I hope he proposes a broad climate tax.  It will finish the Democrats in    
   the fall and be his final swan song...   
      
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   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870400980457530878210736453   
   8.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories   
      
   By LAURA MECKLER And JONATHAN WEISMAN    
      
   PENSACOLA, Fla.   
      
   President Barack Obama will use an Oval Office address Tuesday night to    
   outline his plans for cleaning up the Gulf oil spill, compensating    
   victims, getting tough on the offshore oil industry and enacting new    
   policies to reduce U.S. oil dependence.   
      
   He also named a new leader to overhaul the agency that regulates oil    
   drilling.   
      
   .Tonight's speech will be the first time Mr. Obama has delivered a    
   speech from the Oval Office, the backdrop his predecessors used to    
   address the nation in times of crisis. The address comes at what White    
   House aides say is an "inflection point" in the disaster—although it    
   could be another two months before a relief well can stop the undersea    
   gusher.   
      
   Testing out themes he will use tonight, Mr. Obama spoke Tuesday in    
   Florida of "an assault on our shores" and said he will make sure BP PLC,    
   owner of the leaking well, "pays for the damage it has done" as his    
   administration ensures "you have the resources you need."   
      
   In Florida, Mr. Obama unveiled a new command structure, under Coast    
   Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the national incident commander. He appointed    
   deputy incident commanders in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, as well    
   as a new command center in Tallahassee.   
      
   "The sand is white and the water's blue, so folks who are looking for a    
   good vacation, they can still come to Pensacola," he said. "But that    
   doesn't mean people aren't still angry. …The plumes of oil are off the    
   coast. Tar balls are coming on shore, and everybody's bracing for more."   
      
   "We're going to fight back with everything we've got, and that includes    
   mobilizing the resources of the greatest militaries in the world," he    
   told Marines and Naval aviators in Pensacola, Fla., who cheered and    
   shouted the traditional Marine hooah.   
      
   The White House said Tuesday it was naming Michael Bromwich to overhaul    
   the Minerals Management Service, the much-maligned agency that the    
   president has promised to break up and reform. Mr. Bromwich is a former    
   assistant U.S. attorney and Justice Department inspector general. The    
   White House called him "a national leader in taking broken agencies,    
   applying rigorous reforms and oversight and seeing positive results."   
      
   Critics say the White House has been too reactive in responding to the    
   spill, and recent polls indicate the administration is getting poor    
   marks from many voters for its response.   
      
   The White House hopes the combination of Mr. Obama's fourth trip to the    
   region, the Oval Office address and a high-profile meeting with BP    
   executives on Wednesday will turn the tide.   
      
   One big uncertainty underlying Mr. Obama's strategy is how far BP will    
   go to meet his demands that the company fund an independently    
   administered, multibillion-dollar escrow account to quickly pay off    
   claims by Gulf residents for economic and environmental damages.    
      
       
      
   .White House aides have said the administration and BP are in    
   discussions on how the fund would be structured, but BP officials have    
   also signaled they will resist demands to subsidize the wages of people    
   put out of work by a drilling moratorium ordered by Mr. Obama.   
      
   The president will also press for the passage of legislation to move the    
   nation away from fossil fuels, the one piece of his ambitious domestic    
   agenda that has stalled, but it's unclear what that legislation will    
   ultimately look like.    
      
   The president said recently that he wants legislation that puts a price    
   on carbon, and vowed to help round up the votes for it in the Senate.    
      
   Democratic Senate aides said this week that there is little appetite for    
   pursuing ambitious legislation to combat climate change this year, and    
   predicted a smaller package that directly addresses the oil spill is    
   more likely.   
      
   The legislation may also include incentives for alternative energy, they    
   said.    
      
      
   .The White House appears to be aiming higher. A senior administration    
   official outlined an expansive set of goals that go well beyond a direct    
   response to the BP oil spill, including efficiency improvements and a    
   development of new energy sources, such as expansion of nuclear power as    
   well as oil and gas drilling.    
      
   The official said it was too early to know whether energy legislation    
   would ultimately include a price on carbon or a cap-and-trade system    
   like the form passed by the House. But he said the president wants    
   comprehensive legislation that addresses a range of energy issues and    
   pointed to a half-dozen bills now pending in the Senate that address    
   various aspects of the energy problem.    
      
      
   ."The test for him is: Does it reduce America's carbon pollution? Does    
   it set America off on a course of energy independence? Does it meet the    
   objective to see that America is leading in the alternative energy    
   field? Does it lead to the creation of economic growth and jobs? Does it    
   lead to the United States being a leader on alternative energy? Does it    
   help the country wean itself off dependence on foreign oil?" the    
   official said. "Those are the questions the president will ask in    
   evaluating any legislation."   
      
   Any effort to put a price on carbon— effectively raising the costs of    
   gasoline at the pump or electricity— will face strong opposition from    
   Republicans and some Democrats.    
      
   After a meeting with Mr. Obama last week, the top congressional    
   Republicans emerged to say they would support legislation specifically    
   related to the oil spill but would not abide using the spill as an    
   excuse for an "energy tax."   
      
   CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999    
   Barak Obama thinks we can spend our way to prosperity .....   
      
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