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Reuters - BP reported some progress on Friday in its struggle to shut off its gushing deepwater Gulf of Mexico oil well, and President Barack Obama was set to assert control with a visit to coastal areas threatened by the largest oil spill in U.S. history.




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We've come to expect lies from you; Business and Government.

Why should we ever pay the slightest attention to a goddamned thing you say?

Hey, Marty.... Got any feeling on this..

Ditto's

but, still a bit amazed how this is the Presidents and/or America's responsibility ... if the spill was heading to Venezuela would it be President Chevez's responsibility, if towards Panama.. if.... you get the idea... you got 360º does responsibility depend on which was the wind blow and the current move?

The responsibility falls on the "Private Company" who's actions have resulted in this situation...

What are you smoking... please send me some...

Originally Posted by wessongroup

but still a bit amazed how this is the Presidents and/or America's responsibility ...

Not so amazed here...With increased Federal power comes increased expectations. Politicians have worked very hard convincing us that they know best and can fix everything from unemployment to our teeth....someone has proposed a National Dental Insurance Reform Act haven't they? I was amazed at the expectations with Katrina. Now, not so much.

"They" set the expectations....something about making one's bed comes to mind.

And yes speaking of the Presidents responsability in this event.... just take a look at a study in effective management of an negative environmental impact... really good to see what higher education, and extensive experience in Community Organizatioin adds to the mix




Really glad they had those "tape" barriers up... hell someone might have gotten water on them, or were they there to STOP the oil from getting to land ..........

And gee, isn't that just a really pretty picture of the Gulf of Mexico.... the platforms really add to the "beach setting".... glad I'm so old I will probably miss the view of the Pacific Coast in 10-15 years...

Strange Bedfellows!

Seems that folk such as Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh have come to the defense of Obama. Crazy world, no?

Seriously, as opposed to Katrina, where Bush had immense resources available but failed to act, in this case, the cupboard is bare. The US basically abrogated any responsibility in the nature of personnel and materiel under Bush as the regulators were pushed aside for the benefit of Big Oil. I'm just guessing here, but if there is a sin committed by Obama, it's probably believing the BP BS that has been fed him. But, at the end of the day, what options were available? Nothing more than the bully pulpit, for which he is now being attacked. Go figure.

Originally Posted by dusty

Not so amazed here...With increased Federal power comes increased expectations. Politicians have worked very hard convincing us that they know best and can fix everything from unemployment to our teeth....someone has proposed a National Dental Insurance Reform Act haven't they? I was amazed at the expectations with Katrina. Now, not so much.

"They" set the expectations....something about making one's bed comes to mind.

Oh my God, it's working.. moving to Mexico, turning off my TV, and trying hard not to listen to the American media's is working... I actually thought it was not the responsibility of the People of United States to clean up BP's mess... it is straight up BP's liability ....
as far as OUR president jumping in on "controlling" this.... why isn't the Queen over on the beach for photo shoots? or someone from Parliament?.. can't keep up on PM's.. at the moment.. why isn't the English Navy out there.... why hasn't England mobilized and why hasn't BP assets been frozen to insure ALL costs are recovered ... as we the people are paying for this cluster f**k.... and a new agency... plus.. plus

Doesn't seen all that hard.... however, shutting down a well head at 5'000 feet below sea level... that does though...

Why hasn't one of these genius in D.C hasn't solved this problem.... I mean where is Nancy P, and the rest.. who are always so ready to tell all how the cow eats the cabbage.. seems there is a lot of quite on this one...

I know all the talk starts when it goes to court... would have been cool to see the Queen waving to all from the Big Easy...

Nan... seems to be all we hear around here is FY, give us the money...

I was a Coast Guard officer for over 20 years. I put out two oil rig fires during my 20. We (the United States) granted BP a lease to drill in the Gulf. The U.S., through the Interior Department, maintains regulatory authority over the rigs operating in the Gulf unless they are in Mexican waters. The U.S. Congress regulates the entire process. Because we have limited drilling closer to U.S. shores we are driving the oil companies further out to sea- into deeper and deeper waters; a political maneuver that is very stupid. And, why this is partially our fault. BP was following our laws and regulations when this happened- not theirs, trust me they'd rather be drill 300 yards off the beach than 5000' below the surface!

The notion that this is BP's mess to deal with is analogous to: if you started your house on fire and the Fire Department showed up but then waited for you to put it out... after all, you started it?? We should nationalize this immediately- the EPA maintains a "Super Fund" to take over situations like this. 40 days ago, we (EPA, USCG, Interior and MMS) should have been surface burning this spill!! That is actually the federal response plan for a runaway well. We should have: constructed barriers burms, had mules and oil- water seperators on scene weeks ago, burn booms and the list goes on and on! We should have STOPPED BP from using the chemical dispersent they used- the eco system will be ill for years to come because of it. All of these things are the US goverments responsibility to coordinate, not BP's!

I love the Gulf- I sailed, lived and worked out there for over 12 years... our goverment and BP has really let us down- I feel sickend when I read about the damage, because I know it will take decades to recover! You can't vote out BP but you get get to the truth of how our goverment has failed us and take care of those folks in Nov.

Randy

Trust me, BP will pay through the as#$! But waiting for them to fix this is ridiculous!

