continuing to develop animosity between regular, the public and business will only make the entire process more inefficient. Business wants to know what is expected of them without all the silly games. Given an air of certainty, they will do what they are required to do. The public wants to know they are being protected. Regulators are the key but too many of them only want a comfortable job. Passing unenforceable and meaningless laws where appearance is more important than substance is a problem in this country--we need to focus on good science and an atmosphere of cooperation.

Let's not forget doctors, hospitals and insurance companies who got to regulate themselves.

So what...BP was "reckless". Stating the obvious does not stop the flow of oil. We don't want legalese. We want action.

Why won't the president allow foreign ships with a proven track record, to participate in the clean up?

After the mess is cleaned up, there will be plenty of time to sort out the potential civil or criminal penalties of BP's actions, that, mind everyone, were approved by MMS prior to April 20th.

It's frustrating when things happen that you have no control over. People die. We can't stop that. Earthquakes, tornadoes, floods----all we can do is react. Could this leak have been prevented? Maybe? BUT, it's too late for that now. All our oil transporting ships are now double hulled in the hope of preventing another Valdez incident. That doesn't mean that some ship captain somewhere won't find a rock or some ice to crack through both hulls. It just makes it harder to do. Truly, we don't know if the Gulf can be restored? You can wipe oil off, but you can't do too much when it get's ingested. The damage might be irreparable or so long in coming our generation won't see it end. BO's admin. was in trouble before the Gulf and the Gulf was just icing on the cake. HCR, illegal aleins, gays openly serving in the military. One misstep after another. We just have to wait until the relief wells get finished.

No single entity sets our energy policy. Simply, we don't have one, Not sure we ever did. At this point in time, we can't do without coal. We can't do without oil. Wind and solar aren't used to power cars. Hybrids are there, but not that many. Nat gas seems to be a reasonable solution, but there's just not enough support for it. The things that are feasible---we just don't want to do. Before it's over, BP may go out of existence. I wonder if we can handle the repercussions of it. Is our still fragile economy able to handle the economics of it all? The whole purpose of "Too big to fail" was to give companies a reasonable whinding down of their business so the economy can adjust to it. It just might be that BP is tossing in the chips and it's all just a stall to aid a struggling economy? Oh yeah, everyone wants the Gulf cleaned up. They'll do it if they can. BUt if they can't, it's ours to handle.

For those who are parroting the right wing talking point the "he should waive the Jones Act" so that foreign ships can help with the clean up, let the record show that even though the Jones act hasn't been waived 'officially' there are already several dozen foreign ships participating in the clean up. Why? Because Obama authorized the acceptance of their offer of help in this disaster without dithering around to "officially' waive the Jones Act.

I blame it on George Washington. If he had not have won that damn war we would not be in this spot.

Yes we do need regulators over the il companies. They need to be oil men that know the trade and check everything before being put down in our waters. Can have someone from Washington over it, but they really don't know how or what is needed. Only the law. So make the laws for any oil company, have men that know the oil business and ocean scientist to check the land under the sea, Yes would cost but sure would be better than this. BP did the short cuts and put down defective material even their work men knew it while doing it. This material should never have been used.Theirs is greed and only care about the bottom line not human or animal life. If you have ever scuba dived and saw the beuity in the water you wouldn't want it harmed for money. The wet lands and peoples homes gone the animal life being killed off , this is very bad. Yes President Obama has let other country's help in the getting up of the oil from the water.He accepted the countries help that offered with out officially waiving the Jones act. Good for him.Jeff-Las Vegas what a stupid remark, if George Washington and our country hadn't won the war it would have been worse. This is a English company. Get real.

Drill baby drill! The republicans brought the world's greatest economy to its knees and left the taxpayers to clean it up. Now their irresponsible drill baby drill mindset and activity has left us taxpayers with the largest, fully preventable oil spill in our history to clean up. These people won't be happy until the United States is a third world country where we are all living in oil covered huts and dying slow, painful deaths from the poisons swilling in the filth at our feet.

tell that to Obama's appointee at mms that he threw under the bus for doing what he told her to. First, ask yourself which pol (of either party) received to most $$$$ from BP over the last 20 years. I'll give you a hint - his initials are BHO. The current resident @ 1600 PA Ave has NO room to talk about regulators. And, he has no right to point fingers at BP or anyone else. BHO has continued to actively block resources from assisting with the clean up, because he and his puppet master want the worst possible outcome in order to pass his c(r)ap & tax bill. When he described this bill during his campaign he said it would necessarily cause our elec bills to SKYROCKET.

Obama is proposing new regulations to fix a problem that we are not yet certain of its true cause. Shooting from the hip yet again. So far we have a Health Care take-over bill that doesn't control costs or cover 100%, but was passes just to get something passed. We have a financial reform bill that falls well short of the mark.We have a Cap and Tax bill that is supposed to save the planet, but is in reality a thinly veiled scheme for income redistribution. Least I forget we had a stimulus package that has done next to nothing getting our economy back on its feet. Does everyone see a pattern here? We have a leader who truly doesn't have a grasp of the real root cause of the problem or how to fix any of it. Now he's going to dive in again to fix this issue. Why do I get the feeling when it's done, the net result will be to all but outlaw offshore drilling?

Back in the Reagan years the right introduced the idea that the job of government was to 'partner' with commerce and help it succeed. Suddenly in agencies at the federal, state and local levels folks who used to make sure day care centers were safe, food preparation was properly tested and on and on were subject to supervisory and political critique for not helping these profit making entities realize their dreams. The ultimate end game of this ideological prostitution is regulators of oil companies letting them inspect their own rigs.

Singe; Here is my take; Generations have been instilled with the "where is mine" attitude that comes from government give aways instead of self relevance. When a person is self relevant they do a good job because that brings them self gratification in doing the best job they can do (a job well done is its own reward) or another old saw (if you are a street sweeper be the best damn street sweeper there ever was) not management is keeping me down. When people believe that the government and or money brings their happiness they lie, cheat, and steal (sounds like Obama's cabinet)

"Government is not compassion ... Government is nothing more than structured, widespread coercion ..." -- Glen Allport

"Personal responsibility is the price of liberty." -- Michael Cloud

Ron

The Jones Act was not waved by Obama/the Admiral in charge until June 14th - 60 days after the beginning of the crisis. Any Non-BP foreign equipment that has already been there is because that individual boat requested, which does not go directly to Obama, and received the waver which appears to have been limited to a half dozen vessels. All other offers have been "respectfully declined and not sent.

Ron, you cannot take writers pieces at face value. They are writing to promote their opinon. There are no news reporters, just political commentators reporting the news.

My guess is that if President Obama declared that the Sun would rise in the east on on June 18, 2010, the same 67% of our enlightened population who have responded to this item would tag him as misrepresenting the facts.

Business needs to be told what is "expected of them" when it comes to safety? What's up with that? The 11 guys on that rig and their families "expected" it to be safe. Didn't the CEO know that? Does someone have to "tell him?" Does a peanut processing plan need to be told, "Hey, you shouldn't have rats and cockroaches crapping all over the peanuts." Does a brokerage house need to told, "You really should be playing both sides against the middle with other peoples money." I realize the line between right and wrong can sometimes be fuzzy but it can often also be very, very clear. For instance, when I'm on a commercial flight and it's cruising at 30,000 feet I don't need written instructions to tell me to "don't open the door." I just automatically "know" what's expected of me. I "know" - don't open the door.

The Dutch and the Saudis offered sate of the art oil skimming equipment to collect the surface oil before it hit the beaches a few days after the spill, but Obama rejected the help because of a union backed law that keeps foreign owned vessels away form our coast. Bush waived that law a few days after Katrina, but Obama still refuses to waive the law.

Obama prefers the unions to the country's needs. The voters will show their "appreciation" in November.

Paul you are ingorant,

How Many Insect Parts and Rodent Hairs are Allowed in Your Food?
More Than You Think ... and Maybe Than You Want to Know!
by www.SixWise.com

How about a little rat hair with your peanut butter? A fly head with your macaroni and cheese? Though it may sound disgusting, these things and other gross filth the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calls "natural contaminants" are indeed allowed and present in your food.

whole story here

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/06/29/how_many_insect_parts_and_rodent_hairs_are_allowed_in_your_food.htm

Bon Appetit !

Paul, other than some unscrupulous business people that is the real mode of operation.

You mainly have people who come up with a new product or service and then have to go through a long process of trying to discover all laws, regulations, agencies, boards, and taxes that you must comply with.

