NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal uses a new book to portray President Barack Obama as disconnected from the Gulf oil spill, charging that he was more focused on the political aftermath than the actual impact of the crisis. (more)
The presidential panel investigating the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has found no evidence so far that employees made decisions to put profit ahead of safety, Chief Counsel Fred Bartlit said today. (more)
According to Wikipedia, fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme and/or setting. I bring this up because we’ve been hearing quite a bit about a “Democratic surge” lately, and this is a quintessential example of political fantasy. While there has been some tightening in several races — a result of core Democratic voters returning to the fold that is typical as an Election Day approaches — the “surge” is a complete fabrication, fed and encouraged by a mainstream media searching for an interesting plotline for this election. (more)
“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” — Adam Smith (more)
Since the tragic disaster that was last spring’s Gulf oil spill, the public has been inundated by newspaper and television coverage that, while prolific, is at best superficial and generally one-sided. It’s time to tell the truth. (more)
The political pendulum has swung far toward the Republicans, and at this point there is almost nothing that Democrats and the president can do to alter the overall course of the midterm elections. Republicans will win the House — and quite possibly the Senate — on November 2nd. Democrats had a politically devastating summer that is now stretching into the fall. Politicos talk about campaigns “winning” the day or the week; well, Democrats have “lost” the last seven months. (more)
BP said in an internal report released Wednesday that “a sequence of failures” involving “multiple companies and work teams” caused the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. (more)
Brad Pitt has waded into the Gulf oil spill controversy with an extraordinary veiled attack on BP. (more)
Kenneth Feinberg, who tomorrow will start drawing from a $20 billion escrow fund for Gulf oil spill victims, hasn’t decided whether they must waive their right to sue companies involved if they accept final reimbursement. (more)
Gov. Charlie Crist’s job approval ratings have dropped to an all-time low for him – 44 percent – and represent the lowest posted by a Florida governor in 16 years, according to a new Mason-Dixon poll. This is the first time Crist’s job performance has dropped below 50 percent. (more)
The economy, wars in the Middle East and health-care reform – they’re all topics experts say voters will lean on heavily in November. But with the Gulf disaster having just subsided after more than 100 days, will environmental issues play a role in the midterm elections? Medill reporter Rebecca Dolin tries to find out. (more)
Without a doubt, these are difficult days for Barack Obama. With a job approval rating in the 40s, with voters threatening to desert the Democrats in the midterms, and with no sign of events breaking his way, the heady days following his inauguration seem a dim and distant memory. (more)
Images from the Gulf of Mexico suggest a once vast expanse of oil is breaking up so rapidly it may soon be invisible to satellite photography. But scientists warned today that underwater plumes of oil could linger for a year or even decades. (more)
House and Senate Democratic leaders Tuesday rolled out their big “spill bills” — the main legislative responses to the Gulf oil spill. The proposals are packed with aggressive offshore drilling reforms that Republicans have long fought and were immediately met with fierce pushback from the GOP and the oil industry. (more)
Along the Gulf of Mexico (CNN) — The family business has closed, and the couple can’t work — for themselves or for BP, it seems. Their neighbors and community leaders, she says, are showing a kind of greed she’s never seen before. They aren’t the people she thought they were. (more)
After weeks of intense negotiations, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada announced Thursday that comprehensive energy reform meant to address climate change could not be passed before the August break. (more)
Tony Hayward is to step down as BP’s chief executive within the next ten weeks as the company seeks to draw a line under its disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, sources said Tuesday. (more)
British Prime Minister David Cameron urged the American people Tuesday not to assume that oil giant BP persuaded the Scottish government to release the Lockerbie bomber from prison a year ago, saying the company deserves blame for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico but that there is no evidence of wrongdoing in an attempt to gain access to oil fields off Libya’s coast. (more)
The Gulf oil spill is delivering a crushing blow to coastal residents and businesses, but Washington’s response threatens to place additional hardships on the Gulf region that could jeopardize our national energy security. In the wake of the accident, President Obama first halted work in the deep water Gulf and then suspended 33 existing deepwater projects. A temporary pause to inspect these deepwater drilling rigs was warranted; an outright ban will cripple the already struggling Gulf Coast community. Now that the BP well has been capped and a permanent solution to the leak is on the way, the president should re-evaluate his hasty and politically motivated decision to issue a deepwater drilling moratorium. (more)
