But for the administration to falsely claim they were taking effective action from the start is a big fat lie!
No it's not. YOU lie:
Limbaugh falsely claimed Obama waited eight days to deal with Gulf oil spillApril 30, 2010 5:42 pm
SUMMARY: Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed that President Obama "waited eight days" to respond to the Gulf oil spill. In fact, the White House immediately dispatched federal officials and the Coast Guard to work on the response to the spill.
Limbaugh falsely claims that "Obama didn't jump on this ASAP"
Limbaugh: Obama "waited eight days" to respond to spill. On the April 30 edition of his radio show, Limbaugh stated: "The problem here is that Obama didn't jump on this ASAP. He waited eight days, folks. There is no excuse for this. None." [Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show, 4/30/10]
White House immediately dispatched officials, Coast Guard to work on response
April 20: Oil rig explosion. An April 21 ABCNews.com article reported, "An overnight explosion in the Gulf of Mexico rocked the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the Louisiana coast, sending spectacular bursts of flame into the sky. The fires were still raging today."
April 21: Deputy Secretary of Interior, Coast Guard dispatched to region. An April 22 White House statement noted that following a briefing with President Obama, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen, Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe, and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, "Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes was dispatched to the region yesterday to assist with coordination and response." The Coast Guard announced that four units were responding to the fire, with additional units en route.
Search and rescue efforts begin for 11 missing. An initial focus of the response was the search for 11 missing crewmembers. The search was called off April 23.
CNN.com: "The U.S. Coast Guard launched a major search effort." An April 22 CNN.com article reported:
The U.S. Coast Guard launched a major search effort Wednesday for 11 people missing after a "catastrophic" explosion aboard an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico engulfed the drilling platform in flames.
Another 17 people were injured -- three critically -- in the blast aboard the Deepwater Horizon, which occurred about 10 p.m. Tuesday. The rig was about 52 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana, said Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry. As of late afternoon Wednesday as many as six firefighting vessels were working to contain the massive fire caused by the explosion.
"It obviously was a catastrophic event," O'Berry said.
BP confirms U.S. Coast Guard was "leading the emergency response." In an April 21 press release, British Petroluem stated that it was "working closely with Transocean and the U.S. Coast Guard, which is leading the emergency response, and had been offering its help -- including logistical support." A separate April 21 press release from drilling contractor Transocean also stated: "Transocean's Emergency and Family Response Teams are working with the U.S. Coast Guard and lease operator BP Exploration & Production, Inc. to care for all rig personnel and search for missing rig personnel."
April 23: Coast Guard "focused on mitigating the impact of the product currently in the water." On April 23, the Coast Guard stated:
The Department of the Interior, MMS [the U.S. Minerals Management Service], and the Coast Guard continue to support the efforts of the responsible parties to secure all potential sources of pollution. Both federal agencies have technical teams in place overseeing the proposals by BP and Transocean to completely secure the well. Until that has occurred and all parties are confident the risk of additional spill is removed, a high readiness posture to respond will remain in place.
Although the oil appears to have stopped flowing from the well head, Coast Guard, BP, Transocean, and MMS remain focused on mitigating the impact of the product currently in the water and preparing for a worst-case scenario in the event the seal does not hold. Visual feed from deployed remotely operated vehicles with sonar capability is continually monitored in an effort to look for any crude oil which still has the potential to emanate from the subsurface well.
"From what we have observed yesterday and through the night, we are not seeing any signs of release of crude in the subsurface area. However we remain in a 'ready to respond' mode and are working in a collaborative effort with BP, the responsible party, to prepare for a worst-case scenario," Landry stated early Friday morning.
Axelrod: "We had the Coast Guard on the scene almost immediately" and "the deputy secretary of the Interior was on the ground the next day." White House adviser David Axelrod discussed the administration's response to the oil spill during an appearance on the April 30 edition of ABC's Good Morning America.
http://mediamatters.org/research/201004300049