White House 'satisfied' with its response to Gulf disaster

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Team Obama has responded to Sarah Palin's criticism via Twitter of White House chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's false claim that Texas Congressman Joe Barton's apology -- since retracted -- to BP's Chairman reflects GOP party philosophy:

Asked to respond to Palin, White House spokesman Bill Burton noted that some Republicans have defended Barton's comments about the $20 billion claims fund Obama negotiated with BP for victims of the Gulf Coast oil spill.

"We're satisfied that we're doing everything we can to take care of the folks in the Gulf region," Burton added, "and if she doesn't want to own Congressman Barton's comments, that doesn't surprise me."

The problem with Deputy Press Secretary Burton's comment is that while the Obama Administration may be "satisfied" that it is doing all it can to deal with the impact of the worst environmental disaster in the nation's history, most Americans are not at all satisfied with Team Obama's efforts.

Even a poll released Tuesday by CBS News and the NY Times, which oversampled Democrats in comparison to Republicans (by 432 to 302, after being weighted), found that a majority of Americans feel that the president's response was too slow (61 percent) and a plurality (47 percent) believe that he has no clear plan to deal with the crisis in the gulf.

- JP