Republicans Say No to Helping Gulf Coast Victims of BP

Republican Party Spokeswoman Rep. Michele Bachmann came out against the idea of helping the victims of the Gulf Coast oil disaster - one of the biggest environmental disasters in American history. Instead, she took the side of BP, defending the company and encouraging it not to be chumps...basically encouraging BP to fight the claims from victims. She frames the compensation of victims as an attempt to fleece the company.

She was basically calling the aid an unjustified welfare program for the lazy, rather than necessary compensation for hard working fishermen & business owners who are trying to save their livelihoods. She describes the $20 billion aid fund as a redistribution of wealth... a government cash grab (despite the fact that the money will come from BP...a private entity, and the funds will be administered by a 3rd party).

Bachmann is one of the few spokespersons for the Republican Party. What she says usually represents at least the leanings of the Republican leadership, if not official policy.

Another Republican, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, claims that the $20 Billion compensation fund was an unjust "shakedown" of BP, and he even went as far as apologizing to BP CEO Tony Hayward because his company has to pay for the damages caused by the oil leak. Crazy enough for you?

But none of this matters unfortunately. The sad thing is.... Republicans are still going to win coast to coast in November's elections. The voting public in this Country, as a whole, is plain ignorant. As I have stated before... I have no faith in the American voting public. It is ultimately why this nation won't be able to effectively deal with the monumental problems it will face over the next 50 years. It is the reason why the U.S. is basically screwed.

Eugene Robinson's Commentary on Obama's Oil Spill Response Hit the Mark

Eugene Robinson was pretty much on target with his commentary questioning Obama's response to the oil spill in the Gulf, and BP's negligence. It basically mirrors some of what I wrote on June, 4th. The Obama Administration should have been more aggressive in dealing with this disaster earlier on. The administration should have done more to get as much equipment as possible to help with containment and cleanup, and it should have forced BP to do more.

Obama's address to the nation on June 15th, and his follow-up the next day with concrete results were some of the first real indications that at least someone was at the wheel regarding the Gulf crisis. The speech didn't wow me... I think it fell a little short. Dailykos poster and fellow blogger Icebergslim shares some of my views. But at least he's trying. The $20 billion committment that he was able to get from BP is a start.

What happens now will depend on good policy and follow-up. I remain perturbed by the fact that BP still has control over so much of the process... that makes me a little skeptical. But I am willing to give the Obama Administration some time to get back on track (at least on this issue). As I mentioned in my comments under the speech post, the problem with waiting 4, 5, 6 weeks is that it allowed Republicans/Conservatives/Tea Party nuts to grab control of the narrative and poison public opinion. The lack of good advisers and strong PR has plagued Obama for a couple of years now...and I have been screaming about this problem online, via the blog and @ sites like the Dailykos (only to be criticized for not showing blind allegiance to Obama). The PR and media problems are issues for Democrats in general...but especially for Obama. And now it has been laid bare for all to see. The problem has always been there... but this disaster exposed it in a way that other situations had not been able to in the past.

BP and Its Dubious Safety Practices

Investigative reporter Abrahm Lustgarten has uncovered a track record of corner cutting at BP. The company basically developed a culture where safety was trumped by profits. More of the same unchecked free-market capitalism that has been shoved down our throats by Conservatives/Republicans who support laissez-faire philosophy.

Hear detailed interview from NPR.

BP Dodging Responsibility for Oil Spill - Victims Facing Wall of Red Tape

Why Wasn't This Predicted? It Was Certainly Predictable To Me

This is why FEMA or some other Federal agency should be running the claims process. The government should pay the victims and make them whole, then go to BP and ask ...take the money to reimburse the taxpayers. This should have been the plan from the beginning. I never understood the logic behind allowing BP to handle every part of this, from controlling their own crime scene (outrageous), all the way to handling the financial claims for the victims (when the company has a clear incentive and motive not to pay). It makes absolutely no sense. I thought it was idiotic from the start...and that this would be the likely outcome.

