Perriello on Deepwater Horizon rig: you get what you pay for!
By JR Hoeft | Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 | Policy
Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Virginia, 5th) is now an expert on deepwater drilling and has figured out the cause of the accident that tragically killed 11 oil rig workers three months ago today at the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig: cheap foreign products!
Perriello, whose silence on immigration reform (despite his party’s accusations of Republican xenophobia in Arizona regarding the enforcement of existing law) has been louder than a Mariachi band, showed his own personal disdain for the global economy and a gross misunderstanding (or willful neglect) of federal oversight when he spoke to a group of seniors today during a teletown hall.
“If you look at the BP example, that oil rig that blew was not manufactured in the United States – it was manufactured in Asia. Most of the component parts were made in Asia and you often get what you pay for. If you pay for the cheapest stuff, you get the sort of thing that could blow and cause billions of dollars in damages to fishers, shrimpers, restaurateurs, and everyone else in that area.”
Forget for a moment that all sorts of questions are being asked in the current investigation of the tragedy regarding how thorough the investigations by MMS have been or how easy it was to exempt the Environmental Impact Statement, is it really possible that a U.S. Congressman has decided that it’s good economic policy to insult a bloc of nations that account for greater than 25% of our trade?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, trade from China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore amounted to 25.3% of all U.S. trade.
Perhaps Perriello might want to reconsider his statement? Or is he ready to give up every product he owns that has been manufactured in Asia and eliminate every job in the 5th District that relies on imports or the sale of these products?
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About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
Comments
12 Responses to "Perriello on Deepwater Horizon rig: you get what you pay for!"
So let me get this straight:
The reason Tom Perriello — an elected official — believes the BP station failed is because “teh AZNs” did it?
Ummm… wow?
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jason Kenney, Nigel Coleman. Nigel Coleman said: RT @jasonkenney: RT @svkenney: RT @bearingdrift Who does Perriello blame for the BP oil spill? ASIANS (no joke): http://bit.ly/dAPAed #va05 [...]
well, duh, Tom. Why do we use “Asian” (read Chinese) products anyway? could it be because it is prohibitively expensive to produce anything in our own country now?
and why would that be Tom? could the enormous cost of doing business in America include onerous taxes, regulations & ridiculous oversight by the Federal govt?
And Tom, do you think the $1 trillion cost of Obamacare & all the rules associated with it will help the American manufacturing landscape? do you Tom?
oh, sorry. I don’t know if Obamacare will cost $1 trillion. No one really knows yet. we won’t know the cost of that bill until America’s business landscape is barren. Tom voted for Obamacare. in case you are keeping score…
What do you think is the possibility that Tom wants to put barriers to free trade?
Look carefully at the things that led to the Great Depression and how government policies prolonged it.
Given the amount of money he has received from unions? I’d say protectionism isn’t too far off his radar.
Look how the Great Depression benefited Democrats. Do you think they are worried about that?
If we had a good Republican candidate in the 5th district Tommy boy would be easy to beat but we don’t we have Robert Hurt who can’t even get all of the Republicans behind him.People are all excited that Hurt is 20 points ahead of Perriello in a poll well Virgil Goode was up by 30 points and lost please tell me where that is a good thing ?
Fair Trade agreements have been great for Southside…/sarcasm
Chris
Blame it on a lack of sectoral mobility and top heavy demographics. Trade restrictions only reduce total output and lead to inefficiency.
Asian products have little to no quality tradeoffs, some of the finest tools are made in Taiwan. Just because a product is produced in the US doesn’t guaruntee quality.
I wonder if Tom isn’t just pining to pass Smoot-Hawley 2.0
I’m speaking politically. Virgil Goode was a huge denouncer of NAFTA, CAFTA and other agreements. I think it’s one issue where Perriello and Hurt agree. Tell a guy in Martinsville that his furniture job was lost because of sectoral mobility and top heavy demographics and he’ll tell you that it’s Asian’s being able to work cheaper than he can. That not conventional wisdom in Southside. That’s gospel truth.
Will,
Perriello is toast. This isn’t 2008 and this isn’t Virgil Goode. Stick a fork in him, he’s done.
If it weren’t for the White House’s admitted love of Perriello for taking “tough” votes, I doubt Dems would waste any money here this fall and if they are smart, they still won’t.
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