Palin Says Slow Oil Spill Response Was Due To Obama’s Financial Relationship With BP

May 23rd, 2010 (12) Posted By Pat Dollard.

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Fox News:

President Obama’s oversight of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill may have been hampered by his relationship to BP, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Sunday in the opening salvo of a verbal cage match with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Palin suggested that the White House is too cozy with the oil industry because of contributions to candidate Obama during the 2008 presidential race.

“I don’t know why the question isn’t asked by the mainstream media and by others if there’s any connection with the contributions made to President Obama and his administration and the support by the oil companies to the administration,” Palin, a Fox News Channel contributor, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“If there’s any connection there to President Obama taking so doggone long to get in there, to dive in there, and grasp the complexity and the potential tragedy that we are seeing here in the Gulf of Mexico — now, if this was President Bush or if this were a Republican in office who hadn’t received as much support even as President Obama has from B.P. and other oil companies, you know the mainstream media would be all over his case,” she said.

Gibbs fired back that the former Alaska governor needs a lesson in how the oil industry works.

“Sarah Palin was involved in that election but, I don’t think she was paying a whole lot of attention,” Gibbs said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“I’m almost sure that the oil companies don’t consider the Obama administration a huge ally,” he said, adding, “My suggestion to Sarah Palin would be to get slightly more informed as to what’s going on in and around oil drilling in this country.”

Palin used Twitter shortly thereafter to respond to Gibbs.

“Obama is the top recipient of BP PAC & individual money over the past 20 years. Dispute these facts,” she wrote, linking to a Politico article citing campaign finance reporting showing more than $3.5 million given to candidates by BP since 1990.

The largest single donation by BP — $77,051 — went to Obama.

However, Palin did not point to another set of numbers reported by campaign watchdog, the Center for Responsive Politics, which showed the oil and gas industry overall contributed $2.4 million to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign while $898,000 went for Obama’s bid.

The Gulf oil spill began after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana on April 20, killing 11 workers. At least 6 million gallons of crude have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico since, though many scientists say it’s likely much more than that.

Gibbs said the Obama administration is doing whatever it can to work with BP to cap the spill, but BP has not been as transparent as it could be.

“We asked that a video feed be made public, and that took 10 days. We are — we have sent letters recently in order to get them to post their air and water quality data and to ensure that the dispersants that they’re spraying on top of the water and using it at a sub-sea level are the least toxic available,” he said.

But Gibbs added that “the president has told the team to spare nothing in trying to cap this well.”

Gibbs said he did not think that the oil spill would be the administration’s “Hurricane Katrina,” which deeply wounded President George W. Bush’s second term. Gibbs said the Obama administration is aggressively dealing with the aftermath of the spill.

“Well, I think if you look back at what happened in Katrina, the government wasn’t there to respond to what was happening. That, quite frankly, was the problem, even tracking the hurricane for days and knowing fairly precisely where it was going to hit,” Gibbs said.

“I think the difference in this case is, we were there immediately. We have been there ever since.”

Gibbs agreed that government and the oil companies don’t get into a cozy relationship.

“We have to regulate this industry. We have to make sure that their safety standards are up to the very latest and highest standards whenever they do something like this, drilling in such a precious ecosystem as the Gulf of Mexico,” Gibbs said.

Palin too said she still supports offshore drilling, but also thinks oil companies need to be accountable for accidents.

“I am still a strong supporter of domestic energy supplies being extracted. Having said that, these oil companies have got to be held accountable when there is any kind of lax and preventative measures to result in a tragedy like we’re seeing right now in the Gulf,” she said.

As the administration continues to fight the perception that it hasn’t done enough to cap the gusher, three top Obama administration officials were returning to the Gulf Coast to monitor the spill response.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa P. Jackson headed there to Louisiana on Sunday while Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano were to lead a Senate delegation to the region on Monday to fly over affected areas and keep an eye on the response.

Obama also named a special independent commission to review what happened and the Justice Department has also been down on the scene to “gather information” though Gibbs would not say whether a criminal investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen, who’s leading the official response, said he understands the frustration.

“If anybody is frustrated with this response, I would tell them their symptoms are normal, because I’m frustrated, too,” Allen said. “Nobody likes to have a feeling that you can’t do something about a very big problem.”

Fox News’ Julie Kirtz contributed to this report.

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  • mike3481

    The contributions to McCain mean nothing cos he’s not the POTUS. Fox news should know better.

    And Gibbs? Just assume what ever comes out of his mouth, the opposite is in fact the truth, cos, so far, that’s what the record bears out.

  • BradW (the Infidel)

    Gibbs condescending attitude and demeaning remarks to and about any conservative is going to lead to his being sttod against a wall someday, handed a final cigarette and a blindfold….

    I cannot believe the depths to which this current White House administration and sycophants have taken the image of our country to.

    Gibbs and the other liberal/progressive mouth pieces remind me of nothing more than junior high kids, mostly girls in a popularity pissing contest, and have become nothing but petty in their remarks about anyone who is the slightest bit critical, or lacks enough praise of their social clique

  • odin2012

    The longer they draw this oil spill out, the better for Obama and his anti-oil, anti-bussiness,anti-American trolls. The more damage the spill does the more he can point a finger at the company and call them evil. :gun:

    • The Sentinel at the Gate

      Exactly; and since most of the South voted against the Obongo Regime, this is some payback for that. They will continue to draw this out as long as they possibly can so they can advance their agenda, which is:

      1. No more drilling anywhere, anytime within the US – either offshore on on land
      2. Make energy costs “necessarily skyrocket” (straight from the Kenyan cocksucker’s mouth)
      3. Forward the Green agenda
      4. Enrich all the Green people like that fat pile of shit Algore
      5. Starve the middle class into poverty

      No doubt about it; darker days are coming. Wake up America, Obongo doesn’t give a flying shit about you – only himself!

