Posted on 05/27/2010 1:58:24 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
President Obama assured the public that he is seizing the reins of the oil spill response in the Gulf of Mexico, saying Thursday that Washington is calling the shots even though it needs to rely on BP's expertise.
"I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down," Obama said.
Speaking at his first full-blown press conference since July, Obama rejected the notion that Washington has been sitting on the "sidelines." He said the response is "absolutely not" going perfectly and that he was "wrong" to believe oil companies "had their act together when it came to worst-case scenarios," but insisted his administration is committed to stopping the leak and controlling the damage.
"We are relying on every resource and every idea," he said Thursday. "We will take ideas from anywhere, but we are going to stop it."
The press conference comes as the White House battles the perception that it has not done enough to contain the damage from the gushing oil spill. The criticism has been mounting in recent days, particularly from lawmakers and political strategists typically aligned with the Obama White House.
The president took questions from 10 reporters at the press conference -- most of them dealt with the oil spill.
From the top, Obama called the leak his administration's "highest priority" and said the federal government is "in charge." He said anyone claiming otherwise doesn't know the facts.
"This entire White House and this federal government has been singularly focused on how do we stop the leak and how do we prevent and mitigate the damage to our coastlines," Obama said.
Obama said response teams are using the "best science" to plug the leak, but stressed that BP, not the federal government, has the "superior technology"
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
But he insisted that Washington is the one giving the orders and has the authority to direct BP to change course.
Call in Maxine Waters!!!
Dictatorial.
Like an entire industry wouldn’t need to stop this.
Boot on their neck, etc.
DICTATORIAL!
Actually, he takes credit only for the solution working, but blames Bush for all the rest.
Truly the dumbest person in any room.
“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.” ~ Milton Friedman
The President’s speech did not inspire confidence in him or his minions.
“We are in control here. I have directed BP to plug the leak, and what more could anyone want?”
By Obama’s comments, he just shifted the accountability from BP to the Federal Government thus freeing BP from any claims being paid by them for the cleanup efforts. Of course BP will admit they were responsible for the accident and pay claims for that but since Obama said they have been in charge since day one and that he takes full responsibility, the people effected in Louisiana will now get to file claims against the government. Good going Mr. President (Usurper I should add).
‘we’re now in charge’
and also said
President Obama said quite clearly, “the federal government has been in charge since day one”.
So, it was nothing more than a ‘damage control’ press conference. Guess that’s why he had the meeting with the NAACP and Clinton this morning????
If this happened on Reagan’s watch he would have been on the phone on day one with the CEO’s saying how can we help to minimize the damage let us know what you need. Then he would have been on the phone to the governors from the surrounding states asking them what they needed and if they could also provide support the minimize and plug the leak. He would have also given governors like Jindal free rein to do whatever needed to be done. Obama is late to the party but: HE IS PACKED FOR VACATION.
“I have directed BP to plug the leak ...”
Thank, god, it might not have occurred to BP to plug the leak if not for obummer’s stepping in after weeks of diddling.
Exactly what is it that Jindal wanted to do that he couldn’t do without Obama anyway ?
If something was needed for Jindal to be done, what’s stopping him from doing it ? Why does he need Washington to tell him what he needs to do for his state ?
See my tagline, courtesy of Rush Limbaugh:
"I trusted those guys, but they lied to me."
He has a gift alright. Per Barry, his mistake was to naively trust in the honesty of others. Barry's problem then is that he is just too good. Wonder if his mama bought that crap. It's like a job interview question when they ask for your greatest weakness, and you make it sound positive.
There are things Jindal needs permission for and he is going to do them anyway because Jindal knows how to lead and permission be damned. Jindal cannot even get Obama to return his calls.
This story sounds like it was pulled straight out of Atlas Shrugged.
he spent a lot of time lieing his rear off today ...is anyone watching fox financial channel right now ...about shore bank?
Zero tries “The Picard Manuver”.
“Surrender or I will talk at you again”
RE: There are things Jindal needs permission for and he is going to do them anyway because Jindal knows how to lead and permission be damned.
Some questions come to mind:
1) What does he plan to do ?
2) Why didn’t he do it already ?
3) What’s holding him up if this plan needs to be implemented?
4) What kind of permission does he need ?
Obama is already threatening to jail Governors who take any state’s rights stance - I would be proud of any Governor willing to call Barry’s bluff. Jindall has waited long enough - get on with whatever is necessary to protect the coastline. Hopefully it’s not too late.
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