Here are the fact-checkable statements from the May 30, 2010 episode of Meet the Press.
Transcript | Video
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ROBERT DUDLEY (BP) | Original oil flow estimates were 5,000 barrels a day, (CHECKED – HALF TRUE) now it is 12-19,000
MR. DUDLEY: The original estimates, which were government and BP estimates together, primarily unified estimates of 5,000 barrels a day, were based on satellite pictures. We’ve always found this a difficult oil to measure because of the, the huge amounts of gas in the oil. The, the new estimate range of I think it’s 12,000 to 19,000 barrels has been issued without an actual flow measurement. The one thing about this method that we’re about to go into, it will and should measure the majority of the flow.
ROBERT DUDLEY (BP)
1)The Deepwater Horizon accident was unprecedented.
2) The blowout preventers on the more than 5,000 deepwater wells have not failed before
MR. DUDLEY: This is an unprecedented accident. These, these blowout preventers which are used on oil and gas wells all around the world and have been used on more than 5,000 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico have not failed before.
ROBERT DUDLEY (BP) | Industry standards include checking blowout preventers every 14 days.
MR. DUDLEY: I don’t think so. The industry has–all around the world these pieces of equipment are inspected regularly, and in the U.S. they’re inspected every 14 days. This is a very unusual failure. We need to find out why. We need to learn from it and, and change the industry for good.|
CAROL BROWNER | Measures to handle oil spill have included: more than 80 burns which are highly successful, 1,400 vessels skimming more than 11 billion gallons of water/oil.
MS. BROWNER: Well, the good news is, if there’s any good news here, is that we have a lot of systems in place to manage and decrease the amount of oil that comes onshore. So, for example, more than 80 burns have been conducted. These burns are highly successful, they corral the oil, they burn it. Now, we can’t do it all the time; weather conditions don’t always allow for it. Secondly, there is booming that is in place. You–the president visited some of that booming. They’re able to capture the, the little pellets, the, the little slicks of oil that come onshore. And then finally there is the skimming. There are over 1,400 vessels in this part of the Gulf of Mexico. We are using skimmers that skim up the oil sheen. They bring up water, too. I think it’s over 11 billion barrels of oil and water that have now been skimmed up. All of that is going to continue.
CAROL BROWNER | Govt. has been in control of the oil spill response since the beginning.
MS. BROWNER:Â Well, the government’s been in control from the beginning.
CAROL BROWNER | There have not been similar accidents with underwater wells. (this is roughly the same check as the Dudley check above)
MS. BROWNER: David, I, I, I think that we have to understand all of these things going forward. But I do think it’s important to understand that these wells have been drilled for several decades now. There have not been these kinds of accidents.
CAROL BROWNER | All deepwater rigs in the US have been shut down.
MS. BROWNER:Â That is why all of those operations have been shut down. In the Arctic, they’ve been shut down; in the Gulf of Mexico, they’ve been shut down, including 33 rigs that were out there drilling right now, which, you know, we understand it’s going to be hard on those people.
REP. J.D. HAYWORTH (R-AZ)
1) The President of Mexico instructed the US State Dept. to have the personnel sent to the southwest not enforce immigration laws.
2) The troops that were sent are “essentially” only working to maintain vehicles or work in offices.
REP. HAYWORTH:Â When you go back and check the press accounts, we hear that actually the president of Mexico and the government of Mexico, not content on lecturing the state of Arizona and the majority of American citizens from a joint session of Congress, now instructed the State Department, “Hey, if you’re sending people there, don’t have them enforce immigration laws.” So what we are seeing right now is a situation where you will have troops essentially working to maintain border patrol vehicles, change oil, change tires, or work in the office dealing with computers.
REP. J.D. HAYWORTH (R-AZ) | NYC adopted a “broken windows” police policy that means minor infractions are enforced, and as a result overall crime has dropped in NYC.
REP. HAYWORTH:Â For example, in New York City, a policy was adopted called the “broken windows” theory of policing, where you enforce the law for infractions no matter how seemingly minor and, as a result, overall crime drops.
DAVID GREGORY (NBC) | The 12 million unauthorized immigrants in the US are all Mexican. (just pointing out a mistake here)
MR. GREGORY:Â …reflecting the fact that you can’t just deport 12 million people back to Mexico.
REP. J.D. HAYWORTH (R-AZ) | Representatives Hayworth and Gutierrez both have remarkably clean driving records (this one is just for fun, if somebody knows how to check it, on the off chance they have speeding tickets or something)
REP. HAYWORTH: Now, David, you set up a situation. Let’s talk about the commonality of the experience. First of all, Luis and I are remarkably safe drivers.
REP. J.D. HAYWORTH (R-AZ)
1) In 2007 the Heritage Foundation reported that unauthorized immigrants would cost 2.6 billion in retirement benefits if made citizens
2) Let’s fact check the Heritage Foundation report, since it is a partisan organization.
REP. HAYWORTH: And would remind the viewers that in the 2007 bill with the late Senator Kennedy, the Heritage Foundation estimated that long-term retirement benefits alone for illegals granted citizenship would be $2.6 trillion. So much for fiscal responsibility from my opponent.
DAVID GREGORY (NBC) | Economy is on track to create 1.7 million jobs this year
MR. GREGORY: The, the economy now is growing. It’s on track to create on the order of 1.7 million jobs this year. If that happens, does the Obama administration deserve credit for a turnaround?
EJ DIONNE | The majority of jobs created by the stimulus package are/were in the private sector
MR. DIONNE: The jobs created from the stimulus are largely in the private sector. It’s rule number one of the–of economics that when the government pushes out this money it has an effect across the economy.
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