RAND PAUL How Not To Handle A Crisis

Rand laying it all out like it is. Recently, the President disturbingly noted he was studying the crisis in the Gulf in an attempt to find our “whose *ss to kick.” I’ll move past the obvious problem with the appropriateness of the comment to just say this: Look in the mirror Mr. President.

This crisis has been a case study in failure to lead, failure to act, and using a crisis to advance your own agenda rather than solve the problem.

Make no mistake, this is an environmental disaster of epic proportions, and should be treated as such. BP should be held responsible for whatever their negligence was. Congress and the Administration should examine how this happened, and what we can do to prevent this in the future. But it should be noted that offshore drilling of this kind has been in place for 40 years with few problems. It’s wrong for the Administration to use this crisis as a platform not for cleaning up the mess; but rather as one to threaten, bluster and seek to advance parts of their agenda.

If the Administration were serious, they’d be leading, much like Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Governor Jindal has had to wait weeks for federal waivers, assistance and supplies. He finally decided he’d had enough and is proceeding, in some cases without assistance or permission. He’s protecting his state while President Obama does photo ops.

That’s why for the people closest to the disaster, over 65% of his constituents approve of Governor Jindal’s handling of the spill, while only 30% approve of President Obama’s inaction.

But this isn’t the whole story. Part of their inaction has also been because of their special interest friends. You see, the Obama Administration could have waived something called the Jones Act, which is a party of a 1920 law that prohibits foreign ships from assisting in this type of crisis. The fact is many foreign countries have technology to clean up oil spills that exceed our own. We should be taking advantage of their offers to help. Now why would we not waive this Act, as was done just 3 days after Hurricane Katrina by President Bush? Because the single biggest proponent of the Jones Act is also the single biggest donors to President Obama and Democrats in Congress – Big Labor.

Then to add insult to injury, the President Obama announced two actions that, instead of helping clean up the mess, will lead to bigger problems.

First, he declared a moratorium on offshore drilling for wells more than 500 feet deep. According to a Senator from his own party, this could cost as many as 330,000 jobs and will surely cost hundreds of millions of dollars in increased costs to consumers and businesses.

According to the Minerals Management Service, Offshore drilling on the Outercontinental Shelf accounts for 27% of our domestic oil production. And that has been shut off, with no plan in mind to deal with the job loss and increased costs that will follow.

And now, he is using the crisis to revive his failed energy Tax/Cap and Trade scheme.

As the White House Chief of Staff said about another crisis “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste — and what I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.

So what we have here is inaction and failed leadership, coupled with political opportunism and special interest paybacks. That’s not the kind of leadership Americans need or deserve.

Published on 18 June 2010 by RyanH in Press Releases.

Governor Christie: Day of Reckoning VIDEO TEXT TRANSCRIPT

It sounds so simple when Governor Christie says it, you cann't give the government 2 dollars and then get 3 dollars back. More common sense from the New Jersey Governor.

Governor Christie: “Now is the time to not ignore the problems but to confront them.” Governor Christie held a Cap 2.5 Town Hall Meeting in Perth Amboy, N.J. on Tuesday, June 15, 2010. Contact: Michael Drewniak 609-777-2600

FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT GOVERNOR CHRISTIE:

A lot of the things that these difficult trying times are bringing into focus for all of us as citizens, as elected officials - that accountability is important now more than ever. And your point that when we appoint people, and I appoint lots of people, by the time I get done with four years I'll probably appoint thousands of people to different things - boards and commissions and authorities around the state, members of my cabinet, judges - a lot of people that I'm going to be responsible for that are going to have my name next to them, for better or for worse for the rest of my life. I understand accountability, and I think you're absolutely right, I think one of the things that that these times have brought into great focus for us is that we have to hold each other accountable. All of us understand, we were taught by our parents I suspect, that you don't get something for nothing in this world - ever. Yet government has tried to sell you over the course of time this idea that - We're not going to give you something for nothing but we're going to give you something and someone else is going to pay for it.

So it's not for nothing but it's for nothing to you. What has happened in our state and in our country over the last couple of years is that those chickens have come home to roost. And we now have a situation where we are in a deep hole and we've got two choices. We can continue to do what we've always been doing before and I don't think we should, because that's crazy, that's what got us here. But the new path and the bolder path is a path that will be lined with resistance from those who are benefiting from the current system and they will attempt to scare you. They'll attempt to scare you about change and they'll attempt to tell you that you're ox is the one that's going to get gored. The same people who are telling you to get something and someone else will pay for it are not going to tell you watch out, because when change comes they're going to take it away from you.

We all know that it's being taken away from us as we speak; our standard of living, our way of life is being challenged by an economy where we have too much debt, too big of government, too much spending and taxes being too high. We all know it in our hearts, depending upon where we are in the political spectrum we may want to admit it more or less but we all know it. We all know it to be true.

And I kind of want to end today where I started with Mayor Diaz. Now we might come at certain issues from different perspectives but we all understand - she and I understand that the day of reckoning is here. Whether you are a Republican, whether you are a Democrat, whether you are an independent; whether you are rich or whether you're poor; whether you're retired or still working; or if you're a young child who's trying to think about what is New Jersey and America going to be like for me? The day of reckoning is here. And there is no more solemn obligation, I believe, that we have as human beings and especially as Americans than to do everything we can to leave this place better for our children and grandchildren than it was left to us.

Now for all of you who are parents out there and grandparents, you know judgment day is coming. And by that I mean, our children and our grandchildren are going to judge us. At the moment where we have the ability to make decisions about how optimistic and hopeful and prosperous their future can be, are they going to look back and say we buried our head in the sand? Ignored the problems. Cared only about our own creature comforts and didn't care about tomorrow.

Or are they going to say that when this day of reckoning came, our generation stood up and said we're going to fix it. We're going to fix it, not just for ourselves but more importantly we're going to fix it for our kids, and for our grandchildren. So that they can live in New Jersey.

We've already had a great New Jersey life. Looking out at the most of us, there's a lot life that has been lived out in this audience. A lot of life. That's a very nice way of saying we're getting old. But there's a lot of life that's been lived out by this audience and we have already had a great New Jersey life. Most of us have, if not all of us in this room.

The question is: will our children have a great New Jersey life?

Or will they have to go to Florida, or Pennsylvania, or Connecticut, or some place even further away. To be able to get a life where they feel as if they can grow, and prosper, and be happy.

Well I'll tell you this, that's not the New Jersey I was born in. An that is not the New Jersey I care to die in.

And so, when people asked me last year why are you running for governor, why do you want to do this? That's why. Because I want my children around to take care of me when I get old. I want to be able to get in a car and drive to a grandson or granddaughter's little league game. I want to be there sitting around the kitchen table for that first birthday party. I don't want to have to see it over the internet. I want to be there. And the only way I'm going to be there is if they're here because I ain't leaving.

And I want them to be here with me. I want to them to experience the same great life that I have been blessed to experience. And I feel like for most of you, you want the very same thing.

And so if we want that, now is the time to get to work. Now is the time to not ignore the problems but to confront them. Now is the time for us to say, we are going to be the people who fix New Jersey's problems.

And then we put our head on the pillow at night, when we pass the torch off to our children and grandchildren, we're going to be able to say to them, we did our job, now it's your turn.

Thank you very much.

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