The Heritage Foundation
August 13th, 2010
Next week, for the fifth time since July, the first family will board Air Force One for yet another luxury vacation, this time to an exclusive Martha’s Vineyard estate that rents for up to $50,000 a week. But before they head north, the Obamas will first grace Panama City, Fla., with their presence this weekend for what is being billed as a "solidarity vacation to the Gulf Coast"
While in Florida, the President is expected to meet with local business leaders to discuss the effects of the spill before departing on a cross-country trip around the United States including stops in Los Angeles and Seattle to raise cash for Democrats and a stop in Wisconsin at a renewable energy factory. Not on the agenda? Any meetings with oil workers in other Gulf states who are now unemployed thanks to President Obama’s Gulf oil drilling ban.
If the President really wanted to see the economic damage his policies are causing in the Gulf, he could first stop in Pascagoula, Miss., where idle oil rigs in the Signal International shipyard have formed an eerie floating ghost city that locals have dubbed "Rig Row."
Instead of being deployed at sea where they could be creating wealth for this country and jobs for Gulf residents, these rigs are wasting away idly in port as a direct result of President Obama’s oil drilling moratorium – a moratorium that when first issued on just deep sea rigs, a federal judge ruled was "arbitrary and capricious" Undaunted, the Obama administration doubled down, issuing a broader oil drilling injunction that is killing even more jobs than the first ban.
Why is President Obama so eager to see Florida recover but doesn’t have the time of day for the other Gulf states? Eric Smith, a professor at the Tulane University business school, told FOX News: “The administration is in thrall to the environmental community, unfortunately, and as a result, they’re playing that card, and I think to try and slow up, or increase the cost of, hydrocarbons. I just think that’s the reality." " The Obama oil ban isn’t about safety, it is about permanently shrinking our domestic oil production capacity as quickly as possible.". . Entire column
Blog author's comments -
Barack Obama is without a doubt the worst president this country has ever had. On one hand he knows exactly what he is doing to the economy of the Gulf states with his pandering to the environmentalists. On the other hand this guy is in way over his head.
He does not seem to have a clue as to the plan he should implement in an effort to help create jobs. All he has done since he has been in office is throw money at any problem he encounters or blame someone else for his failure. This of course has not helped but only served to deepen our economic woes.
The BP oil leak is another example of why arrogance and incompetence is a dangerous combination. It's an outrage. Look at what's happened: An entire industry has been shut down on the basis of an unwarranted panic.
