Daily Political Wire 5-30-2010

George Wenschhof

Yesterday, President Obama issued a statement on the failure of BP's latest effort to halt the flow of oil into the ocean - The President pointed out, that from the beginning of the accident, it was known the surest way to stop the flow was the drilling of a new well. Unfortunately, although already underway, that fix is still several months away.

The "top kill" effort was suspended yesterday by BP, who will now try with the use of underwater submarines and robots to cut off a section of the pipe and cap it. The latest approach could take several days and may also not work.

Time.com has the President's statement here.

Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting that internal BP scientists warned of problems with the well casing and blowout preventer that were used. The NY Times has more here.

---

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) says oil spill disaster is example of why energy/climate legislation is needed - she was speaking at the convocation at Cornell University. TheHill.com has more here.

---

Another "Gotcha" moment for a Senate candidate - this time it is in Illinois and it is a Republican who is running for the Senate seat once held by President Obama. Representative Mark Kirk (R) said in his biography he had received the U.S. Navy's Intelligence Officer of The Year award which the Washington post is reporting is not true. The Washington Post has more here.

Kirk is running against Democrat Alexi Giannoulias who is the state treasurer and recently had his own bad news when his family owned bank failed. Stay tuned....

---

On the foreign policy front. Israel does not agree to sign UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - UN Secretary-General Bang Ki-moon said 189 had agreed to sign including the U.S. Pakistan and India; who are both nuclear armed nations were among non members who did not sign. The U.S. acknowledges it would be hard for Israel to sign with Iran still pursuing nuclear capability and lack of resolution in the Palestine-Israel conflict. Reuters.com has more here.

Back home, President Obama will be receiving visits over the next week from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas. The proximity talks have been underway between the two with Middle East Envoy George Mitchell acting as the intermediary. It will be interesting to see the political posturing that takes place during and after these meetings.

---

To receive "Daily Email Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below or use the sign up box located in the upper right hand margin.