Oil spill visits get partisan

Politico ^ | June 29, 2010 | JAKE SHERMAN

[BAW]

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) wanted to fly 10 lawmakers down to the Gulf of Mexico to see the damage caused by BP’s gigantic oil spill first hand.

House Democrats said no.

Scalise’s trip was rejected for a variety of bureaucratic and logistical reasons, but it has also opened a new vein of partisan squabbling over who should be allowed to arrange a trip to view the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Republicans want to be able to take trips using their office spending allowance. But Democrats have heard from the Department of Homeland Security, which has asked that Congress organize trips through committees of jurisdiction, to avoid having to cater to a ton of individual lawmakers in a disaster zone, Democratic aides say. GOP leaders say they’ve heard nothing of this.

The squabbling over who gets to travel to the Gulf on whose dime is the latest sign that congressional oversight of the oil spill oversight from Capitol Hill has been bogged down by partisanship. Congress has held upwards of 20 hearings on the disaster, often duplicative ones each week, as lawmakers struggle to grasp and fully realize the scope of BP’s giant oil spill.

Scalise wants to organize a trip so lawmakers can fully grasp the impact before they vote on oil drilling regulations. And he doesn't want to do it through a committee, because the members don't fit neatly into specific panels — they stretch across committee, and even partisan, lines.

[BAW]

Drudge screaming this on his headlines.

[linn37]

Can’t he pay for his own ticket and go down?

[a fool in paradise]

The Democrats couldn’t plug the well so they are plugging the media leaks instead.

[tatsinfla]

exactly...if they are that concerned throw it back in the dems face and pay their own way....

[a fool in paradise]

The Apollo 13 astronauts would still be in orbit if Obama had been president.

[latina4dubya]

The Apollo 13 astronauts would still be in orbit if Obama had been president.

haha! funny--but sad--but true...

[jmax]

S-H-O-C-K-E-D ........that's what I am !!!!! To hear that Pelosi would do something like that !!!!!! Completely frigging knock-me-down shocked.

s/off

[magellan]

Most corrupt congress ever.

[Gene Eric]

>> Can’t he pay for his own ticket and go down?

That’s not the point. Secondly, their expenses should be covered in this instance as this is the type of crisis that should involve the govt.

It’s not like he and his colleagues are flying to a major city for “date night”.

[Domangart]

1. You will go to the designated beach for the photo op.
2. Reporters will stay in the designated reporter box.
3. A clean stick will be provided to stick in the oil.
4. 24 hours notice will be given to staff the place.
5. The booze list will be given to the hostitute
72 hours before the visit.

[moodyskeptic]

The Regime wants only glowing Democrat junkets which will congratulate the feds for a brilliant job. Imagine had this happened after Katrina.

[Diogenesis]

Perhaps the Democrats must do this because the dispersants
and the oil are now in the food chain.

Researchers Have Now Found Evidence Of Oil Contamination In Gulf's Food Chain

[jerseygirl]

Obamination does not want us to see the truth! A picture is worth a thousand words. I remain outraged at his inability to deal with this ongoing crisis. 13 countries have offered to help the U.S. since the beginning, but none have made it through the inevitable red tape. Meanwhile Wackenhut workers deny Gulf residents the opportunity to take pictures of their once pristine beaches.

Just wait til this sludge of oil/chems/gases reaches the Chesapeake Bay and annihilates Annapolis. Destructive rain from the spill has already been observed in Virginia and Tennessee....