RUSH: Let’s JIP it. Our microphones are there. The leader of the regime is now telling us how he dressed down the BP officials.
OBAMA: This discussion today was essential. Currently under federal law there is a $75 million cap on how much oil companies, uh, could under c-certain circumstances be required to pay for economic damages resulting from a spill such as this.
RUSH: But…
OBAMA: That amount obviously would be insufficient. Uh, and that’s why I’m pleased to announce that BP has agreed to set aside $20 billion to pay claims for damages resulting from this spill.
RUSH: Right. Well…
OBAMA: This $20 billion, uh, will provide substantial assurance —
RUSH: Yeah.
OBAMA: — the claims people and businesses have will be honored.
RUSH: Yeah.
OBAMA: It’s also important to emphasize this is not a ‘cap.’
RUSH: Yeah.
OBAMA: The people of the Gulf —
RUSH: Yeah.
OBAMA: — have my commitment.
RUSH: Take him down for just a second. The key to this, though, is that for those of you in the Gulf that gotta go get your portion, $20 billion, you gotta go through him, not BP. You gotta go through the bureaucracy of the regime in order to get your share of the 20 billion. I can’t wait ’til that happens, or doesn’t. All right, bring the leader back up for a minute.
OBAMA: Another important element is that this $20 billion, uh, fund will not be controlled by either about my or by the government.
RUSH: Oh!
OBAMA: It will be put in a[n] escrow account administered by an impartial, independent third party.
RUSH: Who?
OBAMA: So if you or your business has suffered an —
RUSH: Who?
OBAMA: — economic loss as a result of this spill —
RUSH: I thought it was going to be this Feinberg guy, that was the initial report.
OBAMA: — you’ll be eligible to file a claim for part of this $20 billion. This fund does not supersede either individuals rights or states rights.
RUSH: All right, fine. Yip yip yip yahoo. Big deal.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Look at that. Up on MSNBC, they actually have a small little postage stamp picture of the oil leaking in the Gulf while Obama was giving his speech, but there was a graphic next to it that said, essentially, ‘Obama: I make my commitment to you that I will fix this.’ Now, when we last heard from the leader of the regime, he said that ‘an independent, third party’ person will be handling the $20 billion payout to people in the Gulf of Mexico. An independent third party. Now, I had heard that it was going to be Kenneth Feinberg, who is the ‘pay czar.’ Well, turns out it is Feinberg. Now, the New York Times is saying that Feinberg could still be in charge but not in his government capacity. What? Not in his government capacity? An independent, third party…? The guy works for Obama, he’s a czar, but somehow this thing is going to be sloughed off to some independent agency he’s going to head up? How stupid do they think we are, folks?
Now, here are my questions. You know, it’s funny, was just last week congressional Democrats said they wanted BP to set aside $20 billion. Where did this figure come from? And will the same people be administering this as who administered TARP money? Look, the government is in charge of this. I want to know who’s gonna get it. Who’s gonna get this money? Union activists? ACORN people? Who’s going to get this money? Let’s keep a sharp eye on who Feinberg gives this money to because I’m telling you this is just another bailout fund called something else and we’ll see who gets it. If Obama’s past is prologue — and it is — then this is going to be used as a little miniature slush fund and that’s why he’s bragging about it being third party, independent, so forth and so on.
Now, you people in the Gulf that are promised a portion of this to make yourselves somewhat whole for the damage being caused by the oil leak, I want you to keep a sharp eye on who gets the money. Because in the past, it’s been whoever are big supporters of Obama. It’s been used to buy votes, to shore up political support — in this case ACORN type people or union activists. Meanwhile…. Meanwhile, my friends, who is investigating Obama and his staff and his administration for any damage they may have caused by their incompetence, by their delays and by their policies? Oh, yeah, let’s look at BP. By all means. But who’s going to look at this bunch of incompetents? What gives them the right to sit here in royal control over everybody else as experts over what everybody else does? What are we going to start investigating them? Who’s going to look into their incompetence? Who’s going to investigate where this $20 billion is really going to go?
See, herein lies the problem, my friends. The government had and has a major role in the damage being done to people. Not the oil slick. I mean, the Obama administration has caused havoc. They have worsened an economy; they have shrunk the private sector. That means there’s less opportunity for people. So this regime has had a major role in damage being done to people, but rather than being held to account, they act like they’re on our side. All of a sudden, ‘Obama’s on our side!’ Obama is the single greatest threat the country has, not BP. The regime poses the single greatest threat to our economy and its rebirth than BP does or any other oil company. (interruption) ‘Well, what do you mean?’ Snerdey asks. Very simple. You got a six-month moratorium on oil drilling everywhere in this country, offshore. This gonna devastate the Gulf Coast economy. One hundred and twenty thousand jobs are at stake here!
