Oil spill commission comprised of advocates The White House panel is made-up of technocrat policy wonks

WASHINGTON, DC—President Obama’s blue ribbon commission looking into the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are mostly environmental and clean/green energy advocates with no engineering or technical background—some of which blog on a regular basis about the need to end drilling altogether or at least ban deepwater drilling.

One panel member, environmental activist and president of the far left Natural Resources Defense Council, Frances Beinecke; who on May 27^th wrote on her blog, "We can blame BP for the disaster and we should. We can blame lack of adequate government oversight for the disaster and we should. But in the end, we also must place the blame where it originated: America's addiction to oil." And earlier in May on the 20^th, she wrote, "Even as questions persist, there is one thing I know for certain: the Gulf oil spill isn't just an accident. It's the result of a failed energy policy."

In fact only one of the seven panelists has a background in engineering—Cherry A. Murray, who is the dean of Harvard's engineering and applied sciences school—but his knowledge lies in physics and optics, not environmental, civil, or mechanical engineering. The co-chair is Bob Graham, the former democrat governor of Florida and senator who opposed offshore drilling.

In short, Mr. Obama has assembled a panel of anti-exploratory, hostile environmentalists, and green energy theoreticians to look into the safety and viability of deep and shallow water drilling. Even the New York Times is critical of the selection; we wait with baited breath to see their recommendations.

-- Owen E. Richason

Chief Editor, Killswitch Politick

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No win in sight How a political calculation over the oil spill could cost the president

WASHINGTON, DC—In what is now clearly a political calculation gone awry, President Obama is feeling the effects in his poll numbers and his political clout. The fallout his inaction to the BP oil spill will come at a heavy price and may even damage his party more come November. This remains to be seen, but an early handicapping would indeed conclude the president’s party is going to be set back even more because voters will remember the federal government’s response to Katrina—there was one, whereas here, there has not been one.

When asked about the political strategizing that came when the president was informed about the spill, I simply explain the advice he received from Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod was probably, “Stay out of it; you don’t want your fingerprints on this.” That is until the spigot would be capped within a week or so, then, “Mr. President, move in and take credit.” But that didn’t happen and over thirty days later, Obama had to hold a press conference stating the federal government had been in charge since day one but didn’t have the resources for a fix.

Strange how a man, with a statist mentality who pushed health care reform at the cost of losing a democrat majority, who nationalized General Motors, and who seeks to regulate every aspect of Wall Street has to admit that government isn’t the answer. As Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “When you ask a government far away in Washington to handle everything, it will handle nothing well.”

-- Owen E. Richason

Chief Editor, Killswitch Politick

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