  • http://www.dirtydozensbunker.com Sanders

    Just ask yourself, “who benefits” from ending domestic oil production?

    Which oil is cheaper? Homegrown oil or imported oil? Who makes the most money from imported oil?

  • Citizen K

    If you are not aware, BP is spending $10′s of millions every single day just on the assets it has at the well site.

    What I see going on is that Palin is playing HARDBALL. O’Zero is not used to it and does not know how to respond. He is complicit only beause he has surrounded himself with useful idots who are now making him look far worse than Brown made Bush look.

    You are not getting the facts from any media source, even the right. They are too busy with AZ, Blumenthal and Paul

  • Citizen K

    I have been the ONLY one following this closely for the blogs. Two are posting my reports.

    I KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT.

  • CPLViper

    BP is limited to what it can do … if their next attempt (which I predicted was going to be basically a cork) fails, then what?

    This should have been taken care of a few days after they found out they could not shut it off with the DSRVs. The government should have stepped in a nuked it closed. From what I have read, the environmental impact from the explosion (if a 2kt tact was used) would only take about 4 days to return to normal levels.

    I don’t believe that BP has any low yield tactical nukes laying around and I would imagine buying one is out of the question, so it is either the country that the problem mostly effects that has to do it or some country in it’s stead that was asked to do it.

    I just don’t know why they are jerking around with BP’s efforts for so long … oh yeah … look who’s the (p)Resident.

    • Citizen K

      No NUKES that would make it 100 times worse. The government experimented with this in the 60′s. It did no come out well at all, even on land.

      A fellow who I know was involved at a VERY high level and says no friggn way should a nuke be anywhere near this well.

  • The Sentinel at the Gate

    WASHINGTON (AP) – “Responding to the massive BP oil spill, Congress is getting ready to quadruple—to 32 cents a barrel—a tax on oil used to help finance cleanups. The increase would raise nearly $11 billion over the next decade.
    The tax is levied on oil produced in the U.S. or imported from foreign countries. The revenue goes to a fund managed by the Coast Guard to help pay to clean up spills in waterways, such as the Gulf of Mexico.

    The tax increase is part of a larger bill that has grown into a nearly $200 billion grab bag of unfinished business that lawmakers hope to complete before Memorial Day. The key provisions are a one-year extension of about 50 popular tax breaks that expired at the end of last year, and expanded unemployment benefits, including subsidies for health insurance, through the end of the year.

    The House could vote on the bill as early as Tuesday. Senate leaders hope to complete work on it before Congress goes on a weeklong break next week.

    Lawmakers want to increase the current 8-cent-a-barrel tax on oil to make sure there is enough money available to respond to oil spills. At least 6 million gallons of crude have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico since a drilling rig exploded April 20 off the Louisiana coast.

    President Barack Obama and congressional leaders have said they expect BP to foot the bill for the cleanup.

    “Taxpayers will not pick up the tab,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday.

    BP executives told Congress last week they would pay “all legitimate claims” for damages. But the government needs upfront money to respond to spills, as well as money to pay for cleanups when the responsible party is unable to pay, or is unknown. Money spent from the fund can later be recovered from the company responsible for the spill.”

    An increased tax on a barrel of oil that is projected to “raise” $11B for cleanups for the next 10 years and our good guardian of the taxpayer, Harry Reid, tells us this isn’t going to cost the taxpayer anything. Incredible; how this evil empire will lie directly to our faces this burden will not affect us when clearly we will be paying for it at the pumps.

    In-fucking-credible; the shear and unrelenting arrogance of these disciples of Satan! Bent on the total destruction of the American middle class. Makes me wonder if this “catastrophe” wasn’t contrived by Soros and his minions as a way to collapse the stock market, rob what’s left of our savings and absolutely leave our economy in ruins. Bring on the revolution, because it’s about the only way we’re going to survive this house of horrors.

  • Tom in CO

    Any chance of drilling in the US in the next decade has been eliminated. Eco-nazis have the trump card here.

  • Kagiso Edwards

    Dear Oil Spill Obama,

    Yes, that’s right, you are an oil spill. Your policies and ideas stain the very nature of our land, despoiling its freedom, its prosperity, and its freedom. You spend weeks doing virtually nothing but talking about a deep ocean oil drilling accident, and the claim you you have been competently attempting to stop this ecological disaster from happening. But no, you would rather do nothing because then if you tried to stop the oil leak, and somehow failed, you would be blamed. Guess what dummy, you are going to be blamed quite fairly for having done nothing. Oh sure, you gave the oil rig that blew up an award for an outstanding safety record, and they gave you hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations (dirty money!). Having you, Obama, as the POTUS is the real disaster! But you know something? Just as this oil spill is going to bring further misery to America and Americans, fouling our environment, so also apparently will your administrative corruption and dishonesty continued to foul and devastate and bankrupt the American government, companies and citizens. This oil spill and you are not yet done creating great harm to our nation. You are a conman, a liar, and a betrayer of all that is good in our nation, willing even to promote the murder of innocent babies. You think this oil spill is vast in size and destruction? It is nothing compared to the people who are going to die because you are allowing rogue nations around the world to gain nuclear weapon capabilities. I don’t doubt for a minute that all these failures, scandals, filth, and death will be blamed by yourself on anyone and anything but yourself but that is just one more big dirty, oily lie from you, isn’t it? Unfortunately, our nation is about to get one of its stiffest lessons about not trusting the MSM, when they should have been instead trusting in God and praying to God, standing up to say what the truth is and in making use of their own freedom to do and know what is right, and to hold their government accountable to the truth. WE THE PEOPLE MUST UNITE TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT.