The government tag team… Obama/Biden “shake down” BP while USCG/EPA “trip up” the clean up

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The parallel universe we live in gets more bizarre everyday. But from the looks of things, the Horizon oil spill clean up efforts could proceed faster, and more efficiently, if the fed wouldn’t help. Ain’t it always the way? And there’s nothing like a crisis to not only highlight the inefficiency of big government, but also bring some strange bedfellow competitors out of the woodwork.

While Obama lets Biden do the shaking down of BP, aborting BP’s due process rights, at the WH/BP long overdue meeting, BP has decided to move forward with new technologies for the clean up. Technology that the feds, themselves, have hindered heretofore.

Yes, folks… the good news is that BP finished testing Costner’s “Ocean Therapy Solutions” centrifuges, revamped for the hardened and weathered crude, and has issued a letter of intent to purchase 32 centrifugal oil-and-water separators. According to the newly ramped up Ocean Therapy Solutions site’s news updates, BP started testing the centrifuges onshore May 18th. By May 29th, OTS was given the go ahead to test the centrifuge on the open Gulf waters and the oil slick itself. According to a Newsmeat blurb today: BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles called Costner direct.

“He was excited,” Costner said. “He told me that the machine worked. He told me that it was working against the dispersants, that it was handling the variations of oil mixtures and thickness present in the Gulf.”

According to the LA Times blog, linked above, rigorous testing had to be done not only by BP, but by the federal agencies, prior to their decision to acquire the centrifuges for the spill.

Deployment of the 2½-ton machines had been delayed by rigorous testing requirements of BP and federal regulatory agencies, as well as engineering challenges posed by leaked oil that had degraded over time into gooey masses with the consistency of peanut butter, Costner said.

“Our machines were originally developed to operate as first responders” to oil slicks, Costner said. He said the problems were resolved by adjusting the machines to accommodate oil that has been weathered and hardened by evaporation and dispersants.


“The machines don’t have to be tested anymore,” Costner said in a brief telephone conversation. “We’re ramping up our operations. Where they will go is not up to me. That will be decided by BP and local parishes.”

~~~

The machines essentially operate like big, floating vacuum cleaners, which suck up oily water and spin it around at high speed. On one side, it spits out pure oil, which can be recovered. The other side spits out 99% pure water.

The company’s largest machine is 112 inches high, weighs 2-1/2 tons and cleans 210,000 gallons a day of oily water.

As I noted in my June 11th post on the Costner brother centrifuges, the bureaucratic red tape and EPA regulations were as counter-productive to their efforts as the lack of interest by an oil industry who hadn’t seen the need for such equipment until now. Despite BP’s order, there’s not even a whisper in the reports that the EPA has waived it’s regulations, limiting oil in the waste water to more than the 15ppm. The centrifuges separate the oil, but the waste water discharge has about 1% oil in the discharge. This is the equivalent of 1.28 oz of oil residue for every gallon processed…. a vast improvement, IMHO.

Nor has OTS acknowledged whether their partnership with a UCLA engineer last year had yielded successful results in lowering the discharge levels. All of which begs the question, will the EPA turn a blind eye to the CWA violation with the discharged water?

Costner certainly gave the House committee a piece of his mind with his June 11th testimony, blasting the almost impossible battle to get past a behemoth bureaucracy.