Where’s the fund for that? Where’s the fund for all the jobs that are going to be lost because of this regime’s policies? Are we gonna get any money from Obama’s book royalties? Are we phone get any money from the environmental groups in the Democrat National Committee? Why isn’t Henry Waxman doing any hearings on any of this? I’m dead serious about this. I’m sick and tired of it. Every time something like this happens, the entire private sector gets damaged, accused, and a guy like Obama and his like-minded people come up and say ‘We’re going to fix it, going to put $20 billion here. We’re going to extract it from the company.’ It’s going to go to their cronies; it’s going to be a slush fund. Meanwhile, these guys are doing more damage to you and me and the economy and the future of this country, your kids and grandkids than BP could ever hope to.
And nobody investigates ’em. And nobody even looks at it this way. I wonder if people who make over 250 grand a year will get any money from BP here? I mean, that’s ‘rich.’ You know, a lot of people working the Gulf, where the fisheries, the waterways, and so forth, I think some of them earn more than 250K. Will they get assistance? I wonder. We keep hearing about restaurants down there. French Quarter restaurants, New Orleans, all the way down there and in Mississippi, Alabama. Oil workers eat in restaurants, don’t they? There aren’t going to be any oil workers in a very short amount of time because of this regime, because there’s a moratorium out there on offshore drilling. Yes, I’m fuming. It just infuriates me. We got this (Obama impression) ‘I’m good. I’m good. I’m gonna fix it for everybody, I want to make sure the people cause all these problems, they’re gonna pay and I’m gonna put in a third-party person, after all the…’ Could we take a look at YOU, maybe? You want to talk about the incompetence of the BP executives, fine. Go ahead. Look into it. I want to look into the incompetence of the regime’s leaders ’cause it’s striking.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: So I checked the e-mail during the break. ‘Are you really serious, Rush, about investigating Obama? You know that’s never going to happen.’ I am dead serious. I know it’s never going to happen, but, look, would somebody explain to me exactly what purpose is served by Obama demonizing BP? Seriously, now. Demonizing BP, demonizing private sector, standard operating procedure, it’s easy. My question, is Obama such a slave to Saul Alinsky that he can’t do anything without first creating a bogeyman? Let me ask you a very simple question. There is not an oil company in this world that can take a step without permission from some government regulatory agency. There is not an oil company in this world that can do one thing without permission from some government authority. So you tell me, what did Transocean or what did BP ever do on the Deepwater Horizon rig that they didn’t have the direct approval of the regulators of the federal government at the MMS?
I don’t care whether there was collusion going on, I don’t care if there was incompetent people, but you tell me, what did BP do without the approval of the federal government’s regulators? They don’t do a thing without any approval. Now, we know that Obama got a lot of money from these people. And we know that some of the regulators looked the other way at this rig and yet Obama still wants to make them the bogeyman. I can’t emphasize this enough. There’s not an oil company in the world that can do diddly-squat without permission from a regulator. The oil business is not a free market. You know, accidents happen. If Obama had ever held a real job or ever tried to do anything in the real world, he would know this. Instead, he’s busily trying to destroy the one company that can fix the problem, the one company that will pay for the clean up and the reparations. If we wipe out BP stock value, if we bankrupt them, where will the money come from to clean this up and to pay reparations? Somebody explain this to me. And more important is the message this sends to other companies.
I just saw the BP chairman, he came out of this meeting with Obama, you know what he said? He first congratulated the president for having such great care and concern for the people of the Gulf. Now, excuse me. Don’t we assume that any president will have great concern and care for the people of the entire country no matter what disaster? Why does that have to be stated? I’ll tell you why. Because what went on in this meeting that went on far longer than 20 minutes was Chicago thugocracy. I guarantee you the riot act was read to these people and the message was clear, they had better go out there and say wonderful, great things about our Dear Leader, or else. This is how these people operate. What oil company is gonna drill for oil or do anything that involves risk if they’re gonna face being destroyed or bankrupted and their stockholders wiped out if anything goes wrong, and that’s the message Obama is sending not just to the oil companies, but as Thomas Sowell pointed out, all of our friends and enemies around the world, they are seeing clearly that this administration is willing to wipe out its own friends in order to make a positive impression about themselves and to advance what I think is a diabolical anti-capitalist agenda.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: As we go outta here this afternoon I want you to think about this. If the top executives of BP are responsible for what occurred in the Gulf, why isn’t the top executive of our government responsible for the permits and licenses and failure to act after the rig blew up? Why does the buck only stop at BP’s CEO but not with Obama? And why should only BP be held to account when this is a regulated rig and a regulated business? BP is going to be held to account in many ways, but why the free pass for Obama and his cronies and his bureaucracy without which BP could not have made a move?