Politics. On Point.

The decision to build the oil pipeline that would potentially cover approximately 2,000 miles from Alberta, Canada to Texas, better known as the Keystone XL, has been delayed. The State Department announced today that it will explore a new route for the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline citing its concerns the route’s impact on the Sand Hills of Nebraska. Opposers of the Pipeline proposal, like Friends of the Earth , site that the project could potentially offer hazardous affects to indigenous people along its route, and the environment.  It could also carry one of the world’s dirtiest fuels: tar sands oil. Protesters took the White House in opposition of the XL Pipeline, with members Congress joining them in their concerns.  A business agent for a plumbers union we spoke to at the president's Georgetown Key Bridge event urging Congress to pass his Jobs bill, told us he and many other construction workers would welcome the construction of the Pipeline. ...

Today marks the one year mark of the BP /Deep Water Horizon oil spill off the coast of New Orleans.   Over 200 million barrels of oil spilled into its waters when an oil rig exploded, killing almost a dozen people.  The event has been lauded as the worst oil spill since the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989. Now, one year later, the costly affects of the spill have many doubting whether its shores will return to normalcy, whether its sea food is safe, and perhaps most of all -  the cost of human suffering. Organizations like National Research Damage Assessment are tasked with assessing the damages, a fund for the victims has been created to compensate workers (though most say they have received too little or next to nothing in compensation, and have sued  the fund for negligence), and families talk about losing loved ones . Recent reports suggest that there are still substantial amounts of oil beneath the Gulf's surface ( video ), while BP officials argue that di...

Tells Americans " Come On Down! " ("And visit")  As President Obama raps up his visit to the Gulf with his family, he remains committed to the people of the region. "The President was clear that though the well has been capped and the oil is no longer spilling from the ocean floor, there is still work to be done." The administration continues to bill BP for the disaster and is making sure BP compensates those affected. With this massive fiasco seemingly behind us, and the cleanup in the foreground, the Commander In Chief is taking somekick butt (yeah, we said it) action. In this new video, President Obama's message is clear. Thought you might like that.  

On Sunday, August 29, President Obama will travel to New Orleans, La., to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The visit will include remarks by the President at Xavier University of Louisiana. Members of the President’s Cabinet who have worked to speed recovery and restoration efforts will also be in the region to mark the anniversary. The First Family traveled to Florida’s Gulf Coast where they are spending this weekend in Panama City Beach, FL.   While there, the President and First Lady were joined by area small business owners and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus for a roundtable discussion of the recovery. The president used the trip to express the gulf's cleanup efforts have been successful. "I also want to point out that as a result of the cleanup effort, beaches all along the Gulf Coast are clean, safe, and open for business. That’s one of the reasons Michelle, Sasha, and I are here. The governor and others invited us down to enjoy the beach and t...

The Saints came marching into the White House today as President Obama honored the 2009 Super Bowl Champions with a warm and friendly reception in the East Room of the White House. 2009 Super Bowl Champs New Orleans Saints with President Obama at the White House. Photo/CD Brown. The president admonished the team and its owner for winning the Super Bowl after the city was devasted by Hurricane Katrina. The president, still not relinquishing his love and loyalty to his hometown Chicago teams, said, ”Look, I’m a Bears fan. I’m not going to lie. But this was a big win for the country, not just for New Orleans, because five years ago, this team played its entire season on the road. It didn’t have a home field. The Superdome had been ruined by Hurricane Katrina. The heartbreaking tragedies that unfolded there when it was used as a shelter from that terrible storm lingered all too fresh in a lot of people’s minds.” President Obama said the team carried their city. “Plenty of cities ...

Recently Leaked Documents Beg The Question: War. What Is It Good For? WikiLeaks has released a document set called the Afghan War Diary, an extraordinary compendium of over 91,000 reports covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. The reports, while written by soldiers and intelligence officers, and mainly describing lethal military actions involving the United States military, also include intelligence information, reports of meetings with political figures, and related details. The document collection is available on a dedicated web page . When White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs was questioned about whether charges could be brought against the person who leaked the documents, Gibbs replied, "There is an ongoing investigation that is looking into the leaking of the classified information. As I’ve said here before, my transmitting one of those documents to you would constitute a violation of federal law, and certainly, as I said earlier, handling t...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) will re-open 26,388 square miles of Gulf waters to commercial and recreational fishing, it announced today. The reopening of a third of the overall closed area was announced after consultation with FDA and under a re-opening protocol agreed to by NOAA, the FDA, and the Gulf states. “Today’s decision is good news for Gulf fishermen and American consumers,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “Following the best science for this re-opening provides important assurance to the American people that the seafood they buy is safe and protects the Gulf seafood brand and the many people who depend on it for their livelihoods.” Florida Representative, Kendrick Meek (D) responded to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announcement saying, "This announcement is great news to fishermen in Florida and their families. The BP oil spill has had a terrible impact on those who rely on Gulf waters for their livel...

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs Taking Questions From The Media. Photo/CD Brown. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs answers questions from Washington's press pool ranging from topics like  extending unemployment benefits to millions of unemployed Americans, to the recent release of the Lockerbie Bomber . Here's what he had to say today on the issues: On Having Enough Votes To Extend Unemployment Benefits:   "...We’re obviously hopeful that we have the votes. Obviously, with the appointment of a senator -- a new senator from West Virginia, that’s certainly important. We have the support of Senator Collins and Senator Snowe from Maine. But I don't think you would take -- we certainly don't take anything for granted given the fact that this will be the fourth vote on extending unemployment benefits, when if you look, I think, at the past this has tended not to be a confrontational -- or controversial thing to do. We have hundreds of thousands of Americans...