“The whole world is watching as America fumbles its way through the greatest environmental disaster in history,” Costner told the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship at a hearing Thursday in Washington. “I believe there are other small companies out there in the private sector just like us. You should know that negotiating your way through the bureaucratic maze that currently exists is like trying to play a video game that nobody can master.”

As BP CEO Tony Heyward testified today, BP has been overwhelmed with suggestions and pitches for clean up cures and engineering ideas to cap the well. BP turned over thousands of those proposals to the Coast Guard for screening… where it’s met with another bureaucratic road block.

Rear Admiral Ronald Rabago of the U.S. Coast Guard testified that BP recently turned over the suggestions it has been collecting. The Coast Guard is now going through those thousands of proposals.

The EPA and the Coast Guard are also screening proposals coming in through their own, independent channels. But the process isn’t working so well: Of the 1,900 submissions the Coast Guard has received, only one proposal has made it to the final level of screening. None have actually been deployed.

The EPA doesn’t know if any of the ideas that came through its channel are actually in use, according to Paul Anastas, the agency’s assistant administrator of research and development. After screening the proposals, the EPA forwards the ideas to other agencies that could implement them — then never tracks what happens next.

As the big government machine chases it’s proverbial tail, we then come to the idiocy of the US Coast Guard, halting the work of 16 barges vacuuming off the shoreline of Louisiana after Jindal ordered them to work eight days ago. Why? The Coast Guard wanted to make sure the barges were equipped with life jackets and fire extinguishers…. and then had trouble contacting those who had built the barges. WTF?

Jindal, with no power to override the USCG authority, had to raise a ruckus before finally getting the USCG to relent. Over 24 hours lost work.

Alabama’s Gov. Bob Riley has his beefs as well with the chaos of the fed’s “help”….

Riley, R-Ala., asked the Coast Guard to find ocean boom tall enough to handle strong waves and protect his shoreline.

The Coast Guard went all the way to Bahrain to find it, but when it came time to deploy it?

“It was picked up and moved to Louisiana,” Riley said today.

The governor said the problem is there’s still no single person giving a “yes” or “no.” While the Gulf Coast governors have developed plans with the Coast Guard’s command center in the Gulf, things begin to shift when other agencies start weighing in, like the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“It’s like this huge committee down there,” Riley said, “and every decision that we try to implement, any one person on that committee has absolute veto power.”

The Governors aren’t the only local officials fed up with federal response that is hindering instead of aiding the clean up… Florida’s Okaloosa County has simply told the feds, forget you and the horse you aren’t riding in on.

Florida’s Okaloosa county is telling the federal government it will no longer take orders in responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a decision made in response to the county’s deep frustration with the Obama administration’s response to the spill.

The county appears to be the first local government to openly flaunt the official response to the spill. Others, such as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, have complained bitterly of inaction and red tape regarding their response to the spill, but have thus far refrained from taking measures not approved by the federal or state authorities. Even Jindal, though, has become more assertive in the last day, ordering the National Guard to start building barrier islands off Lousiana’s coast.

~~~

County commissioner Wayne Harris said leaders of Okaloosa County are prepared to face any consequences for their renegade response. It’s that important, he said, to protect the county’s Choctawhatchee Bay, which is “too wonderful to destroy ecologically.”

“Our frustration is we have to wait for allowance from the federal government … we decided to be our own unified command. We have to stop it before it gets here,” Harris told The Daily Caller.

It seems they have decided to erect an “air curtain” to push oil up from the depths. But with every plan they propose, the EPA is there in opposition.

Harris said federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have repeatedly opposed Okaloosa’s plans for responding to the spill.

“Some of the plans we put together, every time we turn around one of the other agencies says, ‘No, you can’t do that,’” Harris said.

Further, the government’s response is clumsy. “The Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard, the EPA all these different agencies aren’t talking to each other,” Harris said.

At one point, the Coast Guard “ran over” booms the county had put up to stop the oncoming oil, Harris said.

~~~

But just as crises make for great political agenda advances, they also make for strange bedfellows in the entrepreneurial world. Another star studded entrepreneurial crew beats the federal bushes for approval… Good luck with that, pals…

NFL’s Troy Aiken has teamed up with Jacques Cousteau’s son, and Drew Bledsoe, to peddle their oil/water filtration system, the Ecosphere Ozonix system. The pitch? It’s already in use (as is Costner’s), proven to work, and emits 100% pure water.

According to an article in the Missoulian:

The system, which takes up an entire 53-foot truck trailer, employs a combination of ozone, ultrasound and high-voltage electricity to separate oil, gas and other contaminants from water through a process known as sonoluminescence.

“The water that comes out at the end of the process is cleaner than bottled drinking water,” said Wold. “And the oil is pure enough that they can truck it up and sell it.”

The Ozonix system has already been deployed to help out in past ecological disasters. In the days after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf coast in 2005, Ecosphere sent one of its Ozonix systems to Waveland, Miss. Operators stuck an intake hose into the city’s sewer system, and produced 70,000 gallons of fresh drinking water every day for area residents.

Wold said the company already has enough of the machines to completely handle the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico.

“If this machine was out there right now, there would not be any continuous leakage” said Wold, noting that one Ozonix system can process more than a million gallons of contaminated water a day.

For your viewing pleasure, here’s Aiken’s interview with Shepard Smith:

Aiken’s information obviously is behind the times, as he states the “other” systems, likely referring to Costner’s high profile efforts with his oil/water separators, were not capable of handling anything but refined crude. Apparently he was unaware they had retooled, and field tested the modifications successfully. But as far as I’m concerned, the more the merrier…. how about BP gets them both? There’s lots of oil to go around, at this point. Of course, considering the speed of fed approval and testing, Costner’s centrifuges may have already done the trick by the time the Ecosphere even gets some federal agency face time.

There’s another notable difference between the Costner centrifuge and Aiken’s Ecosphere endeavors…. cash and some old fashioned horse trading. According to Chad Wold, general counsel and managing member for Ecosphere Energy Services, the Aiken technology is far from cheap. And they aren’t willing to cut any slack.

“The next step is for BP to take a serious look at what we have to offer,” said Wold. “It’s not one of these things that’s free to operate. We need BP to step up to the plate and start paying for technology to put these machines out there.”

But their bid for technology and service is at a disadvantage with Costner, who’s already intercepted the pass in the first plays of the quarter, and headed for his own goal posts. The Costner factory is tooled up and ready to ship a couple of dozen… as soon as BP cuts loose with some cash. (uh….mmmmm Maybe that $20 bil slush fund could be redirected, ya think?) Not only are Aiken and Ecosphere johnny come lately on the scene with what they tout as their superior technology, OTS and Costner appear to have worked a more appealing deal with BP…. the machines at a lower price, and the oil they recover is part of their payment.

The plans are to sell the recovered oil from their centrifuges, and donate 80% of those proceeds to the parishes, struggling to cope with fouled marshlands and devastated fisheries. Savvy business dealing all around. Get that puppy field tested for official government approval, goodwill in the market, and a machine for every tanker and rig as on site clean up emergency plans.

…… that is unless the EPA comes along and decides to shut down their operation for water discharge that exceeds EPA regs.

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…… that is unless the EPA comes along and decides to shut down their operation for water discharge that exceeds EPA regs.

95% of federal regulations, 95% clean, would probably be worse than not doing anything if the Feds have their say. These idiots would be happier to see the oil spread.

