Never let a good crisis go to waste?

The worse this disaster becomes, the better it will be for Obama, this is the only reasonable conclusion to the presidents inaction. This mess is exactly what the administration wants. Obama is not "dropping the ball''- he is simply taking advantage of this crisis to advance his agenda. 

And I think it is working.

HT HotAir!

Comments

[derek]

Hopefully the spill put some sense in Obama. Because prior to it, he was going along with this idiotic middle consensus that drilling is something we can bargain on. I don't care how much he needs the votes, the number one rule should be to never cater to dumbasses.
A) deep water drilling is dangerous
B) Expanded drilling will have a negligible effect on foreign oil consumption

Knowing this, why ever listen to any idiot that says drill baby drill?

[TerryN]

Because there's a big difference between drill baby drill and spill baby spill.

A judge just blocked Obama's attempt to idle even more workers with his offshore drilling ban. One more win for common sense however short lived it may be.

[derek]

"drill baby drill and spill baby spill"

Certainly, but until oil spills in the wells we make are capable of being handled by current technology, the danger is there. And the cost-benefit analysis seems to be weighing heavily on the side of cost rather then benefit. I mean... we all realize that soon it won't be spills that make oil costly, it will be the nature of the oil industry itself as demand goes up and oil supplies decrease. And the grand solution to drill more... in the name of common sense? Sorry if the only answer i have for that is one big middle finger.

[Chris]

Not buying this one.

This disaster makes his administration look bad no matter what they do. If anything his adversaries have much to gain from it, and the resulting media spin-ability.

[James T.]

Derek = Diversion

What's with and oil skimmers?

[derek]

A, there isn't really 2000 that can be sent. I mean, how many of those boats are in places like alaska?

B, little spills happen all the time so no state wants all the skimmers gone from their ports. That's the annoying thing, we've always hid the cost of doing oil business so no one really knows just how much damage to our environment (not to mention the human toll because drilling is dangerous work) this all does. We don't see the price at the pump (we should), but we pay it all the same.

[Joyce]

"And the cost-benefit analysis seems to be weighing heavily on the side of cost rather then benefit."

This ranks as one of the dumbest things derek has said.

Guess derek is ready to give up all petroleum-made products... he sees no "benefit" from them. Turn in your cell, computer, clothes... and thousands of other everyday items in your life... NO Benefit!

The "pump" price will not be the only price affected when drilling stops. Want fresh produce and fruit grown in warm climates year round... imagine the price of oranges or watermelons, if available in Wisconsin when truckers can no longer transport them because gas/diesel is $10-$15 a gallon.

[Bub]

Didn't you know there is no oil in a Utopian world. Just sunshine.

[derek]

So we know that oil won't last forever, that our dependence on it fuels all sorts of nasty things from Osama to pollution... and yet all i get from you people is how important plastic is.

With arguments like that, i almost welcome the rude awakening the coming oil shock will bring.

[Bub]

derek is viewing the world thru blinders. He will be dust in this world for a long time, even if he lives to a ripe old age, before our dependance on oil has dwindled. By then we will have developed new practical means of energy. Oil is used in so many things, and not just plastic, and certainly not nasty things, that to cut our selves off of oil now, would bring the world to a stand still. derek couldn't do his job without oil. It's used to make the computers he use's, gives them power to run, and keeps those jets in the air he tracks, if thats what he does. Think it thru, man. Quit talking so dumb.

[Joyce]

derek. Kindly remove everything from your cave dwelling on this list... No benefit to you!
http://www.saveandconserve.com/2007/05/petroleum_based_products_a_long_list.html

Reading is fundamental. Try it derek.
http://www.radford.edu/wkovarik/oil/

[Chris]

K, well the amount of petroleum the world consumes in a day is sick. Eliminating it from our lives is not an option right now, but its control on our well-being should scare the crap out of people.

The consumption of petroleum would be nil to nothing if we did not use it for fuel. That is not to say that plastic bottles and waste oil are great for the environment, cuz they are not. The amount of plastic that one can sift out of the Atlantic ocean is remarkable, if not to say disgusting.

As far as fuel goes, we are using fossil fuels for alot of energy concerns, while the solar energy that hits the earth every hour is equivalent to what the entire earth uses in a day.

That is as renewable as it gets... we humans are not going to outlast the sun, here on earth. Why not put every egg we have in the solar basket? Or maybe lets try gravity... hydro dams work great. Either way, its definitely time to start using something other than oil for energy.

oil should be used for lubrication and cooking. two of my favorite things, though.

[Joyce]

Chris. Great deal of common sense in your comments. Like you I recognize that alternative/ renewable energy is and should be a goal. And IMO the move away from fossil fuels be accomplished through a sensible, well-thought-out plan.

Shutting down all drilling in this county is absurd... almost a dumb as saying "the earth is burning up".

Fewer Americans are simple-minded than have common sense. Some folks actually take the time to research facts.

And the media keeps telling us progressives are so educated... really? Most are more like sheep following the dictates of Gore and Obama... unwilling to challenge what they hear.

[Joyce]

And... agreed. We can do without the many, many plastics and packaged goods forced on this country daily.

Buy fresh. Use canvas shopping bags. Recycle. Reuse. Your grandparents did this, without complaint.

[Frank]

Hydro dams supply 10% of our power now. Building dams all over the U.S. would decimate the ecosystems above and below those dams to the toon of thousands of acres. My grandparents said NEVER put all your eggs in one basket.

[Frank]

I meant tune, my child and I are watching one right now.

[derek]

The problem is rather simple. You can't move away from a petroleum based economy and enhance petroleum resource hunting at the same time. Those are diverging economic interests, and you can't have both things happen at the same time. This is why cap and trade is necessary, why it's necessary that we stop with all the things that encourage people to think oil is practically free. From the big things such as subsidies for oil companies to the little things such as the fact that parking isn't usually market priced, it's public.
Hell the limited liability for BP was originally 75 million. We as a society created a government that gives us what we want, then hides the cost of doing business. We create powerful status quos and then come up with arguments to defend those things, no matter how ridiculous. Our refusal to deal with our energy problem in any meaningful way is one of the biggest examples

[Joyce]

For simple-minded people... like derek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FrE7ndkSwY&feature=related

derek... you're so gung ho about paying increased taxes and higher costs for all commodities, please feel free to spread your wealth and pay my share.