A Speech Filled With Lies

In listening to last night's latest propaganda performance by our community-rabble-rouser-in-chief, I find my anger boiling over, living here in Louisiana and staying informed on a day-to-day basis of events of the Obama Oil Disaster.

Let's look now at the truth behind the lies. While the president presented the need for new regulations, the administration failed miserably to implement existing laws and policies. The Huffington Post (not exactly a right-wing publication) described how under the Bush administration, the Deepwater Horizon rig had been issued six safety citations, including one on the blowout protector which failed and allowed the blowout. However, just prior to the blowout, the Obama administration had issued a safety award to the rig.

The proclamation that deep-water drilling is necessary because oil was depleted in shallower waters is maliciously wrong. Environmental policies have put an end to ordinary offshore drilling in many cases, forcing oil companies to go to deeper waters.

The president implied the building of sand barriers to be part of his plan. In reality, Governor Jindal, under whose administration the idea was developed, was restrained for over a month from building those sand barriers to prevent the oil from encroaching into our coastlines and swamps. Now that the swamps are saturated with oil, barrier construction is approved, and the president deceitfully claims "We've approved the construction of barrier islands in Louisiana, to try and stop the oil before it reaches the shore..."

The Obama administration has turned down offers from other nations to send skimmer ships to help in the clean up. The Jones Act prohibits foreign ships from doing such work in U.S. waters, but this act can be rescinded in an emergency, as it was after Hurricane Katrina. The current regime has refused to allow foreign ships to be used because of pressure from labor unions. The Dutch offered early on to help in the clean up, but were refused by the regime.

The only effective responses of the Obama administration are to ban drilling, to threaten to take over British Petroleum, and to push for a "new energy policy." Louisiana, the state most affected by the oil disaster, has maintained a 4-6% unemployment rate, roughly half of the national average. Obama has effectively allowed the destruction of the Louisiana seafood industry. This, in turn, affects our tourism. His ban on drilling will cause the loss of jobs in the oil industry. Republican-run Louisiana will now be forced, by Democratic-led federal intervention, to face the same levels of unemployment as the rest of the nation. Is this a result of coincidence or calculation?

I would like to think that the president simply made poor decisions. A glance at his reaction, however, shows that these were not mistakes. Obama capitalized on the situation by turning a bad accident into a major disaster. His calculated moves increase federal interference in local governance and strengthen the executive branch to a degree of power far beyond that granted by our U.S. Constitution, a document deemed obsolete by most current politicians, but to which our military is sworn to uphold against enemies both foreign and domestic.

Private individuals in Alabama and Florida are PROHIBITED from doing voluntary beach cleanup. So much for their individual rights. Unless a go-ahead is given by our all-powerful federal government, no actions can be taken on a state or local level for cleanup. Obama wants visible damage, in order to remind our people of the catastrophe, so that government regulations and intervention can be increased. I am reminded that James Madison once remarked, "Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant."

The executive branch of government has openly usurped the power of the judicial branch. In the president's words, "We will make B.P. pay for the damage their company has caused." It is not up to the president of the United States to hold accountable or punish those companies he deems guilty. It is not within the power of the presidency to dictate what money B.P. has to pay out in damages, nor dictate the manner in which this is done. The proper third party to manage any trust funds or payouts is the constitutionally-established court system, not an executive-appointed board. What happened to the process of the class-action lawsuit? What gives anyone in our government the right to declare a company guilty without due process of the law, and a fair trial?

What is happening to our constitutional rights under the current regime? When the president determines the guilt and innocence of private companies, the next step is to usurp similar power over individuals. This is the mark of a totalitarian dictator rather than an elected official of a free republic.