It does make one wodner if Obama, despite his logorrhea, really does want this it turn into a total calamity for his own political purposes.

It’s clear to see how your health care is going to turn out…

20 billion is slush fund

Dems are on it

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/17/stupak_legitimate_for_bp_escrow_account_to_fund_health_care.html

didn’t take long did it – 24 hours????

This is Obama’s Red Tape, he owns it; he could easily bypass this situation with all its silliness; but the establishment of gargantuan bureaucracy and the armies of bureaucrats that is needed to man these often repetitive and insignificant offices and positions. This maze of dubious governmental offices ha an uncountable number of agencies that are more than ready to demonstrate the reason for their existence by flexing their individual muscle by appearing hard nosed and inscrutable in their dealings with the public and companies like BP. In the mean time, we the people and the environment suffers immeasurably while foolish incompetent people are on stage trying to prove they are worthy of a government paycheck.

Will Obama show leadership and say, “Let’s pull together and deal with this monumental disaster”, Hell No! That would illustrate the incompetence and silliness of the bureaucratic services that a Socialist must create to have loyalist ideologues for support.

This isn’t a leader, this is a Community Organizer that should be on the South Side of Chicago organizing union garbage collection.

Within my frustration and anger that I struggle to put to words, I often find solace in the words of Shakespeare. In the play, Love’s Labor Lost, Biron, a witless womanizer of the first magnitude, that I have cast as Obama has taken a vow of celibacy with the court of the King of Navarre so that they can devote their time to study: unfortunately, the Princess of France has arrived with her entourage including the heroine Rosalinde, who I have cast to represent a far more intelligent and cerebral American public. The conversation from Rosalinde is riddled with innuendo that humiliates Biron and leaves him looking like a fool ad each question’s answer sets up the next until Biron is forced to change the subject and once again is outwitted by the caustic and clever Rosaline.

The conversation is charged with sexual puns and entantes, if you give a slack rein to your imagination, you will have an insight into the clever 17th Century wit of Shakespeare.

Act 2, Scene 1

Biron (Obama): Did I not dance with you in Brabant once?

Rosaline (Public): Did not I dance with you in Brabant once?

Biron (Obama): I know you did.

Rosaline (Public): How needless was it then to ask the question!

Biron (Obama): You must not be so quick.

Rosaline (Public): Tis long of you, that spur me with such questions.

Biron (Obama): Your wit’s too hot, it speeds too fast, twill tire.

Rosaline (Public): Not till it leave the rider in the mire.

Biron (Obama): What time o’day?

Rosaline (Public): The hour that fools should ask.

Shakespeare was one of the early emancipators of women, who spoke out for women: his women were always more clever and of a sharper wit than the brutes who sought to use and abuse them. In this case, I see the public as the more clever individual whose main occupation is to avoid being taken advantage of and lose all freedoms to Obama the defiler.

Absolutely unreal. Who exactly are the Republicans fighting for?

Hi,

This is unbelievable. Republican Congressman Joe Barton personally apologized to BP in a congressional hearing this week.

While Congress and President Obama are working hard to ensure that BP provides relief to the victims in the Gulf region — and that the oil giant is held accountable for the damage it’s done — Republicans are saying they’re sorry. A committee of 114 Republicans in the House even called the $20 billion victims’ relief fund a “shakedown.”

These apologies are offensive — and they need to stop.

Will you join me in telling Republicans that the American people support holding BP accountable — and we’re not going to apologize for it?

http://my.barackobama.com/NoApologies-auto

Thanks.

What should have been said, and all that needs to be said:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/37744753#37744753

..

uh, he appologised to BP for the shake down, which it was. Obama bypassed the due process of the system we have set up, and used the office of the President to coerce BP into it (notice the announcement was made BEFORE he talked to BP?)

What is also interesting is that I can’t believe that this “fund” does not have some Legal consequence…. ie, does it affect people ability to sue? is it part of what may eventualy be a settlement? is there some backroom deal we don’t know about?

Because LEGALY, until BP is found, by a Court to have derelict, they only owe 75 million towards mitigation of the Financial problems of the Coast.

@ Cary

First, it’s not Republicans, it’s Joe Barton. He was ignorant in his statement. Second, he didn’t say he didn’t hold BP responsible, his apology to BP, as ignorant as it was, was aimed at the shakedown by Obamao.

A 20 billion dollar escrow fund administered by a political appointee is assanine. How is this Obamabot going to decide who gets paid. Will it be based on Obama’s believes of fairness? We all know how that is going to go. Will you protest if some of this money makes its way into Schmucky Shumer’s campaign warchest? Because I’m betting it will.

CARY: hi, DON’tT you think, that the REPUBLICANS are showing the lack of CLASS in the TONE
