Browner Points Finger At BP
Appearing on Face The Nation, White House energy adviser Carol Browner placed the blame on BP for early inaccurate estimates of the size of the Gulf Coast oil spill. “It’s important to understand that BP has a financial interest in what those flow rates are. They will ultimately pay a fine based on those rates,” said Browner. When asked whether she thought the company lied about initial estimates, Browner replied: “The very, very first estimates came from BP. They had the footage of the plume. The government then did satellite imagery and we realized that those figures were not accurate.”
BP’s Dudley: Those Weren’t Our Estimates
Also on Face The Nation, BP Managing Director Bob Dudley defended the company’s performance. “The estimates from the well rates have never been BP estimates. They’ve been through the unified command center. The best way to estimate those early rates were from satellite picture,” said Dudley. He later added: “The current estimates by the government are between 12 and 19,000 barrels a day. The precision on these estimates has always been low. We have designed the spill response for much, much higher rates.”
Powell: It Is ‘Perfectly Acceptable’ To Repeal DADT — But Listen To The Officers
Appearing on This Week, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the country has changed in the 17 years since the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was implemented and that “it is perfectly acceptable to get rid of the law and the policy,” and to allow gays to openly serve in the military. However, Powell also added, “before we actually do it, we have to hear clearly from the officers and men and women who are in charge of executing that policy.”
Powell: Iraq Is Ready For Departure Of U.S. Combat Forces
Also during his appearance on This Week, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Iraq is ready for the withdrawal of American combat troops, despite its current tumult. “What we’re seeing is…an interesting democratic process, where they’re trying to figure out who the next prime minister is going to be. We’ve gone through this right here in this country, as you recall, my friend,” said Powell. “They’ll have to go through this and come up with a government that represents all parts of Iraqi society. And if they do that, and if they build up their army, if they continue to show the effectiveness that their army has shown recently, they should be able to contain this and hold it as we continue our withdrawal.”
Jindal: I Believe In Limited Government — And We Need The Federal Government For This Crisis
Also on This Week, Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) called for a more active response by the federal government to the BP oil spill. Host Jake Tapper asked Jindal to reconcile his small-government conservatism with his call for more federal assistance. “When government grows too big, it doesn’t do its core functions properly,” said Jindal. “Absolutely, I believe in a limited government that is effective and competent in what it does. We need federal government exactly — we need our federal government exactly for this kind of crisis.”
Mullen: Congress Should Wait On DADT Vote
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said that he would like Congress to wait on voting to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, until after the Pentagon finishes its review on the impact of allowing gays to serve in the military. “I don’t manage the legislative calendar,” said Mullen, adding that it could “be many more months before this legislation is passed.”
Vitter: Opposing Offshore Drilling ‘A Crazy Leap’
Appearing on State of the Union, Sen. David Vitter opposed efforts to ban offshore drilling in the wake of the BP oil spill. “By the same token, after every plane crash, you and I should both oppose plane travel,” Vitter explained. “We’ve going to need a lot of new technology and mandates and procedures. And I will be a big part of that effort,” he added. “But to jump from there to say: No domestic offshore drilling, no domestic production of oil and gas . . . I think is a crazy leap quite frankly.”
Gutierrez: ‘The Latino Community Feels Besieged Upon’
Appearing on Meet The Press, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) spoke out against the crackdown on illegal immigration by the state of Arizona: “Look, the fact is that the Latino community feels besieged upon. It feels as though the finger-pointing is against them, that somehow they’re a criminal element. But that’s not new. Look, there have been distinctions–the Germans in Pennsylvania, the Irish in Massachusetts, the Italians in New York. There’s always been. Let’s stop that finger-pointing. Let’s get real solutions to our, to, to our immigration problem, to our immigration crisis that we have in this country.”
