Tired: Dems Attempt to Blame Cheney for Oil Spill
by SusanAnne Hiller
The Hill reports the latest attempt by the Democrats to deflect the outrage of the American people by blame shifting the cause of the Gulf oil spill disaster to former VP Dick Cheney and the Bush administration:
Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee traded partisan blows Tuesday over whether the Obama administration or the former Bush administration deserves more blame for the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Senior Democrats on the panel — Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) — used a hearing on the Interior Department’s role to trace the disaster back to former Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy policy task force.
Waxman said that task force — which was assembled early in the Bush administration — set the stage for policies that pushed drilling at the expense of tough safety oversight of rigs and review of environmental risks.
“The cop on the beat was off-duty for nearly a decade and this gave rise to a dangerous culture of permissiveness,” Waxman said. “In many ways this history begins with Vice President Cheney’s secretive energy task force.”
Waxman said that under the Bush-era Interior Department, “the priority was more drilling first and safety second,” although he added that the current administration was also too hands-off before the spill.
Seriously? Waxman and Markey obviously did not have access to this outstanding timeline and writeup by Kevin McCullough, which details the events dating back to February 13, 2010:
It seems incomprehensible that the president and other members of the administration still have jobs when it is now being reported that the federal government was apprised by BP on February 13 that the Deepwater Horizon oil rig was leaking oil and natural gas into the ocean floor.
In fact, according to documents in the administration’s possession, BP was fighting large cracks at the base of the well for roughly ten days in early February.
Further it seems the administration was also informed about this development, six weeks before to the rig’s fatal explosion when an engineer from the University of California, Berkeley, announced to the world a near miss of an explosion on the rig by stating, “They damn near blew up the rig.”
It’s also now being reported that BP was asking for the administration’s help on this matter long before the deadly accident and the now gushing well of tar.
Which leads me to some questions for the president. If I were in front row of reporters in the White House briefing room, here’s what I’d like to know:
1. It appears, Mr. President, that you were informed by BP about problems on Deepwater Horizon on February 13 and the company wanted your help. What did you say?
2. Given this new revelation, Mr. President, how can you can sleep at night knowing that your inaction cost the lives of eleven men in Louisiana?
3. Did you inform the victims’ families about these facts when you invited them to the White House for last month’s photo op?
4. You’ve said, Mr. President, time and again, that the buck stops with you. Doesn’t that statement seem like something bordering on propaganda when you follow it up with what appears to be a false sense of outrage by telling Matt Lauer that you’re looking for rear ends to kick?
5. Does the buck stop with you… or not?
6. Are you going to insist that Mr. Salazar step down from his post in disgrace and shame?
7. Will you hold another prime time television press conference and tell the entire truth to the American people? — These would be the actions of a man who says that the buck “stops” with him.
8. I know when this news was breaking midday on Saturday about the latest BP developments that you and the Vice President were out on the golf course. Was it 39th or 40th time you’ve played a round in 18 months? (Just for a point of reference President Bush played golf 24 times in eight years.) Never mind, your priorities are for you to decide. At least until election night…
The Democrats are truly going to have to stop the childish blame-shifting and whining about the Bush administration. It’s been almost 20 months, or 2 years, since Bush was in office. The American people don’t want any more finger pointing, they want action–swift, efficient, and effective–especially when pertaining to the Gulf and the Americans effected by the oil spill.
But, the Democrats are still trying to figure who to blame so Obama can go kick their ass, when in reality, they should be kicking their own asses due to their negligence of the events of dating back to February 13, 2010.
Cartoon credit: TobyToons
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53 Comments
"But, the Democrats are still trying to figure who to blame so Obama can go kick their ass, when in reality, they should be kicking their own asses "
And thus kicking themselves in the head, as that is where their head is positioned.
The Obama administration, along with Henry Waxjob and Edward Full-of Malarkey , need to be called out on this. I agree though, the WH press corps, including FOX, will not do so with the kind of directness that this travesty by those 2 dorks calls for.
Even on a playground you won't hear this much blame going around. Since they like to act like kids, perhaps we should whip them all soundly ( fall elections ) and send them to bed ( in a jail house somewhere, preferably outside the Country).
I do not think the Anti-Americans holding power in our Government now will be able to blame Cheney for the oil spill. I do think the Dumbocrats and their voters have been able to do something NO Conservative has been able to.
Obama and his Blame America First Ivy League Wanna-be Aging Green Before Gowd Hippies have proven that the Founding Fathers and our Constitution were right. Government CAN"T FIX IT. Can't fix what? Anything. Government can however mess up a Sh;t Sandwich and for doing this we thank them! The only thing worse then the current tyrants holding power today are the propaganda Main Stream News Media who has enabled them. Now it is time for them to be removed.
Had BP not been forced to chase the mythical Green Unicorn it would have had the resources to make their drilling systems more robust. Why do liberals think oil companies want to pollute the earth any more than airlines want a plane crash to happen!
I guess eventually they'll get around to blame me because I pump gas regularly. It's just the matter of time. I hope they spell my name correctly.