used to get BP to put money in front, as if they where dealing with their usuals bullies. bye 🙄

@Cary:

Fake president indeed. BP wasn’t the only one taking a chance on this drill and the BP CEO isn’t the only one that should be hauled in front of a dog and pony show.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/18/dem_congressman_white_house_overstepped_by_forcing_bp_to_open_20_billion_fund.html

I watched part of the hearings yesterday, Jan Schakowsky certainly didn’t do your party proud, Waxman simply wanted to huff and puff as did a number of others reminding me of a bunch of snotty little kids ganging up on the new kid, pathetic!

This investigation accomplished nothing, waste of time and tax payer’s money. It was held knowing the CEO couldn’t answer the type of questions they intended to hurl at him with the Obama justice dept. waiting in the wings.

And your concern is a Republican recognizing that Obama is thwarting our laws for yet another power grab.

BTW, following Mata’s links I found this video:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/bp-oil-cleanup-louisiana-jindal-10946558

Helpful background factoid to understand the dysfunctional behavior:
These libs took over the educational system and the govt. is now top-heavy with people who were educated in it: and one of their beliefs is that bureaucracies are good, they slow things down so radicals can’t make rapid upsetting changes. S’truth, the more red tape the better. There is something to be said for deliberation but this situation shows that the third priority after getting control of Congress and the WH is to throw out most of the bureaucracy. Sharron Angle has it exactly right. And all remaining bureaucrats have to spend a certain amount of time learning triage principles and practicing for disasters.

It’s the educational system that values bureaucracy, I mean; the government nurtures it. Meanwhile, we should all apologize to the world for a government that works on extortion, but that doesn’t mean BP gets off, they seem to have an ever-increasing list of slipups themselves. They should be hounded and so should MMS: and if it turns out Bush and Cheney did have something to do with letting this situation come about, so be it, it has to be decried whoever does it. I’m betting though that pushing on BP-MMS and maybe the EPA will lead to our favorite suspects.

Here is my take on this from a post at my website:

The above is the ABC piece from the other day. Since then the CC has managed to somehow stumble out of the way. Now, Bobby Jindal is a nice guy and very politically savvy. I get it. However, there are times when a state must choose its own interests over the federal government entrenched bureaucracy. Arizona and Oklahoma are two examples concerning illegal immigration. Louisiana must protect itself against the assault of the oil spill. I call it an “assault” because Obama calls this a war.

When the Coast Guard, thinking it was doing the right thing, halted the barges over such silliness as fire extinguishers, vests and wanting to talk to the boat builders (??) Jindal should have stepped in and told them to go away. Jindal has access to state level agencies which perform the same basic function- boat safety. He could have called in his people, ran over the boats real quick, pronounced them safe and off they could go. Simple.

What would the CC do? What could they do? Physically block the boats with their boats? Board them? Not if Jindal put his people in between the two, which is exactly what I would have done. My boats would have been with the barges. If the CC showed up I would had our people step in and escort the CC out of the way.

Here is a dirty little secret the feds don’t want you to know. They have no power other than the power given them by individuals and states. If Louisiana said tomorrow “Get out, you bunch of stumbling morons!” The feds would have a huge problem staying. Now when they left the feds would take their funding and gear, but if Louisiana was willing to accept the loss it could be done. Ask yourself, what would the feds do? Bring in the military and force the issue? The FBI? Really, agents of the FBI on the oil contaminated waters running around trying to enforce some court order or executive order, right…

What is more important now, keeping your state, the one that Obama just idled with his moratorium, somewhat intact or keeping a bunch of faceless bureaucrats happy? From sand berms to skimmers to barges, the answer is clear and Jindal needs to push the button on it now.

“There is no legal authority for the President to demand a private corporation set up an escrow account to pay unverified claims in advance.”

BP was not compelled by the misapplication of any legal statutes to comply. BP was convinced to come to terms, through what appears to have been the coordination of some highly effective maneuvering and the application of some highly effective negotiating tactics. CEOs of multi-billion dollar international corporations aren’t totally unfamiliar with that sort of contest of the wills. Nor is BP–with its locust swarm of top-flight international lawyers–exactly defenseless and totally at the mercy of the guy in the White House. Somehow he made the case that establishing a $20 billion escrow fund for the benefit of Americans damaged by the spill would be to the good of BP. I consider that a remarkable display of effectiveness.

