Fixing oil disaster my responsibility, Obama says

[Raider]

After 5 WEEKS, mounting public outrage and poll numbers showing the President has NOT done enough to stop the leak and contain the oil, is he finally accepting some responsibility.

Obama;

"My job right now is just to make sure everybody in the Gulf understands: This is what I wake up to in the morning, and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about. The spill."

Sorry Mr. President, If only you got off your self serving ass from day one and recognized this was a potential disaster and acted on it like a commander and Chief would, you wouldn't be in damage control mode right now. Instead you would be in front of the TV camera's taking all the credit.

Let me correct your quote for you;

"My job right now is just to make sure everybody in the Gulf understands: This is what I wake up to in the morning, and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about. Public opinion."

Full story;

Fixing oil disaster my responsibility, Obama says
By JENNIFER LOVEN and TOM RAUM, Associated Press


WASHINGTON – On the defensive more than five weeks into the nation's worst-ever oil spill, President Barack Obama insisted Thursday that his administration, not oil giant BP, was calling the shots in the still-unsuccessful response.

"I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down," Obama declared at a news conference in the East Room of the White House. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill dominated the hour-long session.

He called the spill an "unprecedented disaster" and blasted a "scandalously close relationship" he said has persisted between Big Oil and government regulators.

Obama announced new steps to deal with the aftermath of the spill, including continuing a moratorium on drilling permits for six months. He also said he was suspending planned exploration drilling off the coasts of Alaska and Virginia and on 33 wells under way in the Gulf of Mexico.

The president's direct language on being in charge of the spill response, which he repeated several times, marked a change in emphasis from earlier administration assertions that, while the government was overseeing the operation, BP had the expertise and equipment to make the decisions on how to stop the flow.

As recently as Monday, the top federal official in charge of dealing with the oil catastrophe, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, declined to broadly say the federal government was "in charge." Instead, when asked about that, Allen told reporters that BP was responsible for the cleanup and the government was accountable to make sure the company did it. "I would say it's less a case of 'in charge,'" Allen said when asked about that phrase.

Yet with each passing day, public frustration with Obama's administration has grown, and his poll numbers on the matter are dropping.

Claiming control carries its own political risks for Obama, because any failure to stop the gusher will then belong to the president. But he could suffer politically if his administration is seen as falling short of staying on top of the problem or not working hard to find a solution.

"The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort," Obama said. He was reacting to criticism that his administration has been slow to act and has left BP in charge of plugging the leak.

Obama said many critics failed to realize "this has been our highest priority."

"My job right now is just to make sure everybody in the Gulf understands: This is what I wake up to in the morning, and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about. The spill."

"There shouldn't be any confusion here. The federal government is fully engaged," he said, underscoring his central point.

As he spoke, BP worked furiously to pump mud-like drilling fluid into the blown-out well.

It was an untested procedure but seemed to be working, officials said Thursday, even as new estimates showed the spill has surpassed the Exxon Valdez in Alaska as the worst in U.S. history.

Obama said while the "top kill" procedure being used by BP demonstrated his administration's willingness to try "any reasonable strategy" to stop the gusher, the process "offers no guarantee of success."

Asked about inevitable comparisons between his handling of the disaster with his predecessor's handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Obama said: "I'll leave it to you guys to make those comparisons and make — and make — and make judgments on it, because — because what I'm spending my time thinking about is how do we solve the problem?

"And I'm confident that people are going to look back and say that this administration was on top of what was an unprecedented crisis," he added.

"This has been our highest priority," he said. He conceded that "people are going to be frustrated until it stops."

As an example of the government's hands-on approach, Obama said that BP had wanted to drill a single "relief" well in an effort to eventually stop the leak in several months if all else failed. Instead, the administration insisted on two relief wells being drilled, Obama said.

Over and over, the president sought to counter criticism that the administration was giving too much leeway to BP PLC. "Make no mistake, BP is operating at our direction," he said.

"We will demand that they pay every dime they owe for the damage they've done and the painful losses that they've cost," he said. Still, he acknowledged, "We've got to get it right."

He denounced what he called "the oil industry's cozy and sometimes corrupt" ties with government regulators.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg , D-N.J., a critic of offshore drilling, said Obama had taken an important step to halt the most imminent environmental threat to the Atlantic coast, but he said the danger will remain until there is a permanent ban on drilling in the Atlantic.