Waxman=Moronic
Time and time again this admin and dems in general want to blame Bush and republicans. None of them will ever admit that it was they who had control of congress and consequently the PURSE STRINGS of the nation for 18 months prior to the big Zero winning the office. Look at the unemployment rates and the timeline. Rates started ticking up just a few months after Nancy got her nut-cracker hammer in congress. So it is true that unemployment was going higher as Bush left office,,,,but it was democrat control of congress that started the demise in our economy. Bush could not have spent a dime without the dems help.
somebody recently asked that pillar of intellect Nancy Pelosi a question…
When, she was asked, will you stop blaming the Republicans for the nation's problems? She batted her eyelashes numerous times as she is wont to do, and said simply:
'When ALL the problems go away'
Really people. You can't make this stuff up…
Guantánamo Bay would be too good for them.
"The Democrats are truly going to have to stop the childish blame-shifting and whining about the Bush administration."
And do what actually, take responsibility???
Please, that goes against everything in them.
Their perfect in every way, just ask them, so it always has to be someone else's fault.
The TRUTH…well spoken!
If an author wrote a book about the action, or inaction, of the Dims in congress and the White House, they'd have to sell it as fiction because nobody would believe it could be true!
This is nothing but a ploy to fix blame on Halliburton, and take the heat off Obama for cashing in with the huge windfall he received from BP. The quid pro quo came in the form when the Bureau of Mines and Minerals signed off on the drilling activity, with Obama's blessings naturally.
Never forget: Joe Wilson said, "You Lie!" Joe Wilson did not lie.
They're blaming a man dying of Congestive Heart Failure…….these people have no souls.
What would you expect from someone with a kickstand on her broom…..
But reading between the lines, you're left with the distinct impression that Cheney, 69, is entering the late stages of congestive heart failure, that his prognosis is not very good, and that the available treatment options are very limited.
Who are these political ghouls blaming a dying man – Classless doesn't even start to cover their ugliness
GRIM
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/07...
LOL Agreed! Well said!
It is not Cheney's fault.
It is Bush's fault!
Bow down before the infallible Obama.
Seriously, when he is going to stop blaming others and be president?
We all know that Chaney caused WW I, WW II, and was deep throat in Watergate. Bush caused the Katrina Hurricane, the Oil spill in the Gulf and the larger one in China, caused the extinction of Dinosaurs, and can be blamed for the mini Ice Age from the 14th to 19th Century and then caused Global Warming. I am waiting to hear that Bush caused Obama's daddy to be just a giglio on tour with Van Halen during the 80s.
It's always amusing to me when these two grandstanding assholes get up on their high horse and start spewing their version of the truth. Both should be tarred, feathered, and run out of town.
Why don't they bring up the truth in this situation. Hopey's campaign took one million dollars from BP in the last election cycle and then barely two months into his term his administration granted BP a waiver on a rule which required critical safety measures which would likely have prevented this disaster.
You know it's really a sad state of affairs when the media does not call bullsh!t on this type of behavior and expose the real criminals.
Thank you for this article, Ms. Hiller but, I am left wondering just what kind of "help" BP asked for, who in the administration did they ask and is the request documented.
This whole thing just sounds like another Dem distraction tactic which, they wouldn't bother to do unless there is some pretty damming evidence.
I can tell you this, we'll all be blaming Obama for what he has done to this nation for many years to come.
The difference is that it will be legitimate – Obama is not going to be able hide from all legislation he campaigned on, forced down our throats and signed into law. The cameras where there every time he lied straight faced to the American people.
We are all living through a period with the worst President, the worst House of Reps, worst Senate and the worst, most irresponsible press the nation has ever seen. The damage will take years to repair.
Kickstand? Try training wheels.
And hopefully kicking themselves out… of Washington.
Even if they say that those people who let BP get away with lax regulatory practices were Bush holdovers … well, Obama had been if office for 15 months or so. If the bureaucracy is so frikkin' huge that he couldn;t clean house in 15 months, maybe it's too big?
Pure evil. Blaming the blameless to a crowd of like-minds that is an ever increasing Godless America. Make no mistake, Satan is possessing more and more minds every day. Proof of this possession is not head-spinning with nose-smoke. No, it is a well orchestrated concert of lies. L-I-E-S lies.
Speaking of Satan – the Good Word says – "He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Jhn 8:44
Lots of luck with the dems beating that Cheney-Halliburton dead horse; the following is from an editorial today in the local New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Picayune:
"Two days before the blowout, contractor Halliburton warned that BP's well design could cause a "SEVERE gas flow problem." BP opted to push ahead anyway. Halliburton previously had urged BP to install additional equipment that would have made the well more stable. Previously disclosed e-mail messages from BP officials showed that the company rejected Halliburton's suggestion because BP's final design "saves a good deal of time/money."
From two weeks after the explosion, as reports began being published about what occurred on the rig, it became clear that the BP individual in charge on that rig substantially disregarded safety procedures and advice from the drillers and engineers that would have prevented the disaster, but were ignored in order to save money.