I don’t see anything wrong with the White House’s objective. Huge amounts of money will be needed quickly and on an ungoing basis to deal with the immediate consequences of the catastrophe. Damages to Gulf Coast residents, their environment, their livelihoods, and their economy are now. Just look at the Exxon Valdez. Thirty years later, and that’s still in the court system.

If BP were not aware of the degree of their fault and the likely degree of their ultimate liability, they never would have gone along with the escrow account. They’ve apparently decided not to compound their problems by further damaging their public image. They now have a $20 billion incentive to resolve subsequent court proceedings expeditiously, rather than entertaining the thought of 3 decades of legal delaying tactics. An immediate hit on American taxpayers has been lessened. All are positive outcomes, in my opinion.

I’ve got no problem whatsoever if Obama’s opponents call for strong independent oversight of the escrow funds. I’m 100% behind that also. It’s absolutely correct that the claims frauds and misuse of funds following Katrina provide a compelling reason why oversight is essential.

Obama administration has employed a crony to handle the funds so don’t think that is quite out of government hands whereby the likelihood of funds going to those not entitled is great, just like katrina. Scammers come out of the woodwork and probably already there on the gulf waiting to feast.

As for Barton, he is right, it was a strongarm tactic used, and not necesary. BP had already stated long before the government made their dog and pony show with Hayward that they would pay for all costs of cleanup and lost income etc. Unlike some USA companies who might make that promise and may not pay if they can get away with it, BP are not likely to dishonor their promise. It is in their best interests, but having politics enter into the picture with Obama making his big speech on what HE got from BP [as if BP were not going to honor their commitment] is truly a big charade on obama’s part for political gains alone.

Too bad the Obama administration continues to hamper all the efforts of those who want to help with valid methods to pick up the oil. The feds are the ones who continue to permit the oil slick to expand and failed to provide an all out assault on cleanup before it reached the coastline.

The oil is more harmful to all than the solutions submitted and ready to go with most available to operate within the first week or two. Once it reached the two week mark, Obama administration is fully responsible for lack of action to employ fixes regarding the slick, but allowing the slick to expand for miles to the point of critical mass is just what the administration relied upon. It’s the mantra…never let a serious crisis go to waste… toward imposing Cap & Tax legislation into law.

When people are angry they don’t always think rationally about thier own actions and dems are great at using this emotion to use flowery and incomplete propositions for getting the public to be on his side. It’s worked with stimulus, TARP etc. and here again is another “must act now, its an emergency”. Administration brought the oil spill to a level of catastrophy and could have been avoided by taking immediate action.

@Greg 16

So, in our opinion its a “remarkable display of effectivness” when the President of the US bypasses all Federal Law? When he uses the bully pulpit of his Office to EXTORT money from a private corporation?

So… I guess Al Capone was also an effective “negotiator” then… and John Gotti was just a community organizer…

When the Chief Law Enforcment Officer of the US, bypasess the Law, we have problems. The system was put there to protect “WE” the people… and not allowing those protections to BP sets a precedent that is, IMO, a very very dangerous one.

MATA: hi, what power does the machine used. thank you good post, I am happy for COSTNER
he fought for it, he diserve the contract, bye

“So, in our opinion it’s a “remarkable display of effectivness” when the President of the US bypasses all Federal Law? When he uses the bully pulpit of his Office to EXTORT money from a private corporation?”

I haven’t heard anyone suggest what laws the White House has actually broken or bypassed, nor have I heard anything specific about the threats that were allegedly made. What I see is an escrow account, where before there were only promises. Promises are easy.

BP represents BP’s own private corporate interests. Who represents the interests of the American people in the matter, if not the government?

I think people are assuming the Prez really wants BP to cover the costs of the clean up….I’m not sure he cares if they do or not….
I think he believes that if BP goes bankrupt while trying to cover those costs, and he’s trying his best to get them there, that he can take over the assets that are left to pay for BP’s liabilities…In a sense nationalizing a chunk of the oil market just like his buddy Hugo Chavez…
Just one mans scenario but something to think about….

Re: #22, “Why don’t you tell us what laws enabled a POTUS to demand/threat/coerce a private corporation to open a trust account in escrow, and turn over control of that account to a Presidential “czar” who was not approved by Congress?”

Is it possible this was accomplished by keeping a poker face and bluffing?

I’m assuming that the $4,300 per-barrel-spilled fine that’s an existing part of the Clean Water Act might have come up during the course of negotiations. In the absence of any laws preventing the sort of agreement that’s been reached, the chief executive of the United States can probably make an argument that the escrow fund represents his pursuit of enforcement of an existing law, which is one of his designated duties. No doubt lawyers will be tearing into that presumption.

