President Obama: Want to help the Gulf? Come down and spend money

[Bluebear]

President Obama said Monday that if Americans want to really help the Gulf states recover from the BP oil spill they should come on down and spend money.

“There’s still a lot of opportunity for visitors to come down here. There are a lot of beaches that have not been affected and will not be affected," Obama said. “If people want to help, the best way to help is to come down here and visit."

The President made the comments during the start of a two-day swing through the Gulf States - his fourth such trip since the BP Deepwater Horizon platform exploded and triggered the massive flow of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama met with Govs. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) and Haley Barbour, (R-Miss.), who made an appeal for Americans to spend tourism dollars in their states. Barbour noted that not a drop of oil from the spill has washed up on Mississippi shores and its white sand beaches remains pristine, but unoccupied.

Meanwhile, administration officials signaled they are optimistic BP will take it upon itself to create an escrow account to immediately cover costs from the oil spill so out of work Gulf residents can recoup some of their losses.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/06/14/2010-06-14_president_obama_want_to_help_the_gulf_come_down_and_spend_money.html#ixzz0qrQZgRbi