Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Obama and BP: Change You Can Believe In!

If you were wondering why it took President Obama so long to do anything about the oil spill in the Gulf, look no further than his relationship with BP, the owner of the spewing well. Apparently, Barack Obama has been the biggest recipient of BP money.

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.

Now, there's nothing wrong, to me, with Barack Obama getting campaign contributions from PACs and individuals. After all, that's the way the law is. But the Luny Left should be furious that Teh One has pocketed more corporate cash from an eeeeeevillll oil company than those evil Republicans who are supposedly in the pockets of the oil industry. Instead, we have the nutbags trying to blame Dick Cheney for the oil spill. Ah, it must be tough to be a leftwinger these days when you have to dig back years to blame someone other than the guy you elected president.