Politics. On Point.

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.  

 Focus Shifts To Mending Communities. NOAA Administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco explaining the sealing and containment phase that may have permanently stopped the oil from leaking in the Gulf, as National Incident Commander, Admiral Thad Allen looks on.  Photo/CD Brown. During yesterday's White House press briefing Rear Admiral Thad Allen, White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy Carol Browner, and NOAA's Jane Lubchenco came armed with pie charts and figures to show that the latest effort to contain the Gulf oil spill has been successful, and that for the most part, the oil has either "evaporated or been burned, skimmed and recovered from the wellhead, or dispersed." Dispersed "means broken up from large chunks into smaller chunks", explained Lubchenco. "Dispersed oil is just little tiny droplets that then remain beneath the surface."  The federal goverment released "new, scientific analysis" (that most Americans won...

Aerial photograph of Perdido Pass booming operations and decon station on Tuesday, 27 July 2010. Photo/BP.   " We know we're not done yet and we're still going to apply the same rigor and professionalism in making sure that we keep attacking the oil.." Words spoken during Friday's press event with Admiral Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander for the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill, and Major General Garry Dean on location at Tyndall Air Force Base. In the latest update Admiral Allen explains that the greatest concern surround the cleanup efforts is the relief well. "That's when we will truly end this threat to the environment and the Gulf", said Allen. "Development Driller 3, which is a drill rig, is right now clearing out some debris that was found at the bottom of the well bore caused by the storm passage. They’re clearing that out right now. They will start running the final casing line tomorrow and Sunday. This could poten...

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...

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'...

U.S. Senators (And Others) Want More Representative Kendrick Meek demanded $75 million more in aid from BP to revive Florida tourism, the state's number one industry, in a letter sent today to BP CEO Tony Hayworth. The letter comes just days after BP's promise to the state that it would spend $25 million on a marketing campaign aimed at attracting visitors back to Florida. Ad buyers who were asked to approximate the cost of the marketing campaign described by VISIT FLORIDA, the state's tourism office, estimated that it would cost a minimum of $100 million for just 12 weeks of advertising in the top cities where Florida tourists travel from. These cities are Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Hartford, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, St. Louis, Washington, DC and Toronto. The campaign would include television, radio, print, online, outdoor and promotional advertising. Kendrick Meek has consis...

Makes Second Trip To Gulf Coast On Friday morning, May 28, the president will travel to the Louisiana Gulf Coast to assess the latest efforts to counter the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Administration has mobilized one of the largest responses to a catastrophic event in history, with more than 1,200 vessels in the region and more than 22,000 people, including many of the brightest scientific minds from both the public and private sector, working around the clock to mitigate the oil’s impact. The President will join more than 22,000 people in the region, including many of the brightest scientific minds from both the public and private sector, who are working around the clock to mitigate the oil’s impact. The administration will continue to hold the responsible parties accountable for repairing the damage and repaying Americans who’ve suffered a financial loss. BP continues to process claims via its claims website (www.bp.com/claims) and its helpline (1-800-440-0858). ...

President Obama wants to delve deeper into what caused the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and institutes measures to insure the "environmental disaster" doesn't occur again.  Puts blame on BP - and Washington. In his weekly address the president talks about his executive order establishing a National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling . The Commission will be composed of seven members who shall be appointed by the President to examine the relevant facts and circumstances concerning the root causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and develop options for guarding against, and mitigating the impact of, oil spills associated with offshore drilling -taking into consideration the environmental, public health, and economic effects of such options - to include improvements to Federal laws, regulations, and industry practices applicable to offshore drilling that would ensure effective oversight, monitoring, and response capabilit...

Who Says Hollywood Types Don't Care Enough About The Environment? Not us. Proving that point, here's word on actor Kevin Costner trying to do just that. His funded device, a centrifuge that helps pull oil from water is being considered by - wait for it (wait for it), - BP Oil . The 'Costner Machine'. Described as a centrifugal processing device that separates oil from water, pegged to help clean up BP Oil spill. Also a fisherman (when he isn't preparing for the silver screen) Costner purchased the devices from the government over 15 years ago and invested $24 million to develop the machines for the private sector. BP has already approved six of the machines for testing in the gulf, where they will extract the spilled oil, send it back to a tanker and pump 99 percent purified water back into the ocean. Chop, chop, BP! The world is waiting for you to clean up your mess! Oddly enough, and as we head into Memorial Day Weekend, this is national Safe Boating...