I think it was a sound move on behalf of the public to go for an escrow account. Legal liability for the spill may be limited to BP Holdings North America, Inc. One possible BP strategy would be to divert cashflow within British Petroleum–which is compartmentalized into scores of corporations to provide for liability containment–away from BP Holdings North America. Assets within that particular corporate entity–currently some $50 billion–could be greatly diminished over the years that the case could be tied up in the legal system.

“But you still miss the entire purpose of the slush fund that was coerced by a Chicago thug government. Not one iota of it has to do with “concern” for the citizens.”

I can see how someone might accept that as being self evident if they’ve already taken a totally negative view of the intentions of the Obama administration. I’m just not there. I tend to view their intentions in a more positive light–although I’ll readily concede that they play some very aggressive hardball politics to get where they’re going. The way the game is played in Chicago frequently “ain’t pretty”, and the stark contrast between Obama’s apparently calm, cool, collected manner and his calculating politics creates a dissonance that drives a lot of people nuts.

Looking just at the political dynamics of the situation, I would suggest that folks like Joe Barton who want to tear into the legitmacy of an escrow fund may be sitting on the wrong horse and facing backward. I think most Americans are going to see the escrow fund pretty much the same way I tend to. That’s liable to be even more of a factor as further information about BP’s poor pre-accident decisions and subsequent efforts to conceal the extent of the problem come to light. If republicans want serious, right-directed political traction, and want to do something genuinely constructive, maybe they should be strongly arguing for independent oversight and for mechanisms guaranteeing proper management of the escrow fund. That sort of logic would probably appeal to a great many democrats. I could certainly see the sense of it.

@Greg:

If republicans

There you go again, “if republicans,” According to the transcript, Barton made clear that he spoke for himself, specifically pointed out that he was not speaking for the party:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/17/96097/what-joe-barton-actually-said.html

Joe Barton a ‘hair away’ from ouster over apology to BP

Democrats already have turned it into talking point No. 1, an opportunity to distract attention from the government’s inability to cap, control or clean up the spill and to hammer Republican candidates as supporters of Barton’s philosophy whether they are or not.

Since you got sucked into “talking point number 1,” you might want to inform yourself of what was going on behind the scenes after Barton made his remark.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38743.html#ixzz0rJ7if500

BTW, it was a shakedown and Barton recognized it for what it was, an assault on due process.

“When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion — when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing — when you see money flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors — when you see that men get richer by graft and pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you — when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice — you may know that your society is doomed.”

–Ayn Rand

MATA: thank’s, YES, i was wondering, with so much power needed how they could used what; AND you answer my question. bye 🙄

OLD TOOPER: hi, YOU must be very busy at this time ,no time to visit i’m sure: I just want to say hi, take care and hi to all the braves with you. bye 🙄

MATA: AT ‘labor unionsand JONES act… a comment by KURT on JONES ACT. bye

@MataHarley:

I know, same-o, same-o.

I didn’t find Barton’s comments to be extreme, he was right, he also made it clear that he spoke for himself, not the party, so what’s the problem? Unfortunately, the party is saying that they are afraid of soundbites and what the other party will do with them. It’s not like we are expecting them to defend behavior from the likes of Ethridge, Reid, Pelosi, Rangel, Dodd, etc., etc.

Because of politics, the thug-in-chief’s behavior is being buried, the Democrats are spinning and blowing Barton’s comment all out of proportion and the Republicans are cowering. It’s all a game and the Republicans best learn how to play.

MISSY , I bet FOXnews must have give their input on that,would be interesting to know, bye 🙄

When I read that the government, who by now are staffed by people at least as smart as BHO, are unable to evaluate over 1,900 proposals to help clean up the oil spill. This is one more dimension of what Austrian economists call the “knowledge problem”. It is simply impossible for one committee of experts to produce better results on balance than millions of independent participants in a free market.

the BUCK WHEAT: hi, IT could be because theirs hands are tied from the beginning, preventing them to seriously do the job, instead of showing they are. bye 🙄

@MataHarley:

BP agreed to take responsibility and help the people in IMMEDIATE need. When both sides AGREE, no courts are needed. If BP does not agree enough, courts may be needed in the future. Not sure what’s confusing about that.

