Rand: More Drilling Regulations Needed

Soon after certain segments of the media accused Rand Paul of latent racism for his comments regarding the Civil Rights Act, the Kentucky Republican took another drubbing for the claim, made on ABC's Good Morning America last week, that President Obama's criticism of BP struck him as "really un-American." Now Paul is taking a safer, if less libertarian line, on the BP disaster:

Paul, calling the spill "a great tragedy," told Tony Cruise on WHAS-AM that "I think we do have to have regulations, and we do have regulations in place but apparently wasn't enough.

"And sometimes even the best of regulations don't work because something unforeseen happens and that's what we have to figure out from this."

Via Hotair.

Comments

[spinnikerca]

Was journalism always this bad?

I shudder to think back to when I just believed what the news told me.

I heard that radio interview, in fact I'll get you the link. He didn't call for more regulations. He was saying sometimes having regulations in place, even if you are complying with regulations, isn't enough to stop accidents. He said people shouldn't rush to judgment before the facts were in, but of course the facts should be reviewed to see if this could be prevented in the future.

No where did he say 'we need more regulations'. This is being misreported all over, as were his comments on the CRA. It is almost as if the media just decided that if they are reporting about Rand Paul, fact checking isn't important.

Here's the interview: http://www.whas.com/cc-common/.....mp;TRACK;=

[?]

Thanks for the link, Spin. Listened to it twice just to make certain, and you're correct.

Isn't the free internet great?

We can actually get to the facts, something that is very difficult to do, if possible at all, when we must depend upon only established information outlets.

[?]

"Was journalism always this bad?"

It was many times worse before the Net. Fact checking was almost always a long and difficult process, mistakes and purposeful misrepresentations were the rule. And even when the truth was learned there was no practical way to let it be known.

[robc]

Question is why did Moynihan link to the article he did instead of directly to the interview?

[People Power Hour]

Laziness? His own agenda? Who knows. Interestingly he hasn't said....

[George Dance]

Thanks, spinnaker. I notice you've had to leave the same note at several sites, but I'm surprised you had to at Reason.

[Ice2]

I still dont see how criticizing BP is un-american. Try telling that to the people of the gulf coast, that they are un-american for being mad at BP

[Bill C]

It isn't and Rand Paul didn't say it was. He stated that the "boot-heel on the throat" of BP *rhetoric* was un-American. Can you imagine the what the media would do if Paul said he was going to put his bootheel on the throat of the Obama Administration? There would be screams of the "fascism coming from the Tea Party" yet when Paul calls out the President's rhetoric he's casted as defending BP.

In fact in almost all of the media "reports" I've seen they've ascribed the "boot-heel" quote to Paul and claimed that Paul was criticizing the the administration for being to hard on BP! It's pretty shameful what the media is doing to this guy.

The fact that "venerable" Associated Press is behind all of these characterizations leads me to believe they have an agenda against Rand Paul and are using their resources to pursue it.

It certainly doesn't help when the media doesn't include the full transcript and even libertarian magazines aren't checking it themselves. Here's the link to the BP/"criticism" transcript:

"What I don't like from the President's administration is this sort of, you know, "I'll put my boot heel on the throat of BP" I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/s.....oints-come

[Fact Check]

Obama should have said, "We'll put our boot up the ass of BP." Now that's American rhetoric.

[Tony]

What about a British corporation despoiling our water and coasts is "American" in nature?

[Carl Pham]

Who gives a shit? The point is that in America we applaud daring entrepreneurism, such as drilling a 20,000 foot well in 5,000 feet of water and making it possible for us to both have cheap gasoline and not disturb the precious polar bears in Alaska. We recognize that occasionally things go wrong and there are some accidents, sometimes just bad luck, sometimes bad planning, most times a combination of both.

And it's repulsive to have the President talk about having his boot heel on the throat of any private citizen or corporation. Who the hell appointed him the Avenging Angel? Maybe he could just keep his stupid fucking head down and pay attention to stuff like streamlining support logistics into the Gulf, waiving regulations to speed up certain things (berm construction comes to mind, cf. Bobby Jindal), deploying useful national assets -- satellite imagery, navy submersible experience? -- and otherwise being useful instead of sending squads of $250,000 a year Justice Dept lawyers down to the Gulf to get the names of everybody who needs suing later on, and making stuck up self-serving bullshit speeches about how vewy vewy angwy he is.

If any boots need to be stuck up anybody's asses -- including Barack Obama's ass, or Congress's ass, for promising to make sensible rules for offshore drilling and then completely neglecting their duty for cash contributions -- then we the people will be doing it.

[Pro Libertate]

Since boots on throats is pure totalitarian rhetoric, one would think it would get a really, really negative reaction from everyone, including partisan supporters of the government.

[James Ard]

Gee, ya think? Rand Paul is the establishment's worst nightmare. The press is going to pull out all of the stops to smear him.

[shrike]

Eraserhead Rand has stumbled upon some truthiness for once.

His ignorance has bottomed. I wish him well.

[Some Asshole]

Rand is for regulation. So, he isn't a racist anymore, right?