When Gerald Ford left office in January 1977, there were 56,000 pages of government regulations. When Jimmy Carter Left, that was 75,000 pages. when Reagan left the count was 62,000 pages. Today we are now over 110,000 pages of government regulations and we await the additions of health care (2300 pages before regulations are written - expect that to be 20,000 - 30,000 pages) and carbon trading which is around 1100 pages. Makes me laugh when people claim catastrophies occured because of lack of regulation.

In Youngstown, Ohio a specialty plant got a stimulus check to expand. Obama came to deliver the check and promote his stimulus as creating jobs we need. The company had all the money they needed in the bank to expand. With no construction costs to drive the price of the product higher, the issues that had stalled expansion were would the products get trade protection (Obama granted) and would cap and trade pass this year (stalled and with 41 republicans in the senate going nowhere).

LDBean: Don't you mean, 'dear leader?'

Jeff-Las Vegas (#1.10) I blame it on George Washington. If he had not have won that damn war we would not be in this spot.

LOL!!!! Blame George Washington!!!! "I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there."
Blaming George Washington for this mess is like blaming Bush for the problem. Neither of them are at helm of the USS Oilslick Obama is.

Is Obama doing an adequate job compared to whom?

Dick Cheney in his secret meetings with energy industry executives deregulated oil. That included making taxpayers pay for the industry retrofitting to meet new environmental protection, clean air and water standards, giving ExxonMobile subsidies while they were breaking all records for the most profit of any company in US history and stalling on the final settlement of the Exxon Valdeze disaster on appeals for 20 years in court and excluding Cheney's Halliburton from regulation of its newly invented technique for deep ocean excavating for oil (underwater strip mining). Bush did to MMS what he did to FEMA by appointing unqualified political cronies into the agency.

When you have no management experience , it is hard to handle a crisis without being paralyzed. This guy acting as president has been paralyzed or apathetic, it is one or the other.. A real manager would see there is a problem, get the people from that field (who actually have hands on experience ), see what resources can be mobilized, where they need to go and get it done..When outside people offer to help , you waive protocal and policies, and get the damn job done,,yes it has become a nightmare to cap the well, but the inaction of the federal government to protect AMERICAN COASTLINE is inexcusable,,,BP did say we can cap the well, but any moron knows if ya ain't stopping the flow, ya better protect where it will drift, and that is where this administration has FAILED,,,don't give me yer crap about Bush, he ain't president ,the empty unqualified suit is,,,I spent 10 years in the Army, and even without knowing a thing about oil, I damn well guarantee I could have found the right people forn the industry who have cleaned up oil spills, whi have skimmed oil, to at a minimum make the impact of the spill less than what it is...

bill-765872 I used to agree with you. I thought he was simply incompetent, but now I am inclined to believe he hates this country and what it stands for. he is destroying the fabric of the country, and turning it into a third world country! Bush created a huge debit, and this ass has tripled what Bush did, and he did it in a1/4 the time!

Amazing how spoiled little children will cry, still they cry when given their milk and cookies. Whats a parent to do?

PK OToole said:
Drill baby drill! The republicans brought the world's greatest economy to its knees and left the taxpayers to clean it up. Now their irresponsible drill baby drill mindset and activity has left us taxpayers with the largest, fully preventable oil spill in our history to clean up. These people won't be happy until the United States is a third world country where we are all living in oil covered huts and dying slow, painful deaths from the poisons swilling in the filth at our feet.

Its appropriate that you have the word "tool" in your name because you are, in fact, a tool when you vomit stupidity such as the post above.

First, what evidence is there that this was preventable? We like to pretend we know (because the news says so), but we don't. Obama himself says so, otherwise, why have an investigating commission and a moratorium on drilling until we do? All we know is what could have happened and we've got some historically vilified companies and speculation driving this. So you say, "oh, but the blowout preventer was improperly installed!" Okay, then an investigation has been conducted and we don't need the commission right? Same can be said for anything else you bring to the discussion. Especially considering the government is trying to siphon $50 million dollars to conduct the commission to figure out what went wrong? Check your premise.

Second, you're worried about the taxpayers? Why? Let's pretend that Obama isn't exceeding his constitutional authority by wringing *at least* $20 billion out of BP. My guess is that you fall into the 50 percent of people who aren't paying tax anyway? I'd bet good money that, based on your vapid language, you support Obamacare. So, the taxpayers shouldn't have to pay to help keep their backyard clean but 50% of American who pay taxes can subsidize every welfare program this administration can devise? You sir don't care about the taxpayer. You care about cheap rhetoric that appeals to the lowest common denominator on this message board. Pat yourself on the back for the support of 15 leaches and slugs that gave your comment a thumbs up. Yeah, that's an accomplishment.

