Were Barack Obama's Ties to Big Oil A Contributing Factor To the Current Oil Spill Catastrophe?

One has to imagine if Barack Obama didn't receive so much money from BP campaign contributions he may have acted faster to reign in Big Oil's drilling practices....has this effected his entire energy policy?

While the BP oil geyser pumps millions of gallons of petroleum  into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama and members of Congress  may have to answer for the millions in campaign contributions they’ve  taken from the oil and gas giant over the years.

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal  candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money  going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.  Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political  action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related  PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.

On top of that, the oil giant has spent millions each year on lobbying —  including $15.9 million last year alone — as it has tried to influence  energy policy.

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama  received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient  of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to  financial disclosure records.

An Obama spokesman rejected the notion that the president took big  oil money.

“President Obama didn’t accept a dime from corporate PACs or federal  lobbyists during his presidential campaign,” spokesman Ben LaBolt said.  “He raised $750 million from nearly four million Americans. And since he  became president, he rolled back tax breaks and giveaways for the oil  and gas industry, spearheaded a G20 agreement to phase out fossil fuel  subsidies, and made the largest investment in American history in clean  energy incentives.”

In Congress, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who last week cautioned that  the incident should “not be used inappropriately” to halt Obama’s push  for expansion of offshore drilling, has been one of the biggest  beneficiaries of BP’s largesse. Her comments created some blowback, with  critics complaining that she is too blasé about the impact of the  disaster, even though she was among the first lawmakers to call for a  federal investigation into the spill.

As the top congressional recipient in the last cycle and one of the top  BP cash recipients of the past two decades, Landrieu banked almost  $17,000 from the oil giant in 2008 alone and has lined her war chest  with more than $28,000 in BP cash overall.

“Campaign contributions, from energy companies or from environmental  groups, have absolutely no impact on Sen. Landrieu’s policy agenda or  her response to this unprecedented disaster in the Gulf,” said Landrieu  spokesman Aaron Saunders. “The senator is proud of the broad coalition  she’s built since her first day in the Senate to address the energy and  environmental challenges in Louisiana and in the nation. This disaster  only makes the effort to promote and save Louisiana’s coast all that  more important.”

Several BP executives have given directly to Landrieu’s campaign,  including current and previous U.S. operation Presidents Lamar McKay and  Robert Malone. Other donors include Margaret Hudson, BP’s America vice  president, and Benjamin Cannon, federal affairs director for the U.S.  branch. Donations ranged from $1,000 to $2,300 during the past campaign  cycle.

Environmentalists complain that Landrieu has played down the impact of  oil spills.

“I mean, just the gallons are so minuscule compared to the benefits of  U.S. strength and security, the benefits of job creation and energy  security,” Landrieu said at a hearing last month on offshore drilling.  “So while there are risks associated with everything, I think you  understand that they are quite, quite minimal.”