[micsolana]

+1

[bluecrane]

I'm not even sure he's libertarian; seems more politician to me. Not a very good politician or he wouldn't have let himself be led by the nose into the racism thing. Just a better politician than libertarian. Frankly he's just another so-called conservative - interested only in the economic side of libertarianism and totally disinterested in civil liberties.

[Ice2]

exactly, he was pretty good on civil liberties, but then the moment he announced his run for senator he said sayonara suckers to civil liberties and a non-interviontist foreign policy and started embracing the red state fascism.

[spinnikerca]

Well, he does say he is against the Patriot Act and for civil liberties. I don't think he differs on that score from his father except for what to do before a place is found for those from Guantanamo. He does think they should stay there and be tried in tribunals rather than be brought to the US where our law would never afterwards let them be deported (given the countries they come from.) Ron thinks courts are for criminals and court is a good place for them, as far as I can tell.

[Chad]

Sometimes the best of regulations don't work, Randy Dandy? They seem to be working just fine...in Norway.

Why don't we try them here?

[Pete Mynack]

They don't work if you ignore them, which is what BP did.

[Hate Potion Number Nine]

Well, what should happen now that the consequences of ignoring them are washing up on hundreds of miles of shoreline?

I was right, though. It's been reported that the accident was caused because BP skimped on equipment.

[Max]

The situation in Norway is different than the Gulf of Mexico. Drilling there is much easier and has been done for decades, you don't need any regulations, because everything that is regulated became common practice long before...

[People Power Hour]

Actually, we don't know if they work(ed) in Norway or not because the opportunity to use the "acoustic trigger" devices hasn't come along yet....

[Wesley]

Sometimes the best of regulations don't work, Randy Dandy? They seem to be working just fine...in Norway.

Alexander Kielland

[Wesley]

The drilling rig, not the author.

[?]

Chad and Tony rush to the scene. It's safe to assume there must be a link to this article on the Daily Kos.

[AA]

Tony stated that he goes other places than reason for enlightened conversation, so I doubt he was referring to DK... I hope he wasn't....

[wylie]

sometimes even the best of regulations don't work

How is that an endorsement for more regulation? Or is he that stupid?

[miller]

Rand Paul is a wuss for backing down on this. How dare any politician try to tell businessmen what to do? Who do you think the real Americans are? It's stupid liberals that got us into this mess. Arpaio for president, I say.

[Ice2]

what the hell does arpaio have to do with this? also "How dare any politician try to tell businessmen what to do?" so, your for arpaio for president yet arpaio would love to jail employers who hire illegal immigrants? who they hell is the government to tell someone who they can or can not hire?

[Fact Check]

Arpaio for president? Shall we understand that as "Law and Order for average citizens. But if you got enough money, go ahead and do whatever the fuck you want"?

"I hope we shall crush in its infancy the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomas Jefferson

[miller]

Rand Paul is a wuss for backing down on this. How dare any politician try to tell businessmen what to do? Who do you think the real Americans are? It's stupid liberals that got us into this mess. Arpaio for president, I say.

[miller]

Rand Paul is a wuss for backing down on this. How dare any politician try to tell businessmen what to do? Who do you think the real Americans are? It's stupid liberals that got us into this mess. Arpaio for president, I say.

[robc]

Saying it 3 times doesnt make it true. Did you fucking read the posts above yours?

[Josh Fulton]

Does that mean he wants more "regulations?"

[P Brooks]

Question is why did Moynihan link to the article he did instead of directly to the interview?

Because he's a useless dipshit who works backward from his conclusions?

[SIV]

+ ?

Your comment does not appear to be written in an English script. Please comment in English.

Why does Reason hate languages spoken by brown people?

[Prof Dumbledoor]

LOL, as usual. A day late and a dollar short, not to mention 40 million barrels of oil washing up in the coastal shores!

Lou
http://www.Anonymous-VPN.de.tc

[Me Libertarian]

Me no like it when anybody tell company what to do.

Freedom good!

Look! Chocolate-covered pelican!

[Me Liberal]

Government me mommy and daddy. Me feel warm and snuggly when they tuck me in at night. Me still love them even though they haven't done a very good job of protecting me from monster in me closet.

[Me Libertarian]

Me think childhood same as citizenhood. Is no difference to me.

Me think monster not real. Even when monster can be seen from space.

Look at the seagull try to fly! Doesn't seagull know how free it is?

I like freedom!

[Eric]

It's "Me like freedom", not "I like freedom". Bastard.

[Me Libertarian]

Me stand corrected. Me appreciate attention to consistency.

[Me Liberal]

Me get time frame confused when debating. Me forget to remember disaster not visible from space before it happen. Me think nothing bad ever happen if right mommy and daddy in charge.

[heller]

But, but, you don't sound libertarian at all...

[Brent Burk]

He said that we do need regulations, and regulations don't always work, but because it isn't on private property that governments should have regulations.

But he doesn't say he wants to add more regulations, nor has he said anything he didn't say before. Even in the ABC interview he said it was in public water and that regulations could be used because of it.