Gulf oil spill: In Louisiana, Obama criticizes BP advertising and dividend payments [Updated]

President Obama sharply criticized BP on Friday, saying the company should not waste millions of dollars on television advertising and dividend payments when the money would be better spent on people suffering from the spill. "My understanding is that BP had contracted for $50 million worth of TV advertising to manage their image in the course of this disaster," the president said.

"In addition, there are reports that BP will be paying $10.5 billion in dividend payments this quarter," he added in remarks to reporters. "Now, I  don't have a problem with BP fulfilling its legal obligations. But I want BP to be very clear they've got moral and legal obligations here in the Gulf with the damage that has been done.

"What I don't want to hear is that they're spending that kind of money on shareholders and spending that kind of money on TV advertising [but] they're nickel-and-diming fishermen or small businesses here in the gulf who are having a  hard time."

Obama's remarks came after a meeting with officials from Louisiana and other gulf states at the airport in Kenner, La., during his third visit to the gulf. The April 20 blowout of the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon rig has resulted in the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

Obama, who has been under public pressure to assume a more forceful role in responding to the spill, spoke to reporters for about 15 minutes. He sat at the head of a horseshoe-shaped table, in a small building on the airport Tarmac, between Admiral Thad Allen and senior White House energy advisor Carol Browner.

In the meeting were Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, and others. He spoke in measured tones, while nonetheless expressing his annoyance with the London-based oil giant.

In apologetic commercials that began airing on national TV Thursday, BP chief executive Tony Hayward says, "The gulf spill is a tragedy that never should have happened," and adds, "To those affected and your families, I am deeply sorry."

BP shares have lost around a third of their value since the blowout as investors fear soaring cleanup costs and worry about the company’s ability to pay a dividend -- a major concern of British pension funds.

Two U.S. senators this week called on BP to suspend its annual dividend until full cleanup and liability costs become clear. Victims’ families and businesses damaged by the oil “deserve to know that BP will fulfill its obligations to them before its shareholders,” Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Charles Schumer of New York said in a letter to Hayward. 

BP has been expected to announce it would maintain dividend payments, but the president's remarks seemed aimed at changing the company's mind. Last year, the company had $27 billion in cash flow from operating activities. So far, it has spent roughly $1 billion on response to the spill.

[Updated 3:53 p.m.: After meeting with officials and reporters, Obama visited a marina and bait shop in Grand Isle, one of the hardest-hit coastal towns. He was cheered by about 30 local residents as he shook hands under a house elevated on stilts, saying at one point, "We've got to get a family picture before I leave." 

Many of those in the crowd said "thank you."

Sitting in the bait shop, a plate of shrimp and crawfish in front of him, Obama cautioned that the future will be painful. "This is going to be bad no matter what we do," he said.  "We can hopefully minimize the damage but it requires good cooperation from state, federal and local."

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced that the president will greet the family members of those killed on the Deepwater Horizon at the White House on Thursday to offer his condolences in person. The president sent a letter and invitation to each of the families.]

-- Peter Nicholas in Kenner, La. and Margot Roosevelt in Los Angeles

Photo: President Barack Obama speaks to the press following a meeting with National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, left.  Credit: Jason Reed / Reuters

Comments

[Evelyn]

Wait, I'm sorry... are we seriously upset with the government for a mess created by a private corporation? Why does it make sense for BP to profit off the oil pipeline but for the government to be responsible for it's clean up with tax payer dollars?

Whoever gets the benefits should also take the risks? Why are people angry with the government for BP's incompetence? Those who profit should take the risk (i.e. clean up their own mess with their own funds). Why are BP stockholders getting paid while tax dollars are used to clean up the mistake that they stood to profit from?

[allen gillespie]

O'bama is becoming a cheap populist hack. Critisizing BP for paying its regularly scheduled dividend is nonsense. I was both a contributor and voter for O'bama so this is not just a normal Republicn rant.

[Windfall]

From the same town that brought us Shoeless Joe Jackson comes now Clueless Comrade Barry – both crooks – both going down in flames in front of a rapt, national audience.

Former advisor to President Clinton, Richard Morris, has it right,

“Obama has no more idea how to work his way out of the economic mess into which his policies have plunged us than he does about how to clean up the oil spill that is destroying our southern coastline.”

http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/2010/06/02/obama-doesnt-have-a-clue/

Comrade Barry will neither confirm nor deny the WSJ report that existing regulations would have prevented this disaster had they been followed… or enforced… because the former BP executive turned regulator who allowed BP to cut corners turns out to be an appointee of our Clueless Comrade and thus fault for both the incompetent response as well as the creation of the problem in the first place lies squarely at the feet of Clueless Comrade Barry.

Heck-of-a-job, Barry!

[nosanctuary]

Dear Leader needs to rectify the weeks long paralysis of Federal agencies before he starts blabbing about anything. The incompetence and gatekeeper mentality of the Federal agencies as the marshes, wetlands and fisheries are dying is unconscionable. Build the berms, get the booms in place, get all the oil recovery tankers out there, DO SOMETHING!

Oh, messiah is worried about the cost and who will pay. His big moves are establishing commissions and having his stooge file lawsuits. The big zero has already blown hundreds of billions on useless pork projects, union payoffs and Wall St bailouts, but can't spend a tiny fraction of that amount to save irreplaceable American wild lands, or for that matter, secure American borders.

But what else could you expect from a Chicago ACORN community organizer.

[Al m]

Great to hear the Pres is taking action. BP and other big oil companies cannot afford to take unwarranted risks. The technology is out there to do things right, there is no excuse for this spill. There should be dire consequences for taking short cuts. Punative damages should be set at maximum. Otherwise, people might think the President is returning a favor for all the money BP donated to his campaign. That is much more difficult to clean up. Hey BP, what goes around, comes around... this will be the biggest clean up in history.

[lioness]

You know what would be really refreshing? For this president to stop blaming and start ACTING. Regardless of the issue, he continues to politicize everything. Governor Jindal is at his wits' end with the casual performance of this administration. President Obama should heed the words of Lee Iacocca -- "...lead, follow or get out of the way." And why shouldn't BP issue dividends to its shareholders? Investors take the bulk of the risk and should be compensated accordingly. I do not blame the president for the spill; I do, however, hold him accountable for using politics to keep his powder dry. Get off the stump, Mr. President and gather the best minds to solve this problem. Then, unleash them and get the hell out of the way!

[fobama]

obamass clueless..

[fobama]

obamass clueless........

[Julian Sandoval]

Can someone tell me where the "comapany" Haliburton fits in to all of this?

[cigarbat]

And Obummer shouldn't be spending my tax dollars running around in circles doing nothing. My retirement money is in BP.

Obummer is a worthless commie.

[Paleta Fresca]

This president is out of his mind. No president tells a privately owned company how they run their operations. This is overstepping of the most arrogant kind.

[aaron]

like the federal government doesn't waste any of our tax dollars while legal Americans are unemployed.

[John Leddy]

Right on Obama! BP must have it's feet held to the toxic fire they've created. Use every means, legal and moral, to make BP accountable. BP will not do the right thing unless they are forced by our government and an outraged populace.