Gulf Oil Spill: Obama Vows To Stand With Coast Residents 'Until They Are Made Whole'

GRAND ISLE, La. — President Barack Obama said Saturday that he will stand with Gulf Coast residents "until they are made whole" from the oil spill catastrophe.

Obama recorded his weekly radio and Internet address from this barrier island town he visited Friday on his third trip to the Gulf since an April 20 drilling rig explosion unleashed a gusher of crude into the waters there.

He spoke of the people he'd met – an oyster fisherman named Floyd whose oyster beds have been destroyed by oil, and Terry, a shrimper who is losing income because shrimp fishing has been shut down.

"These folks work hard," Obama said. "They meet their responsibilities. But now because of a manmade catastrophe – one that's not their fault and that's beyond their control – their lives have been thrown into turmoil."

"It's brutally unfair. It's wrong. And what I told these men and women – and what I have said since the beginning of this disaster – is that I'm going to stand with the people of the Gulf Coast until they are made whole," the president said.

Obama reiterated some of the steps his administration has taken to respond to the spill, including mobilizing National Guard troops.

And in the increasingly forceful tone he's directing toward BP PLC, the British oil giant that was drilling the well that blew up, Obama said: "We will make sure they pay every single dime owed to the people along the Gulf coast."

Obama spoke as BP worked on its latest attempt to tame the runaway well 5,000 feet beneath the sea, by capping it and trying to siphon off some of the crude. But oil continued to escape. The damaged rig has disgorged at least 22 million gallons of crude into the Gulf.

"We are prepared for the worst, even as we hope that BP's efforts bring better news than we've received before," Obama said, noting that regardless of the outcome, there will continue to be some spillage until relief wells can be completed to permanently control the leak. That won't happen until August at the earliest.

"And there will continue to be a massive cleanup ahead of us," the president said.

Obama praised the people of the Gulf for their grit.

"We will fight alongside them, until the awful damage that has been done is reversed, people are back on their feet, and the great natural bounty of the Gulf coast is restored," he said.

___

Online:

Obama address: http://www.whitehouse.gov

Comments

[AppalachianCrisis]

08:30 PM on 06/13/2010

BP spill the greatest enviromental disaster ever? Really? Every day the mountains of the Appalachians are blown up and the most biodiverse forest, second only to the Amazon, is being bulldozed into the valleys. All for what, 10% of the nations coal. The coal companies call it Mountain Top Removal. In reality its the total obliteration of the land and a culture. This has been happening for decades, but as long as people have cheaper electric bills, who cares about the people of Appalachia, right? I mean rich people love the beach, who cares about the poor people in the mountains, right? Nearly 2000 miles of streams have been buried or polluted by MTR valley fills and toxic run-off. 3,000,000 pounds of explosives are used on the mountains in WV alone every working day. 1 million acres of Appalachian forest and lands have been leveled, but less than 3% have been reclaimed for commercial or industrial use. Top coal producing counties in WV suffer from some of the worst poverty and unemployment. Residents who live in the coalfields live with increased flooding, blasting that damages homes, air filled with silica and toxic coal dust, plus poisoned water supplies. Is the oil spill bad? Yes. However, when compaired to Mountain Top Removal, I hardly see how it can be called the worst. The oceans will recover LONG before the mountains ever will, if they ever do.

[dnalpahs]

10:31 PM on 06/07/2010

Here is a great article:

The Coming Resignation of Barack Obama
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/06/02/the-coming-resignation-of-bara

Months ago, I predicted in this column that President Obama would so discredit himself in office that he wouldn't even be on the ballot in 2012, let alone have a prayer of being reelected. Like President Johnson in 1968, who had won a much bigger victory four years previously than Obama did in 2008, President Obama will be so politically defunct by 2012 that he won't even try to run for reelection.

I am now ready to predict that President Obama will not even make it that far. I predict that he will resign in discredited disgrace before the fall of 2012. Like my previous prediction, that is based not just on where we are now, but where we are going under his misleadership.

[TAMPA M]

07:51 PM on 06/07/2010

The party of no were screaming for no government or less government corporations can police themselves and to be trusted not to take advantage of the people. Now the party of no is screaming where is the government they need to get involved. This president has done more for the people in his first 500 days in office then Bush did in his entire eight years of office. Well let your remind you what we got from the administration and Congress the past eight years and I'll always put this down thanks to one of the commenters.

George W. Bush's accomplishments:

The Iraq war would be over in 6 months and Iraqi oil money would pay for it.

Our Military is so good we can do more with less and our bombs are so smart we won't kill civillians.

