Apparently only Democrats are allowed to arrange visits to the oil spill disaster in the Gulf. Because when a House Republican wanted to arrange such a trip for ten lawmakers, House Democrats refused his request.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) wanted to fly 10 lawmakers down to the Gulf of Mexico to see the damage caused by BP’s gigantic oil spill first hand.

House Democrats said no.

Scalise’s trip was rejected for a variety of bureaucratic and logistical reasons, but it has also opened a new vein of partisan squabbling over who should be allowed to arrange a trip to view the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Imagine the outrage had Republicans blocked Democrats from viewing the damage from Hurricane Katrina. The media response alone would be nuclear-grade, never mind the hyperventilating from Democratic leaders.

Scalise, who has already been to the Gulf on another codel, wants to organize a trip so lawmakers can fully grasp the impact before they vote on oil drilling regulations. And he doesn’t want to do it through a committee, because the members don’t fit neatly into specific panels — they stretch across committee, and even partisan, lines.

About two weeks ago, Scalise requested to be able to use his Members Representational Allowance – a fund typically reserved for office expenses and travel back to the district – to go to the Gulf with a group of about 10 other lawmakers.

He sought permission from the House Administration committee, which regulates office account spending and would have to approve the trip. After a few weeks, Scalise was ping-ponged between several committees. Eventually, John Lawrence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) chief of staff, told Scalise’s chief that “it was unlikely that the request would be granted” by the House Administration Committee.

Imagine that. Nancy Pelosi’s chief hack of staff doesn’t want Republicans bringing lawmakers to view the damage in the Gulf.

Republicans, however, say Rep. Bob Brady (D-Pa.), who chairs the committee, has approved at least a dozen such trips in 2009 alone – something Democrats don’t deny.

“Unless there is some extraordinary reason to prohibit this trip – which has yet to be communicated to us – this is an unacceptable departure from past practices,” said Rep, Dan Lungren of California, the top Republican on the administration committee. “This is an educational trip for members using their own representational budgets to see, first-hand, the devastating impact of the Gulf spill. Our travel regulations permit this type of travel in support of our official representational duties, and unfortunately, this disaster is already having environmental and economical implications for the entire country – not just those districts represented by Members sitting on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.”

Republicans say that Democrats are just trying to shield lawmakers from going to see the damage in the Gulf.

“Every Member should see the result of eight years of failed Bush-Cheney energy policies that have done nothing to secure our energy future,” said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill.

1) BP has been in the pocket of the Democratic Party. Obama’s undersecretary of energy is the former chief scientist at BP, and his Secretary of Energy said BP would help to “save the world”. Never mind the BP political contributions to Democrats.

2) Democrats are really going to blame Bush and Cheney for the federal government’s failure in the Gulf? Really? Because last I checked, more Americans approved of Bush’s response to Katrina than approve of Obama’s response to the oil spill.

3) If members should see the result of failed Bush-Cheney policies as the spokesman claimed, then why are House Democrats blocking Republican members from viewing the damage?

It’s all bullcrap. House Democrats don’t want Republicans visiting the Gulf because it could cause political problems for House Democrats. You’d have pictures of Republicans viewing damage, attention brought to the fact that Democrats were in control at the time of the failure, and Republicans would be able to say they viewed the damage that resulted largely from Democratic failures.

And Democrats certainly don’t want that.