On the recordMay 10, 2011
I appreciate the proponent of this amendment in his zeal to ensure that the environment is properly addressed, but those concerns are properly addressed in the permitting policy. The problem is that we had a company with around 800 safety violations, British Petroleum, that was allowed to continue drilling, and you wonder why. Could it be that they were negotiating at the very time of the blowout with Democrats in the Senate for making the big announcement that they supported the administration's cap-and-trade bill? Could it be that they were going to be involved in the carbon credit business and would work with the administration? Perhaps a better question than the effect on the environment is, How close will the applicant for a drilling permit be politically with this administration? Because what we see time after time is a situation of political payback. We see crony capitalism. If you're a good buddy at GE, you're going to do well. If you're on Wall Street and you contribute four to one to this administration over its opponent, then you're going to do well. You may have to endure being called a fat cat from time to time; but, otherwise, we're going to make sure your profits exceed anything you have ever seen before. We have seen this administration rush to Libya. We have seen this administration rush, appropriately, to help our friend Japan. We have seen them rush all over the place.…
