Marenco
06-04-2010, 07:51 PM
By Michael O'Brien - 06/03/10 09:09 AM ET
President Barack Obama won a defense of his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from one GOP congressman on Thursday.
Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican lawmaker from Texas, said that people were expecting too much from the president in his ability to react to the ongoing spill into the Gulf.
"I'm a pretty big critic of the president," Paul said during an appearance on "Imus in the Morning" on the Fox Business Network, "but I just don't see the justification for coming down hard on the president."
"I think it represents the idea that the American people think the president is everything to everybody that he should fix an oil leak," Paul added.
Some lawmakers, including many Republicans, have questioned the administration's responsiveness to the spill, as well as whether the administration has been aggressive enough in pushing BP, the oil company that leases the leaking pipeline, to end the flow gushing into the Gulf.
But Paul suggested that there was little the president could do personally to end the spill, arguing that Obama could do more to help out with the spill and the cleanup by clearing out and waiving federal regulations so that governors of the states affected by the spill have more leeway in addressing cleanup efforts.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/101185-ron-paul-obama-facing-too-much-blame-on-oil-spill?page=1#comments
President Barack Obama won a defense of his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from one GOP congressman on Thursday.
Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican lawmaker from Texas, said that people were expecting too much from the president in his ability to react to the ongoing spill into the Gulf.
"I'm a pretty big critic of the president," Paul said during an appearance on "Imus in the Morning" on the Fox Business Network, "but I just don't see the justification for coming down hard on the president."
"I think it represents the idea that the American people think the president is everything to everybody that he should fix an oil leak," Paul added.
Some lawmakers, including many Republicans, have questioned the administration's responsiveness to the spill, as well as whether the administration has been aggressive enough in pushing BP, the oil company that leases the leaking pipeline, to end the flow gushing into the Gulf.
But Paul suggested that there was little the president could do personally to end the spill, arguing that Obama could do more to help out with the spill and the cleanup by clearing out and waiving federal regulations so that governors of the states affected by the spill have more leeway in addressing cleanup efforts.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/101185-ron-paul-obama-facing-too-much-blame-on-oil-spill?page=1#comments