It appears that BP intends to create so much red tape that the people simply give up in frustration and go away. THIS is the kind of madness that I want Obama to do something about. He shouldn't just get angry. Anger with no action to back it up is just acting to me. He has to couple his anger with deeds. He has to demonstrate both.



From MSNBC report on BP's mishandling of claims:

GRAND ISLE, La. - Gulf Coast fishermen, businesses and property owners who have filed damage claims with BP over the oil spill are angrily complaining of delays, excessive paperwork and skimpy payments that have put them on the verge of going under as the financial and environmental toll of the disaster grows by the day.

Out in the Gulf of Mexico, meanwhile, the oil company Wednesday captured an ever larger-share of the crude gushing from the bottom of the sea and began bringing in more heavy equipment to handle it.

The containment effort played out as BP stock plunged to its lowest level in 14 years amid fears that the company might be forced to suspend dividends and find itself overwhelmed by the cleanup costs, penalties, damage claims and lawsuits generated by the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

Shrimpers, oystermen, seafood businesses, out-of-work drilling crews and the tourism industry all are lining up to get paid back the billions of dollars washed away by the disaster, and tempers have flared as locals direct outrage at BP over what they see as a tangle of red tape.

"Every day we call the adjuster eight or 10 times. There's no answer, no answering machine," said Regina Shipp, who has filed $33,000 in claims for lost business at her restaurant in Alabama. "If BP doesn't pay us within two months, we'll be out of business. We've got two kids."

An Alabama property owner who has lost vast sums of rental income angrily confronted a BP executive at a town meeting. The owner of a Mississippi seafood restaurant said she is desperately waiting for a check to come through because fewer customers come by for shrimp po-boys and oyster sandwiches.

Some locals see dark parallels to what happened after Hurricane Katrina, when they had to wait years to get reimbursed for losses.

Continue to full report

Hear an NPR discussion on the failures surrounding the BP disaster.

Deepwater Horizon Workers Blowing the Whistle on BP & Affiliates

Excellent 60 Minutes Segment

Part I



Part II



From nola.com: Workers Describe Failures on Rig Before Explosion

Yet another example of unchecked free market capitalism. There is a clear pattern here (and it gets to the core of why I despise the private sector, corporate culture... corporate greed, don't trust corporations, etc). All of this bad behavior by corporations shares a common theme regardless of industry -- greed and the lack of adequate regulation. The right wing anti-regulation message is crushed over and over, yet Republicans are allowed to control the narrative. The debate about regulation should be over. Each one of these incidents should provide a clear contrast between those who support a strong role for government, particularly in terms of regulation, and those who support unchecked free market capitalism, where corporations are allowed to run wild, lie, commit fraud, etc. The choice should be an easy one. Yet the Republicans and their PR machine, act as if facts and the moral arguments are on their side. Unbelievable! And the media goes right along with the charade... acting as if this is a debate where both sides have equally strong and logical points (when this is so obviously not the case, lol).

Gulf Coast Oil Spill In Pictures

See Additional Photos from The Sacramento Bee

Reports

Dozens of Animals Found Dead

Spill Much Larger Than Initially Reported

Report from NPR

Large Oil Plumes Found Under the Surface of Gulf

Whistleblower Says BP Had History of Cheating on Blowout Preventer Tests

BP apparently had a history of falsifying safety tests, particularly on their blowout preventers, which are designed to prevent gas pressure from rushing up the well and causing explosions. To save money, BP and some of its subcontractors, cut corners.

The President's Political Gamble on Offshore Drilling is a bust

When the President announced his support for limited offshore oil drilling, I was disappointed. I felt this was a political calculation, not one of any sudden change in beliefs, considering that he had been against it during the campaign.

This disaster off the coast of Louisiana is the nightmare that those of us who are against offshore drilling feared would come to pass.

They are already comparing this to the Exxon Valdez.

