leak elsewhere in the wellbore and the possibility the well will have to be reopened.
"No one associated with this whole activity ... wants to see any more oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico," Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, said Sunday. "Right now we don't have a target to return the well to flow."
An administration official familiar with the spill oversight, however, told The Associated Press that a seep and possible methane were found near the busted oil well. The official spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because an announcement about the next steps had not been made yet.
The concern all along — since pressure readings on the cap weren't as high as expected — was a leak elsewhere in the wellbore, meaning the cap may have to be reopened to prevent the environmental disaster from becoming even worse and harder to fix.
When it come to protecting President Obama from negative publicity surrounding the gulf oil spill and clean up, Democrats are ready to throw freedom of the press under the bus. NewsBusters reported:
It has become clear that the Democratic establishment does not have as much of an interest in press freedom as they would have the public believe. But what is even more telling is the media's spotty response to censorship efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.
On Wednesday, House Natural Resouces Democrats rejected an amendment that would ensure press transparency in the Gulf. The amendment came mere days after the Coast Guard rescinded a policy keeping journalists at least 65 feet from "essential recovery efforts."
Offered by Rep. Paul Broun, pictured right, the amendment stated: "Except in cases of imminent harm to human life, federal officials shall allow free and open access to the media of oil spill clean up activity occurring on public lands or public shorelines, including the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.”
Oil is still gushing from the exploded Deep Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. There is no foolproof plan to stop the leak until mid-August when the relief wells are complete. BP is capturing about half of the leaking oil. They are planning to connect new equipment this weekend which they claim will increase the capture rate. BP's past claims haven't always proven out. The Gulf oil spill has been a PR nightmare for President Obama. A majority of Americans rate Obama's handling of the disaster the same or worse than Bush's handling of hurricane Katrina. Some pundits are claiming it could be his "Waterloo." After first trying to use the oil spill disaster for political purposes to push Cap and Trade, President Obama has decided to keep the oil spill off the front page. One part of his plan is to give the media something else to focus on. Thursday, President Obama tried to change the topic by kicking off his controversial immigration reform plan in a speech. Next, he needs to restrict coverage of the disaster. Obama's democratic allies in the House blocked a trip by Republican lawmakers to see the damage caused by BP’s oil spill in person. Then, President Obama's point man for the disaster, U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, has restricted media access to view the oil spill clean-up and damage.
Anderson Cooper reports for CNN on the restrictive new Coast Guard rules.
Americans are comparing President Obama's poor handling of the Gulf oil spill with President Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina. 57% say his response is the same or worse... Marist Poll reported:
President George Bush’s handling of Hurricane Katrina was a black mark on his administration, and now, there’s bad news for his successor. Nearly six in ten voters nationwide — 57% — say President Barack Obama’s handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is either the same or worse than Bush’s handling of Katrina. This includes 34% who report Obama’s management of the disaster is comparable and 23% who view it as worse. 37%, however, say he is handling the crisis better than Bush managed Katrina. 6% are unsure.
Former oil clean-up worker Candi Warren says she signed up to make a difference, but soon found out the work of cleaning the beaches was all cosmetic. That’s what she was told, she says....
She said she was told to only clean the surface of the sand...
MSNBC Host Rachel Maddow is brutal in her ridicule of Rep. Phil Gingrey (R - GA)when he suggests BP blow up the leaking oil will in an effort to stop the leak. She calls it a dumb idea and compares it to a 'Road Runner' cartoon.
Nancy Pelosi is one of many democrats trying to play the "blame Bush" card over the Gulf oil spill. Here is Nancy Pelosi's attempt to blame Bush.
“Many of the people appointed in the Bush administration are still burrowed in the agencies that are supposed to oversee the [oil] industry,” Pelosi said when asked if Democrats could have prevented or mitigated the crisis by keeping a closer watch on the industry.
Added the Speaker, “the cozy relationships between the Bush administration’s agency leadership and the industry is clear…I’ve heard no complaints from my members about the way the president has handled it,” Pelosi stated.
Unfortunately for Speaker Pelosi, not one of the officials responsible for overseeing the exploded New Horizon rig were leftover "burrowed in" Bush appointees.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., recently blamed Bush appointees who “burrowed in” at the Minerals Management Service for the regulatory failures that led to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. But as it turns out, not one of the officials responsible for overseeing the exploded rig was a Bush political appointee.
The Washington Examiner has obtained biographic information on the MMS officials responsible for overseeing BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig at the time it exploded...Not one was a presidential appointment of George W. Bush...
