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Obama takes on critics, media
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama says those who want him to "do something" about the gulf oil spill "are the same folks who" have criticized him for doing too much.
In an interview Friday with Politico, the president criticized political opponents, including some members of Congress, and took on the media for its reporting on the federal government's response to the April 20 explosion that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, killing 11 workers and setting off an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has begun to damage Gulf Coast ecosystems.
"Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying 'do something' are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much," Obama said. "Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our freedoms."
Obama speculated that if he had gone to Congress before the spill occurred and said "we need to crack down a lot harder on oil companies and we need to spend more money on technology to respond in case of a catastrophic spill, there are folks up there, who will not be named, who would have said this is classic, big-government overregulation and wasteful spending."
Obama, who is scheduled to travel to the region Monday and Tuesday for his fourth visit since the spill began, said media coverage of the government's handling of the crisis has been missing the point.
"You know, what I think I get frustrated with sometimes, as do, I suspect, other members of my team, is that the media specifically is demanding things that the public aren't demanding," the president said. "What the public wants to see is us solving this problem. And that may not make for good TV."
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama says those who want him to "do something" about the gulf oil spill "are the same folks who" have criticized him for doing too much.
In an interview Friday with Politico, the president criticized political opponents, including some members of Congress, and took on the media for its reporting on the federal government's response to the April 20 explosion that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, killing 11 workers and setting off an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has begun to damage Gulf Coast ecosystems.
"Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying 'do something' are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much," Obama said. "Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our freedoms."
Obama speculated that if he had gone to Congress before the spill occurred and said "we need to crack down a lot harder on oil companies and we need to spend more money on technology to respond in case of a catastrophic spill, there are folks up there, who will not be named, who would have said this is classic, big-government overregulation and wasteful spending."
Obama, who is scheduled to travel to the region Monday and Tuesday for his fourth visit since the spill began, said media coverage of the government's handling of the crisis has been missing the point.
"You know, what I think I get frustrated with sometimes, as do, I suspect, other members of my team, is that the media specifically is demanding things that the public aren't demanding," the president said. "What the public wants to see is us solving this problem. And that may not make for good TV."