Ron Paul: Obama facing too much blame on oil spill

[Vernon Windsor]

President Barack Obama won a defense of his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from one GOP congressman on Thursday.

Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican lawmaker from Texas, said that people were expecting too much from the president in his ability to react to the ongoing spill into the Gulf.

"I'm a pretty big critic of the president," Paul said during an appearance on "Imus in the Morning" on the Fox Business Network, "but I just don't see the justification for coming down hard on the president."

"I think it represents the idea that the American people think the president is everything to everybody that he should fix an oil leak," Paul added.

Some lawmakers, including many Republicans, have questioned the administration's responsiveness to the spill, as well as whether the administration has been aggressive enough in pushing BP to end the flow of oil from its damaged deepwater well.

But Paul suggested that there was little the president could do personally to end the spill, arguing that Obama could do more to help out with the spill and the cleanup by clearing out and waiving federal regulations so that governors of the states affected by the spill have more leeway in addressing cleanup efforts.

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/101193-ron-paul-obama-...

[Vernon Windsor]

Dana Perino: 'Obama can't don a snorkeling outfit and do it himself'
By Bob Cusack - 06/02/10 12:41 AM ET
George W. Bush's former press secretary defended the Obama administration Tuesday on its handling of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
During an appearance on Sean Hannity's show on Fox News, Dana Perino said, "I think that we are expecting a little bit too much of the administration. I'm not fully defending their response, but I do think President Obama can't don a snorkeling outfit and do it himself."
During a panel discussion, Perino disputed the notion that the Obama administration is sitting on its hands.

"I disagree. I mean, they have stepped it up...What can be done?"
She added, "Nobody knows how to deal with it."
Perino said she questioned Attorney General Eric Holder's involvement in opening a criminal probe of BP, and said the Obama administration should have acted more swiftly to address the environmental disaster.
"I'm not defending them for their slow response initially, but I do think at the moment they are trying to do what they can," she said.

[brujo]

I love Dana Perino. She's cute enough to make me want to drive down to the Broadmoor, and start hitting on women that couldn't pull a needle out of their ass with a pair of pliers.

And she's right. Unless the President has some skill set we're unaware of, this is in the hands of the techies.

[msladydeborah]

I agree with Ron Paul. In this particular case the responsibility for what has happened on the Gulf Coast is not solely Obama's to shoulder. The decisions and actions taken by BP created a major environmental disaster. This corporation should be prepared to do all that can be done to help correct the problem.

At some point in time we are going to have to shoulder some of the blame as well. Our hunger for fossil fuel has had a hand in this disaster.

I would like to see the Obama Administration taking the lead to make sure that all the available government resources are used to help the people and the environment. I also want to him to continue to keep a fire lit up under BPs corporate behind to make sure that all that needs to be done on their end is accomplished.

[Daniel Blattenbauer]

Nice to see Paul at least has some common sense after making the remark suggesting that perhaps the Civil Rights Law should never have been passed. Is this statement mainly for "political" reasons?

[Madhatterat60]

Amazingly apt observation. While I do believe there have been some administrative gaffs....for the most part I'm not sure ANY administration could have prepared any better than the current one.