"BP's oil catastrophe in the Gulf is a wake-up call for our nation. Giving Big Oil more access to our nation's waters will only lead to more pollution, more lost jobs and more damage to our economy," Lautenberg said.

Obama said the federal government "has acted consistently with a sense of urgency" on the spill. But, he acknowledged a "sense of complacency on the government's part in planning how to deal with the worst-case scenario" before it happened.

He said a cozy relationship between industry and government didn't change when he came into office.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar "came in and started cleaning house. But the culture had not fully changed at MMS. And surely I take responsibility for that."

But, he added, "there is no evidence some of the corrupt practices that took place earlier took place under the present administration's watch."

He spoke shortly after the head of the troubled agency that oversees offshore drilling, Minerals Management Services Director Elizabeth Birnbaum, resigned under pressure.

"I found out about her resignation today. I don't know the circumstances under which this occurred," Obama said.

A senior administration official said that Salazar had informed the president Wednesday night that he had decided to replace Birnbaum at MMS, after Obama told the interior secretary to make sure that every person under him was capable of doing the job he had. However, Obama was not aware of how the replacement was carried out Thursday morning, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama

[fab]

I don't think anything will help here. If you love Obama, then any criticism is right-wing, racist, Republican; or any of the above. Presidents do make mistakes, so if those can criticize both sides, then they're level headed thinking individuals, otherwise, there like most people, our side is correct, yours is wrong.

[DomainsInc]

I don't think anything will help here. If you love Obama, then any criticism is right-wing, racist, Republican; or any of the above. Presidents do make mistakes, so if those can criticize both sides, then they're level headed thinking individuals, otherwise, there like most people, our side is correct, yours is wrong.

This goes both ways for dems or repubs...on the bright side BP is saying they have stopped the oil flow..

[Raider]

on the bright side BP is saying they have stopped the oil flow..

Yes, that is certainly a good thing, I was reading where they plan to fill the leak with mud.....I hope to God it works.

The downside is the damage is done, when all that oil makes it's way to the shores of the Gulf states, destroying animal and see life, public outrage over this is going to increase substantially.

But for every downside theirs an upside. The White House is in damage control mode right now, A new USA/Gallop poll shows that 53% give Obama a failing grade for his handing of the spill... And with mid-term elections just around the corner, I think your going to see a lot more action on the part of this administration than what wev'e seen of his dismal performance of the last 5 weeks.

[Seraphim]

Great! Since it's his responsibility, someone hand him a bucket and a mop. Once he's all geared up, stuff him into a circus cannon, and fire him into the Gulf.

[Acro]

The on-going joke is that there is too much salt water in the Gulf oil.

[Raider]

I don't think anything will help here. If you love Obama, then any criticism is right-wing, racist, Republican; or any of the above. Presidents do make mistakes, so if those can criticize both sides, then they're level headed thinking individuals, otherwise, there like most people, our side is correct, yours is wrong.

Your right Fab, all Presidents make mistakes, Bush made plenty and so did many Presidents before him. FAILING to mandate these automatic shut off switches that could of prevented this accident is inexcusable in my opinion.

[Mike Cruz]

Your right Fab, all Presidents make mistakes, Bush made plenty and so did many Presidents before him. FAILING to mandate these automatic shut off switches that could of prevented this accident is inexcusable in my opinion.

Yeah, like that was the only mistake Bush made / didn't make... adding automatic shut off switches, rofl you are hilarious.

Oh and I thought he wasn't going to accept responsibility? I think you were mistaking him for Bush... the man who thought EVERY mistake he made as president was a success! Yeah... maybe for Dick's wallet.

Talk about Damage control, this thread is Raider's.

[500,000]

...

[enterpryzman]

wonder if he has had his " Oh shit, I actually am the president " moment yet. I am sure it was much easier saying what you would do as president PRIOR to being elected. I dont like him BUT, he is our president and I will support him until he fails to be re-elected.

Enterpryzman

[Mike Cruz]

Obama dam neared cried when he admitted it is his responsibility

He admitted it was his responsibility when in reality it really isn't. That is what you call a leader.

It's the GREEDY oil companies that you so fondly supports' responsibility. They are billion dollar corporations ripping us off blind and they can't take these precautions on their own? We are suppose to enforce a blatantly obvious need for this process, pay for it? Then when it goes bad we are suppose to be the heroes and clean up THEIR mess?

