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Hillarysworld -> Obama Administration NOT Secretary of State -> Obama biggest recipient of BP cash (Politico 5/5/10)
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TOPIC: Obama biggest recipient of BP cash (Politico 5/5/10)
Jen the Michigander


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Obama biggest recipient of BP cash (Politico 5/5/10)
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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html

While the BP oil geyser pumps millions of gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama and members of Congress may have to answer for the millions in campaign contributions they’ve taken from the oil and gas giant over the years.

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.

On top of that, the oil giant has spent millions each year on lobbying — including $15.9 million last year alone — as it has tried to influence energy policy.

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

In Congress, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who last week cautioned that the incident should “not be used inappropriately” to halt Obama’s push for expansion of offshore drilling, has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of BP’s largesse. Her comments created some blowback, with critics complaining that she is too blasé about the impact of the disaster, even though she was among the first lawmakers to call for a federal investigation into the spill.

As the top congressional recipient in the last cycle and one of the top BP cash recipients of the past two decades, Landrieu banked almost $17,000 from the oil giant in 2008 alone and has lined her war chest with more than $28,000 in BP cash overall.


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Sanders


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Go figure!  Yeh, while we are at it, why does a law (albeit from the 1990's) cap BP's liability in this? And, will that containment dome really make long-term solution of capping the spewing oil rig even more difficult?

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freespirit


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"Change you can believe in"?!? More like Same old sh**, different day, different color.

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freespirit


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Check out this post from Mountain Sage Blog - quoting a Washington Post article. Looks like Obama allowed his big contributor to leave out one tiny little legal step required before drilling. BP received a "categorical exclusion" from the Interior's Minerals Management Services, allowing them to begin drilling WITHOUT first producing a detailed environmental impact study - as legally required. This happened just last year. All that money BP gave Obama paid off for them. They got around an important requirement. Of course, the American people were, yet again, screwed - particularly those along the Gulf Coast - but, what the hell. People don't give you tons of money for nothing. They expect a little pay-back along the way.

From Mountain Sage:
I can’t say I’m shocked or surprised….I’m disgusted, but not shocked. Unfortunately we cannot reasonably expect government to look out for the best interests of the country or we the people, it’s all about corporate profits.

Excerpt from Washington Post Article:
Last year the Obama administration granted oil giant BP a special exemption from a legal requirement that it produce a detailed environmental impact study on the possible effects of its Deepwater Horizon drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico, an article Wednesday in the Washington Post reveals.

Federal documents show that the Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) gave BP a “categorical exclusion” on April 6, 2009 to commence drilling with Deepwater Horizon even though it had not produced the impact study required by a law known as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The report would have included probable ecological consequences in the event of a spill.

The exemption came less than one month after BP had requested it in a March 10 “exploration plan” submitted to the MMS. The plan said that because a spill was “unlikely,” no additional “mitigation measures other than those required by regulation and BP policy will be employed to avoid, diminish or eliminate potential impacts on environmental resources.” BP also assured the MMS that any spill would not seriously hurt marine wildlife and that “due to the distance to shore (48 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected.”

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