After President Obama sent a $97 million bill to BP last week (the fourth the Administration has sent to date. BP and other responsible parties have paid the first three bills, totaling $122.3 million, in full, the White House reports) reports show BP is working harder to stop the leak in the Gulf. The latest effort, installation of a capping stack is still being monitored. This well integrity test will last at least 6 hours and could last up to 48 hours. How It Works During the test, the three ram capping stack is closed, effectively shutting in the well and all sub-sea containment systems (namely, the Q4000 and Helix Producer systems) have been temporarily stopped. Although it cannot be assured, it is expected that no oil will be released to the ocean during the test. Even if no oil is released during the test, this will not be an indication that oil and gas flow from the wellbore has been permanently stopped. Key BP Oil Spill Contact Numbers:   Report oiled shore...

Let me just say that we continue to be in awe of our First Lady, Michelle Obama who, I might add is not letting any grass (White House garden or other) grow under her feet.  She continues to stay busy and we love what she is doing with young people. The First Lady was scheduled to have another Youth Series at the White House yesterday where she planned to host young people to engage in a youth fitness tennis clinic with the 2010 Wimbledon Champion, Serena Williams .   As you know, Williams cut her foot and was unable to attend.  Then, it rained yesterday and the entire event was postponed (we're disappointed), only to be rescheduled at a later date. But, First Lady Michelle doesn't let rain (or anything else) stop her as her week has already been full of activity with events that included a visit to Panama to take on BP's oil spill ( looking great doing so), speaking at the NAACP's 101st Anniversary , hosting a live chat announcing the relaunch of her Let'...

A pool reporter is providing updates on Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Louisiana where he is there to assess the damages from the BP oil spill. Here's the most recent update (as of 1:01 pm EST). The motorcade arrived at 10 a.m. at the unified command center in downtown New Orleans, where a half-dozen protestors stood outside in a light rain carrying signs that said, "Oil kills." Vice President Biden went to the 14th floor of the 24-story Poydras Plaza , where more than 100 BP, government and military offcials were seated at rows of tables working on laptop computers in a cavernous office dubbed "the bullpen." The workers were arranged in various groupings, such as "Critical Resources Unit," "Documentation Unit," and "Technical Specialists." A large projection TV flashed weather updates and the latest track for Tropical Storm Alex. The offices are the same ones used by FEMA after Hurricane Katrina. Sitting at the h...

Watch all the latest developments in the BP Executives' Capitol Hill hearings  here. The President and the Vice President met with BP executives this week in the Roosevelt Room. Attendees for the meeting included: Adm. Thad Allen, National Incident Commander, Carol Browner, Office of Energy and Climate, Larry Summers, National Economic Council, Bob Bauer, White House Counsel, Don Verrilli, White House Counsel’s Office, Melody Barnes, Domestic Policy Council, Tom Perrelli, Department of Justice, Carl-Henric Svanberg, Chairman, BP, Tony Hayward, CEO, BP, Bob Dudley, Managing Director, BP; Lamar McKay, CEO, BP America, Rupert Bondy, General Counsel, BP, and Jamie Gorelick, WilmerHale. The remarks of the President after the meeting follow. "Good afternoon, everybody. I just concluded a constructive meeting with BP’s chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, and I raised two issues at the meeting. First was the containment of the oil that is still spewing into the Gulf. As I mentioned...

As oil continues to permeate the Gulf, and photos of wildlife ( and apparently people ) drenched in oil continue to show the devastation of the spill, the White House continues to give Americans an update on what they say is being done to contain the spill. While we get the details, the people of Louisiana wait.  And wait. For a full timeline of the Administration-wide response, visit the White House Blog . Past 24 Hours : Admiral Allen Meets with BP Claims Officials; Asserts Oversight of Claims Process At the President’s direction, Admiral Thad Allen today met with top BP claims officials to assert the administration's oversight of BP's claims process in order to ensure that every legitimate claim is honored and paid in an efficient manner. He expressed the American people’s urgent need for additional transparency into BP's claims process, including how the process works, and how quickly claims are being processed for both individuals and businesses impacted by the...

Calling  BP "Beyond Pathetic" the watchdog group Public Citizen is staging a protest and citizen's arrest of BP president Tony Hayward . BP's president Tony Hayward "BP has culture indicative to that of Enro n ", eluded Robert Weissman , president of Public Citizen appearing on WPFW's Metro Watch with Gloria Minott .  "They have a culture of curruption." BP, at the height of the recent oil spill was being fined $87.4 million for what regulators said was the company’s failure to correct problems after a 2005 explosion killed 15 workers at a refinery in Texas City, Texas.  More recently, BP was fined $3 million for safety violations at its Toledo, Ohio, refinery.  (See also BP's other crimes ). An unregulated oil industry has companies simply paying fines, but none of the company's executives do any  time in prision for what many call felonious activities. "We want to make a citizen's arrest calling for the emprisonme...

We're Not In Kansas Anymore, Either. Adm. Thad Allen , national incident commander for Deepwater BP oil spill response, provided an update on the ongoing Deepwater BP oil spill response efforts in the Port of New Orleans Administration Building earlier this week. "I think the first thing to understand is, we’re not talking about capping the well anymore; we’re talking about containing the well. The difference between capping the well and absorbing the pressure and being able to hold that until the relief well is completed, we’re at, now, where we’re containing the well, which means that we’re taking the hydrocarbons that are coming up and actually bringing them to the surface and actually producing oil and flaring off natural gas. Since we’re in a containment operation, we don’t want to restrict the flow of pressures on that well bore, because I don’t think we know the conditions of it, given the results of the top kill data that we got back", said Allen. It'...