Originally Posted by wessongroup

Oh my God, it's working.. moving to Mexico, turning off my TV, and trying hard not to listen to the American media's is working... I actually thought it was not the responsibility of the People of United States to clean up BP's mess... it is straight up BP's liability ....
as far as OUR president jumping in on "controlling" this.... why isn't the Queen over on the beach for photo shoots? or someone from Parliament?.. can't keep up on PM's.. at the moment.. why isn't the English Navy out there.... why hasn't England mobilized and why hasn't BP assets been frozen to insure ALL costs are recovered ... as we the people are paying for this cluster f**k.... and a new agency... plus.. plus

Doesn't seen all that hard.... however, shutting down a well head at 5'000 feet below sea level... that does though...

Why hasn't one of these genius in D.C hasn't solved this problem.... I mean where is Nancy P, and the rest.. who are always so ready to tell all how the cow eats the cabbage.. seems there is a lot of quite on this one...

I know all the talk starts when it goes to court... would have been cool to see the Queen waving to all from the Big Easy...

Nan... seems to be all we hear around here is FY, give us the money...

Sorry Bout That.

Actually no it isn't- our cubbaoard is full of tricks. I can't believe we haven't tried a number of containment procedures yet. Wait, over the next few weeks, as the the morons in Washington wake up the govment response will shift to containment. The goverment should have been doing that all along- but they seemed to be tied up campaigning and vacationing! I like Thad Allen, he is a good guy but he should be doing what he thinks he needs to do to fix this not what the President wants him to do.

Randy

Randy

Originally Posted by Bajahowodd

Strange Bedfellows!

Seems that folk such as Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh have come to the defense of Obama. Crazy world, no?

Seriously, as opposed to Katrina, where Bush had immense resources available but failed to act, in this case, the cupboard is bare. The US basically abrogated any responsibility in the nature of personnel and materiel under Bush as the regulators were pushed aside for the benefit of Big Oil. I'm just guessing here, but if there is a sin committed by Obama, it's probably believing the BP BS that has been fed him. But, at the end of the day, what options were available? Nothing more than the bully pulpit, for which he is now being attacked. Go figure.

Randy... thanks for the reality check.... had no knowledge that the United States had control of that much of the Gulf of Mexico .. which we then lease out, and have regulatory responsibility via Interior Department ..... plus our tax dollars are used to fight platform fires and perform compliance inspections on same... with the United States Coast Guard...

I'm stupefied.... good information, and again thanks for real time reporting...

And I agree.. with the "let down" .... you have more faith than I on monies coming from Big Oil .... on things like this... think Exxon's part has been kinda of knocked down by the Supreme Court over the past few rulings on the "release" they had a few years back..

And wouldn't surprise me to see BP file BK.. and sell to Shell or another legal entity ... in that fashion BP liability would be passed on to ..... just guess.....

Very simplistically, in the Gulf we regulate out to the 200 mile limit- but have regular disputes with Mexico over it. It's a little bit more complicated this- but we pretty much claim everything out to 200 miles. So do most other coastal countries.

In the U.S., State law extends from the high tide mark (HT) out to 3 miles, US Customs laws, from the HT out to 12 miles, National Marine Fisheries (NMFS) and Mineral and Mines Service (MMS) from HT out to 200 miles. The US Coast Guard is the only law enforcement authority with jurisdiction in all of those zones. MMS (Interior) and USCG (Homeland Security) have regulatory authority over this current situation. President Obama just fired the Director of the MMS last week- what?!@#!! so does that look like we were/are completly without blame!??!

Saying BP has a "lease" with the U.S., is not quite accurate but close enough for government work. WE get tons of money from them upfront and then get paid tons more based on the well's production- some of it goes directly into the EPA Super Fund. It's the cost of regulation, enforcement and safety + something for the politicians.

Here's another one very difficult to understand... I spent over 250 days a year (for several years) doing drug interdiction in the Yucatan; 1700 - 1800 miles from the U.S., I made several arrests and siezed tons of drugs, ships, boats and other personal property... all while over 1000 miles from the U.S....International and Federal laws are never straight forward.

Randy


.

Originally Posted by wessongroup

Randy... thanks for the reality check.... had no knowledge that the United States had control of that much of the Gulf of Mexico .. which we then lease out, and have regulatory responsibility via Interior Department ..... plus our tax dollars are used to fight platform fires and perform compliance inspections on same... with the United States Coast Guard...

I'm stupefied.... good information, and again thanks for real time reporting...

And I agree.. with the "let down" .... you have more faith than I on monies coming from Big Oil .... on things like this... think Exxon's part has been kinda of knocked down by the Supreme Court over the past few rulings on the "release" they had a few years back..

And wouldn't surprise me to see BP file BK.. and sell to Shell or another legal entity ... in that fashion BP liability would be passed on to ..... just guess.....

Guess when you have 11 nuclear aircraft carriers one can pretty much do what they want... another reason I don't worry too much about the "Dollar"...

Again, thanks Randy for some real insight on how it works, in terms we all should be able to understand.... straight english..

really nice you did not use the word "transparency" or any of the other PC buzz crap to relate the actual "happenings" out that way....


Wiley