Florida Senator LeMieux is concerned there are only 210 oil skimmers off the coast of Florida when there are 2,000 in other places. He relayed that concern to President Obama and got a strange response.
“He said to me, some of these (2,000) skimmers from other places in the country we can’t take because they may need them for an oil spill”
President Obama is clueless and detached when it comes to the Gulf oil spill. Senator LeMieux explains in the video embedded below.
White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton says "I guess [he] took himself [Tony Hayward] at his word and got his life back."
On President Obama golfing: "With all the different issues the President is dealing with, I think that a little time off for himself on Father's Day weekend probably does us all good as American citizens."
President Obama has appointed a panel to investigate the BP Gulf oil spill. Instead of experts, he has loaded the panel with political hacks who already oppose offshore drilling. Only one member has any science or engineering background. Can anyone say "predetermined outcome"?
The panel appointed by President Barack Obama to investigate the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is short on technical expertise...
Only one of the seven commissioners, the dean of Harvard’s engineering and applied sciences school, has a prominent engineering background — but it’s in optics and physics....
The Jones act prohibits ships from carrying goods between US ports unless they are owned and crewed by US Citizens. This is hampering foreign assistance with the oil spill clean up.
U.S. Rep. Charles Djou is calling on President Barack Obama to waive a 90-year-old law so foreign ships can help respond to the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The statute, known as the Jones Act, requires vessels transporting goods between states to have been built in the United States, be crewed and owned by U.S. citizens, and fly the U.S. flag.
Djou says it has blocked vessels from Mexico, Canada and Belgium from assisting in the cleanup.
A Republican, Djou opposes the statute because he contends it results in higher prices for Hawaii consumers.
First, the Obama administration refused to accept the offer of skimming ships from the Netherlands because they were not 100% efficient. Then, they left miles of oil skimming oil booms setting in a warehouse in Maine. Now, our government has shut down 16 oil sucking barges so they can check their life preservers or something. Could the Obama administration be anymore incompetent?
Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state’s oil-soaked waters. Today, against the governor’s wishes, those barges sat idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore.
“It’s the most frustrating thing,” the Republican governor said today in Buras, La. “Literally, yesterday morning we found out that they were halting all of these barges.”
Seventy-one percent (71%) of U.S. Voters rate the government’s response to the Gulf oil leak as at least somewhat important in terms of how they will vote in November, with 35% who say it is Very Important.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 27% of Likely Voters say the government’s response is not very or not at all important to their upcoming vote.
The Obama administration has come under increasing criticism for its response to the two-month-old – and continuing – oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, which President Obama has labeled the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.
Former President Bush has been out of office for almost a year and a half, but that isn't stopping Democrats from blaming him for almost everything. Here is part of Nancy Pelosi's press release following President Obama's address to the nation.
“The disastrous BP oil spill is a harsh reminder of the price we are now paying for the Bush Administration and Republican Congress placing the employees of Big Oil in charge of regulating their own industry. We lost 11 lives in the tragic oil rig explosion, and our thoughts and prayers remain with the loved ones of those that perished. We have lost billions of dollars that belong to small businesses and residents in the region, and we have lost irreplaceable resources. In response, our energy policy must move in a New Direction.
“Last June, the House passed a bill to create clean energy jobs here in America, protect consumers, reduce pollution and help free us from our dangerous dependence on dirty foreign fuels while ensuring our national security. Moving forward, we must complete this legislation and invest in a clean energy future founded on American innovation and the skill of our workers. And we must harness the power of the sun, wind, soil, and our natural resources to fuel our future.”
How did President Obama find the time in-between all those rounds of golf? After 57 days, President Obama had a 20 minute meeting with BP officials.
Obama was scheduled to spend 20 minutes in the meeting. He entered the room with an entourage: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and her coordinator for claims oversight, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Obama promoted Gulf tourism and seafood during a visit to the region Monday. There is no word on ending the offshore drilling ban that is costing tens of thousands of jobs.
GULFPORT, Mississippi — President Barack Obama Monday implored Americans to visit southern tourist beaches and munched on local seafood, seeking to boost two key industries threatened by the BP oil disaster.
"There's still a lot of opportunity for visitors to come down here. There are a lot of beaches that have not been affected and will not be affected," Obama said, at the start of a two-day trip to the region.
"We just want to make sure that people who have travel plans down to the Gulf area remain mindful of that...