You guys sure do like to complain about wasting tax dollars, but are sure quick to blame PRESIDENT OBAMA for something that was obviously out of his control, nor was his responsibility.

Don't want a government take over, but wouldn't mind corporations tattooing their logos to your ass... but then again, this is all just a so pathetically desperate attempt by the GOP and Tea Party donks to try to make the President look bad because they think they can actually win the up coming elections, sad thing is the dumb people like yourselves out weigh the intelligent people who see right through all this hogwash, fairy tale bullshit.

Keep praying to your saviors, crossing your fingers and sitting at home eating shit waiting for a miracle to happen, you will only think back seeing home much of your life was a waste and complete failure.

[Raider]

Yeah, like that was the only mistake Bush made / didn't make... adding automatic shut off switches, rofl you are hilarious.

Where did I say it was his only mistake? Oh wait, I didn't.

He admitted it was his responsibility when in reality it really isn't. That is what you call a leader.

NO, that's what you call a weasel who had no other choice.

Amazing how Obama passed up every opportunity to claim responsibility for anything during the 5 weeks of this incident and only did so after unfavorable poll numbers came out. And to hold a press conference after nearly 1 year?

Of course this accident is NOT Obamas fault, What IS his fault is failing to act early on this disaster when it was apparent it was beyond BP's capabilities.

[Mike Cruz]

Make up your mind Raider, before he was on TV too much, now too less. You said he wouldn't take responsibility, he did... Even though it wasn't his responsibility. I understand you do not like the guy, not everyone does, but it is okay to agree with him sometimes. Shit, you don't even need to agree with him, just sometimes you shouldn't say anything.

I don't like 100% of what he does, I will never like 100% of what a president does. Anyone who agrees with a president 100% of the time has no idea whats going on (Not saying this is you).

The ONLY people to blame is BP. They are responsible for this situation, their greed is the number one suspect, no matter how bad you want to pin this on the president to make him look bad.

They could of had "Top Kill" in there the same day, but they waited it out to try to extort our government to clean up their mess, it didn't happen so they finally decided to fix the situation themselves. What is really so hard to see here / understand?

[Raider]

Make up your mind Raider, before he was on TV too much, now too less. You said he wouldn't take responsibility, he did... Even though it wasn't his responsibility. I understand you do not like the guy, not everyone does, but it is okay to agree with him sometimes. Shit, you don't even need to agree with him, just sometimes you shouldn't say anything.

If you mean take responsibility for failing to act early enough, NO, I haven't see Obama do that yet, have you?

You may want to read what he actually said and what's he's actually taking responsibility for.

I don't like 100% of what he does, I will never like 100% of what a president does. Anyone who agrees with a president 100% of the time has no idea whats going on (Not saying this is you).

What percentage do you like?

-------------------------

Did anyone catch James Carville trashing Obama over this? When members of his own party start trashing him, you know it's bad...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtvoLrQBxis

At least he's intellectually HONEST.

[jberryhill]

the President has NOT done enough to stop the leak

Yeah. He can just swim down there and plug it up with his Kenyan birth certificate.

Shame on him for rejecting all of the sure-fire ideas being offered by Sarah Palin.

[fab]

Yeah. He can just swim down there and plug it up with his Kenyan birth certificate.

Shame on him for rejecting all of the sure-fire ideas being offered by Sarah Palin.

Kenyan birth certificate Sarah Palin No, nice flip, shame on you. More race baiting. I assume you apply the same to Katrina. No, the question isn't whether pres. Obama should go over and swim there, the question is whether he should be applying his powers to find some method of stopping the leak.

[biggedon]

Yeah. He can just swim down there and plug it up with his Kenyan birth certificate.

or maybe he can stand on the shore, drop his pants and plug it with his penis.... while saluting the american flag


but people would complain about that too

[fab]

but people would complain about that too

I'm sure that would be one of the best things to raise his sagging ratings.

[biggedon]

I'm sure that would be one of the best things to raise his sagging ratings.

i think that would make a lot of critics happy


it's really what they want to see anyway, but are too afraid to ask

then after they see it.... they'll want to cut it off


what's yo name, boy?

my name kunta!

you'z want me to cut it off boy?

no sur massa

then what's yo name boy?

my name toby

[CureCancer]

Yeah. He can just swim down there and plug it up with his Kenyan birth certificate.

Shame on him for rejecting all of the sure-fire ideas being offered by Sarah Palin.

That is racist.