Did the GOP hamper Obama administration oversight of oil drilling?

Most of the blame for the BP oil disaster rests with BP, Big Oil, and its strong-arm supporters in Congress for the voluntary, "trust us," self-regulation we have today (see St. Petersburg Times: "It's becoming increasingly evident that self-regulation has not worked").  Some of the blame certainly resides with the Minerals Management Service, which became absurdly cozy with the industry (see "Flashback to 2008 MMS sex-for-oil scandal").

That doesn't let the Obama administration off the...