Hiring civillians to do traditional jobs done by the military will save money and get better results.
Massive tax breaks for the wealthy will trickle down to more jobs.

We can't make Social Security and Medicare solvent but we can give Big Pharma an unfunded 1 trillion dollars.

Deregulate the mortgage industry so it makes home ownership affordable to everyone.

Deregulate the Banks because free flow of money will make everyone rich.

Oil drilling is safe and we don't need more governmental oversight in fact we need less
What safety requirements? They're just another government regulation.

[avg american]

07:44 PM on 06/07/2010

And in the increasingly forceful tone he's directing toward BP PLC, the British oil giant that was drilling the well that blew up, Obama said: "We will make sure they pay every single dime owed to the people along the Gulf coast."

Really Mr. President sir?

How is that going to happen when our judges at best, have a conflict of interest and at worst, are corrupt from the corporate backing that put them in their positions?

Solution:
Legislate Term limits for judges.

I believe that you are doing your best. I think that there is a huge core issue that is not being addressed and that is our corrupt judicial system.

[avg american]

08:01 PM on 06/07/2010

One more thing....

I am not sure if this has been done, I couldn't find anything on the Internet about it.

Solution:
The folks that have exhausted their unemployment, have BP fly them down to the coast, put them up in the local hotels and pay them a substantial wage to clean up the beaches.

Has this been done?

[artgurrl]

07:14 PM on 06/07/2010

President Obama, now is not the time for pretty words and empty promises. Now is the time to crack the whip and put BP into receivership. The end of Trillions for the bankers and corporations, but austerity and “responsibility” for the working population must be now.

[Ivatsol]

06:45 PM on 06/07/2010

Your going to need a few extra terms if your going to keep that promise Mr. Pres

[SirSlappy]

06:33 PM on 06/07/2010

You don't even know how to assist people right now, ya loser.
You got their vote... now it's time to abandon them.

[mollyjackson]

06:11 PM on 06/07/2010

To little, to late, looks like a BPgate.

[SaquaroSue]

05:55 PM on 06/07/2010

With all due respect, once broken, there are some things that cannot, with the best of intentions, be made whole. I think we need to take a long hard look at ourselves in the mirror, and ask if we are going to continue to break things we cannot fix until we have exterminated ourselves, or if we are going to grow up and stop running through the house smashing things like a hyperactive and indulged toddler.

[Duppy]

05:13 PM on 06/07/2010

Go Mr. President !

[AHLOVE]

04:05 PM on 06/07/2010

What does "made whole" mean Mr. Pres? Please elaborate fully...

[Duppy]

05:14 PM on 06/07/2010

It means until BP is bankrupt and all their money has been distributed to the American people and especially the people in the gulf

[satanlite]

03:43 PM on 06/07/2010

lol... yeah I've heard these words before. Not from Mr Obama, but from others "in charge".

Never, ever, ever, ever, do the words come true. In fact I've gotten so when I hear these words I know bad, bad stuff is coming.

Mr. Obama, I hope you're right. But if you don't sieze BP immediately you will be their beeeeeatch, and the American people will pay for BP lil' W error.

[VotingPresent]

03:26 PM on 06/07/2010

"until they are made whole" or the next weekly Wednesday party at the White House, which ever comes first.

[ranger5]

02:22 PM on 06/07/2010

I'm sure that Obama and the Congress have no intention whatsoever of seriously ruffling BP's oil-soaked feathers. They were going to get tough with Wall Street as I recall. The bill currently being considered does absolutely nothing to deal with the structural dangers of our financial system. Like the health care bill, it nibbles around the edges but ignores the gut issues. Obama and the rest of the money-grubbing thugs in Washington are not likely to mess with a corporation with pockets are deep as BP's. No one is going to be "made whole", except the CEO of British Petroleum. We do not live in a representative democracy. We live in a oligarchy wherein the corporations call the shots and the politicos do their bidding. The system is far too corrupt to be changed from within.

[criticallydampedroots]

02:08 PM on 06/07/2010

Poll: Oil Spill Response Rated Worse than Katrina: A month and a half after the spill began, 69 percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll rate the federal response negatively. That compares with a 62 negative rating for the response to Katrina two weeks after the August 2005 hurricane.

http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Media/poll-bp-oil-spill-rated-worse-katrina-criminal-charges/story?id=10846473

[satanlite]

03:44 PM on 06/07/2010

June 2010 tr0// joiner. I humbly suggest ignoring all posts from this person.

[luvobama]

03:53 PM on 06/07/2010

Thanks for the heads up.

The new ones are always the most st00pid.