House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, issued the following statement Tuesday in anticipation of President Obama's Oval Office address:
“While President Obama is speaking tonight, oil will continue to leak from the well and extend its stranglehold on the lives and livelihoods of the people in the affected areas. Even now, nearly two months after disaster first struck, the federal response remains inadequate and disorganized. Americans are rightly angry about this failure of government, and they want to know that their president is focused squarely on stopping this leak, cleaning up this mess, and finding out what went wrong.“President Obama should not exploit this crisis to impose a job-killing national energy tax on struggling families and small businesses. Both parties should be working together to craft responsible solutions in response to this disaster. There’s nothing responsible or reasonable about a national energy tax that will raise energy costs and destroy more American jobs.
“President Obama will also reportedly address some of the financial issues surrounding the crisis, including the establishment of an escrow fund. These resources should be used to help the victims of this disaster, and not as a slush fund for trial lawyers or Administration officials seeking to paper over their own misguided decisions. BP should be held accountable for the full cost of this disaster – the taxpayers shouldn’t pay one dime – but that money must be directed to where it can be most effective in stopping this leak and aiding the recovery effort.
“I sincerely hope that the Obama Administration will not try to use a crisis made worse by its own failings to score political points on the backs of Americans living and working on the Gulf Coast. This moment demands a call to action based on our shared interest in stopping this leak, cleaning up this mess, and finding out what went wrong.”
Obama just doesn't seem believable. he can't fake it well. theatrics is not what's needed, but he does not seem sincere or sure of himself. it's offputting
give boehner a diving bell tell dr NO to go fix it. he always has the answers! such a bone head.
Um...and Bush did not exploit the 9/11 crisis? And Boehner is worried about Obama penalizing BP, the industry and waning us off an oil dependency? Yes, that is indeed exploitation I guess.
Scoring political points...is this what Boehner is most worried about? Of course it is!
Correct, Obama needs to say nothing and just let the Republican Party of Corporate protrction, deregulation, and liability caps hang itself with every word out of mouth.
“Exploit this crisis”, what is this drunk talking about now? This idiot should wait till after the speech before he opens his mouth telling us how bad our President is. His on-going banter about the President will be the same either way.
The crisis is already creating job losses and it was because of the "BP" oil spill and not because of the President. The resources will be to help the victims of this disaster and why he throws in the slush fund for lawyers or Administration officials seeking to paper over their own misguided decisions is his misguided hate of the President.
John Boehner, what a joke, he needs to be removed from office because he just hates everything for no good reason.
Neither should you...oops to late you are with that statement.
Boehner does want Obama exploiting the crisis....that's a job for him and his Repub cronies.
What a duffus! Boehner, get a job you can handle! The House of Representatives in no place for someone with such a limited intellect.
Obama shouldn't exploit this Boner, uh Boenher?? The GOP exploits every single, little, insignificant petty, potentially negative thing they can find on Obama. So why can't Obama exploit this. Bush/GOP exploited 9/11 to go to an unjustified war in Iraq. At least Obama's exploiting of a crisis will not get 10's of thousands of American soldiers dead.