Maybe after the "chosen one" is thrown out of office, he'll take his wife, brood, mother in law and dog and move to….say Vemezuela, things can start to heal here in the United States. Oh, and take your aunt with you.
" If the bureaucracy is so frikkin' huge that he couldn;t clean house in 15 months, maybe it's too big? "
Maybe?
Maybe we're paying too much in taxes, maybe our political system is broken, maybe it's time to drain the swamp in DC, maybe it's time to enforce the Constitution.
There's a story about that kickstand. Seems one of the custodial staff borrowed her broom to sweep up the floordry under Barney's desk. Got it tangled in the chain 'Leather Boy' was tethered to and bent it out of shape. The last they saw of the guy was him running down the hall being chased by flying monkeys.
Who elected these idiots?
Idiots.
Your forgetting a few more on Bush. He also killed uncle Ben, shot Batmans parents, blew up Krypton, cause the Dust Bowl, created high fructose corn suryp, caused the Great Depression, sank the Titanic, and caused snowball Earth to.
Thanks for the laugh, Vince!
They blame Cheney…..I blame them for making us drill so far off the coast.
And the beat goes on.
9/11 was considered to be BUSH's fault so I say…YOUR WATCH…YOUR FAULT… So the oil spill is OBAMA's FAULT!
Great evidence. Docket material.
Had to find the song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zblr8g3P7tw
I always thought it was Nixon.
Breitbart is missing the biggest story of the week. The Rally for Economic Survival held yesterday in Lafayette, LA.
Maybe we should shut the valve to the rest of the nation. It would cause economic disaster that nukes on Wall Street and DC could only dream of.
The speakers were spectacular, Angelle, Jindal, Nungesser, Hofmeister, to name a few of the 11 wonderful speeches of the realities of the importance of offshore drilling off of Louisiana that Alaska and Texas combined can only dream about.
Everything in your life is touch by the oil and natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico, the chemicals and products it is used for, like computer chips, pharmaceuticals and 14,000 other items.
Great article… one editorial aside–there's a usage error in the end of the article:
"pertaining to the Gulf and the Americans effected by the oil spill." That should be "AFFECTED by the oil spill"
The leftoids were all over Bush for not removing the people put in office by the leftoid favorite, Clinton, in time to spot and prevent 9-11. But it's Bush's fault Obama's appointees did not spot and correct the problems with BP. Oops. They caused many of the regulatory problems.
It doesn't matter if it's true. Blaming Cheney fits the Obama template.
and are pure evil in MHO….
As Andrew Wilkow says: Zero Liability Voters
If the MMS under Obama and Salazar had done something other than crystal meth and letting BP write it's own inspection reports, this might not have happened. Friggin Gov't oversight group that colludes with the industry it's supposed to oversee!!! If the MMS can't do it's job, eliminate the MMS. Why waste the money. Would you pay a mechanic who spends his time doing drugs and milking kickbacks from the manufacturer instead of doing his job?
If we go to the root of the problem, we wouldn't be drilling in 5000ft water if the enviro-whacko's hadn't forced platforms out of the shallower waters, out of ANWR, prevented oil shale recovery, and nixed 77 new oil leases in Utah that had already been approved.
I learned one thing about the friggin enviro-hippies at age 12. Been saying this for 25 years now:
"They complain about coal plants. Cheapest form of energy, with 200 yrs of material known already in the country. BUUUUT…Too much pollution.
They complain about nuke plants. Too dangerous, even though it's a proven system, with no pollution.
They complain about hydro-electric plants. Zero emissions. BUUUTTT… Too disruptive to the fish population.
Then they complain that their energy bill is too high. "
I attribute the quote to a great man, Ed Clark, Sr. Such a man we may never see again, and the world will be a worse place without him. R.I.P. Mr. Clark.
Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) Quack
Face it, this well was approved and then rushed by this administration.
It's not about pollution for these radicals, it's about locking up the wealth of our natural resources so the USA will no longer have any influence or power in the world. All of our wealth and prosperity ultimately comes from our natural resources. They're rapidly putting all of it into some "lock box" so we can't touch it.
We have the most coal and natural gas in the world, and we have 500% more oil than Saudi Arabia in the Rocky Mtn shale oils — and we know how to extract it for about $12 per barrel.
If the radical enviro pukes really wanted to save the planet they would be bugging China, Venezuela and the Niger Delta to clean up their acts. They're marxist frauds.
.
Yeah baby!!
Believe me, a lot of left-wingers are still adjusting to the fact that they no longer have George W Bush to whine about.
Up here in Canada, our left-wing parties tried to make a lot of political hay out of accusing Stephen Harper of being Bush Jr. Now that Bush is out of office, they're totally lost and sinking fast in the polls.
It's over for them — they lack the intellectual creativity to go back to formula and figure out what they have to offer, so they just keep trotting Bush out over and over again.
The left has always been a joke. Now the world knows they are.
…and G.W. Bush sits in silence…Does he have a spine? Carter and Clinton are never without a comment.
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