It simply seems to me that the Right is desperately trying to use this as another reason to bring the President down, because they don’t like him, rather than have any concrete foundations to stand on.

CARY: hi, by the way, how’s your book coming?: you know that they went against the CONSTITUTION, when they bullied BP, who had given their words to pay damage to LOUISIANA residents themself. bye 🙄

@ilovebeeswarzone:

Hi Bees, my script is going well.. lots of work, but I’m enjoying it. Thanks for asking!

As to going against the Constitution, I strongly disagree with you. BP gave their word, and our leaders in the White House met with them to ensure they keep it. That’s not bullying to me.

For instance, if I’m a wealthy guy with a huge gun collection, and I decide to show you what I have, swearing that I know all about gun safety… then an accident happens, the gun goes off, shoots you, and you are paralyzed from the waist down. You work for a living, and now not being able to walk, have no source of income. I admit I made a mistake, and tell you that I will take care of your medical bills and expenses. Now, your husband meets with me to discuss how much you need to survive without being able to walk, and I agree… Is he bullying me? I see it as he is taking care of your immediate needs. The two of you have relied on both of your incomes, and now need help from the person who ADMITS is responsible. If I say you and he are asking for too much, THEN we settle it in court.

But nobody is being bullied at all.

MATA: hi, I just read [JUGE block OBAMA’soil drilling MORATORIUM. bye

CARY: how can you tell; you where not there, you seems very good in buiding a scenario. bye 🙄

@Cary:

First, see Mata’s reply, second, I think you would be able to come up with a bit more creative scenario than that.

Wealthy guy, gun goes off, your ass is going to be sued. That is of course after the boys in blue show up, investigate the scene, you have to get a lawyer to wind your way through court, due process and all that. 😉

I’d like to take this in a slightly different direction, If I may??
the “testing that “needed doing” on “Costner’s “Ocean Therapy Solutions” centrifuges”….. First reports out weeks ago were…. “they needed testing, they would only be 50% effective”….. or almost exactly that quote!!! ONLY 50% effective??? My god, 50% is better than the near Zero we’ve sen from Obama!!! Further… the “testing”…. um, why?? Did they think it would not possibly work??? How Stupid are these guys??? Look at the machine. I saw the basic design right off!! It’s 100 years old!! It’s a giant “milk/cream separator” like they used on farms and in dairies in the past! Early one were hand cranked machines, small versions, operating on almost the exact same principles as this BIG one does! Oh course it’ll work, and considering the problem we have who cares exactly the efficiency level!!!

The second beef, is our CIC stupidly rejecting help from 13 different countries!! All sorts of equipment and know how from 13 countries w2as available, and offered, and Obama blew them off!!! Did he have a BETTER plan?? Hell no!! All we got for his snubby “no” is a bigger MESS!!
This is Obama’s mess alright….and, seeing he has used his almighty powers to slap BP into putting up the bucks, why did he not use these same “godlike” powers, to order the use of all and any methods to save the US coastlines!! Standard rules be damned for now!! Jindal’s walls could have been built, those barges pumping oil over 24 hours sooner.. etc etc…. Obama has done a super BAD job of dealing with this, the term Cluster#### comes to mind…..

Third, many called for the “implosion” of the wells’ shaft, sealing off the bore forever. There was a lot of debate back and forth over this… Thi9s was the one I was hot to see done, and done FAST!! BP would loose the shaft permanently, some said the “geology” was wrong….but the other day, I heard the same suggestion made once again, not by me, or “Glenn Beck”.. or Bush, or some other source the MSM might deem “questionable”…. but by the Former head of Shell Oil!!! He said exactly what those others, and what I had thought on this. I would tend to trust the knowledge of the head of one of the biggest oil outfits out there… too bad Obama can’t make a hard decision/judgment call when it needs doing!!!

Where’s a true leader when you need one????? He sure wasn’t/isn’t here!!!
Can you say.. incompetent???

MATA: hi, I hope the JUDGE feldman is playing the game and block again. bye 🙄 that’s sound like governer brewer’s game.

MATA: they are playing a dirty game in every ting they touch that dont work for them, they already succed in dividing the people,family against each othertoo. bye 🙄

@Missy:

Point taken. Until I say, “Yes, I’m guilty of not being able to handle a gun when I said I could.” We then get to save the taxpayers a trial. I think my point is made well enough.

@MataHarley: I don’t know what I’m not saying here. My point is that BP has agreed to take responsibility for the victims in immediate need, as is the right thing to do. No need for proof when they admit it. come on, I know you get it.

@MataHarley: BP isn’t getting a gold star from the press or the court of public opinion either way, “bullying” or none. Still, they agreed to do what was right- to take care of those in need WHO CANNOT WAIT to pay their bills and feed their families, like they said they would from the start. Perhaps there are better things to rail against Obama for.