Ft. Myers News-Journal: Editorial: Florida's Mica sets the wrong tone, example

U.S. Rep. JOHN LUIGI MICA head-butts ABC news cameraman outside TOM DELAY's shindig at 2008 Republican National Convention, apparently accompanied by underage youth.

Ft. Myers News-Journal: Editorial: Florida's Mica sets the wrong tone, example

We have a new poster boy for bone-headed partisanship, and he hails from right here in Florida, just across the state in Daytona Beach.

Congressman John Mica seized on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's acknowledgment Tuesday that his agency could have monitored offshore drilling more aggressively to start blaming the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on President Obama.

Salazar doesn't deserve much credit for conceding the obvious under pressure, but at least he's saying something useful.

Surely the oil spill is a classic example of national problems that should have the parties pulling together.

There will be policy disagreements. A hard look at the current administration's performance in regulation and disaster response is in order.

However, laxness in federal regulation stretches back over many years and administrations, both Democratic and Republican.

Just before the spill, both parties seemed to be converging in support of expanded offshore drilling; now they both have oil on their faces.

The "drill, baby, drill" mantra of Republicans has come back to haunt them, as has President Obama's endorsement of expanded offshore drilling, announced just three weeks before Deepwater Horizon blew.

So for Mica to try to make this an "Obama oil spill" is akin to calling the current economic malaise "the Bush recession."

What makes Mica's conduct especially repulsive is the fact that he was among the "drill, baby, drill" Republicans himself, has taken contributions from the oil industry and has a brother, David, who has been an oil industry lobbyist in Tallahassee for years.

John Mica is trying to deflect blame for Deepwater Horizon from the oil industry, which is quite a trick.

We don't need narrow-minded politics in Washington; we need wise energy policy that puts the national interest above partisan advantage and finger-pointing

Is that too much to ask, Representative Mica?

Maybe so, but we should urge our leaders in Washington to reject his example, and think sensibly and constructively on this vital issue.