VENICE, La. -- An oil spill that threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control with a faint sheen washing ashore along the Gulf Coast Thursday night as fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes.

Hours before the spill started washing ashore in Louisiana late Thursday, members of Congress issued new calls for Obama to abandon his plans for expanded offshore drilling, and White House officials conceded that the spreading oil slick could cause the president to rethink his position. "We need to figure out what happened," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "Would a finding of something possibly affect that? Of course."

The outlook in the Gulf of Mexico remained bleak in the wake of the April 20 explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and killed 11 workers. A change in the weather and choppy waters prevented a second burn of oil at sea and slowed efforts by a flotilla of ships to skim the oily mixture from the surface of the gulf, federal officials said. Continuing efforts to use remote-controlled robotic submarines to activate a malfunctioning blowout preventer lying on the sea floor in 5,000 feet of water failed.

I can't speak for everyone else who is against offshore oil drilling, but I can only bring my own reasons - the possibility of disasters like this. No, I don't trust the oil companies as far as I could spit. Combine that with the local industries that will be destroyed as a consequence- in this case, the fishing and tourism industries, and it's just not worth it.

But, the main reason why the oil companies can't be trusted, is because their is no monitoring apparatus in place by government to keep a control over the oil companies. I don't think folks truly understand how much Bush, The Evil One and their buddies absolutely GUTTED those in the government who would protect the environment. Not just the political appointees, but they proceeded with a systematic gutting of the 'permanent government' employees - those employees that keep the structure of the departments going, despite who is the President of the United States. They took flunkies from the oil industry, those who could care less about protecting the coasts, and only see them as a place to rape, pillage, plunder and make money, no matter what the costs to the peoples who would be effected if something would go wrong. AND, because of the way they cut corners, something WOULD ALWAYS GO WRONG.

MORE INSIDE



From The Ed Show, explaining the link of Bush/The Evil One to this oil spill:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

From the NYTimes

NEW ORLEANS — The response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico intensified abruptly on Thursday, with the federal government intervening more aggressively as the rapidly growing slick drifted ever closer to the fragile coastline of Louisiana.

Resources from the United States Navy were marshaled to supplement an operation that already consisted of more than 1,000 people and scores of vessels and aircraft.

Calling it “a spill of national significance” which could threaten coastline in several states, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the creation of a second command post in Mobile, Ala., in addition to the one in Louisiana, to manage potential coastal impact ihttp://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/blog/wp-admin/post-new.phpn Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ordered an immediate review of the 30 offshore drilling rigs and 47 production platforms operating in the deepwater Gulf, and is sending teams to conduct on-site inspections.

The oil slick was only three miles offshore on Thursday afternoon and was expected to hit coastal Louisiana as early as Thursday night, prompting Gov. Bobby Jindal to declare a state of emergency and to request the participation of the National Guard in response efforts. About 40,000 feet of boom had been placed around Pass-a-Loutre, the area of the Mississippi River Delta where the oil was expected to touch first, a spokesman for Mr. Jindal said.

The Navy provided 50 contractors, 7 skimming systems and 66,000 feet of inflatable containment boom, a spokesman said. About 210,000 feet of boom had been laid down to protect the shoreline in several places along the Gulf Coast, though experts said that marshlands presented a far more daunting cleaning challenge than sandy beaches.

But, I thought the Government was bad...oh, so bad. Yet, when these companies don't do what they are supposed to do, then suddenly, they go running to the Government to CLEAN UP THEIR MESSES. They need to be sent the bill-AND BE FORCED TO PAY IT. The SILENCE from the 'Drill, Baby, Drill', contingent has been DEAFENING. I hope the President uses this disaster threefold:
1. to admit that he was wrong.
2. use this as the excuse to PUSH for the Climate Change Bill
3. use this as calling card for the push for alternative energy NOW. the Wind Farm off Massachusetts needs to be just the beginning.

Use opportunities that come your way, Mr. President. Slap the 'Drill' chorus back into oblivion.