As for the third world comment, we're more likely to become a third world country if we follow you and your ilk. When you tax the successful for being successful, you'll find that people don't want to be successful. They'll just do what they have to in order to survive. Whose blood will the leeches suck then?

Obama has been in over his head since day #1 of his presidency. This man has no experience in any type of oversight or credibility of how to run any type of institution. What Bush dealt with was a natrual disaster and is 10x more horrific than what Obama is going through with this man-made disaster. The Dutch offered to bring in their skimmers three (3) days after the explosion and this administration said NO. They tout the "Jones Act" which was waived by Bush after Katrina because Bush cared more about the people and New Orleans than politics and how it would make him look to the unions or his own party. Why hasn't Obama allowed the 30 different offers from other countries to help us contain the oil from reaching land? The Dutch have had experience in this, as well as the Russians and knew what to do...now we have fish and birds dead, along with business' destroyed and fishery ruined, all because Obama wants to protect the Unions and not waive the Jones Act. This is a disgrace and I want him impeached now!! This did not have to happen if he had his own agency the MMS had been doing their job when he took over in 2009. This isn't Bush's fault about MMS, Obama has had his own team in charge for almost two years. The blame falls with MMS and MMS is under Obama and the government. This is where the blame lies.

What do you expect from a community organizer? No business skill, just BS about hope and change. Now from his halt on other operating rigs in our costal waters he putting thousands more on the unemployment line. This government should be held criminally liable for its lack of action in the Gulf.

just BS about hope and change

What's wrong with hope and change? If you are a Christian you would understand the concept.

Why does everything have to go back to what a Republican president did or didn't do during his term. obama has had 18 months to revise many things he talked about during his campaign. Why didn't he do something about the regulations and safety measures being taken on these rigs instead of spending his entire 18 months working on his healthcare bill ? Which by the way is going to bankrupt our country and do more harm than good for the majority of the citizens especially the seniors. Come up with a valued argument as to why he didn't do any of the things he promised a gullible America instead of blaming his predessors. Leave the other countries alone and take care of your own problems. No one wants the advice of someone who clearly is in way over their head and can't take care of his own business in his country.

OOBAMA WILL USE THIS OIL LEAKAGE TO TRY TO PUSH HIS

" CAP & TRADE " OR ENERGY BILL DOWN OUR THROATS !!

THAT IS THE REASON THE OIL DISASTER IS STILL GOING ON !!

THE UNIONS , ARE THE ONE REASON THAT HE DID NOT LIFT THE

" JONES ACT " TO ALOW OTHER SHIPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO

COME AND HELP !!

EPA SHUT DOWN THE USE OF THE DISPERSANTS AND THE SAND BERM BUILDING !!

SOUNDS LIKE HE IS DOING A GOOD JOB AT DESTROYING THIS

COUNTRY !!

Dear President Obama,
Our Military working with BP can plug the hole in one week. Our Military demolition expertise from the IRAQ OIL well tragedy is not being used in conjunction with BP, Why Not? Demolition team advisors using a small explosive charge in an adjacent hole drilled down 1000 ft will collapse the Gulf Gusher like pinching off a straw. Being more elaborate use a string of these at 1000 foot intervals with time delays.
Let us hope your advisors wake up one day and Call for Military Assistance to the Rescue.
Keep It Simple Stupid KISS BP with a Presidential Direct Order..plug the SOB Gusher immediately.

Lindenschmitt a Hopeless voice in the Wilderness.

Evil is Politics visversa Greedy hapless Congress is Killing America

He can wave the Jones Act for one. Get all the possible resources to clean up the oil asap. Every day he waits, 2.5m gallons of oil leak into the Gulf.

He can do what the people and governors of the affected states ask him for and to do. He needs to get up off his lazy azz and do something for the taxpayer money he is getting.

Someone needs to tell the incompetent Community Organizer how to do his job, since he has no clue for what is his job.

1. They can quit sending politician to "study the this that and the other issue" 2. Send oil drilling experts 3. Send100% of the EPA to clean 4. Repeal the Jones Ace 5. Give Bobby Jindal all that he has asked for more than a month ago. 6. Use Hay to help soak up the oil. Shall I go on?

recyclecongress, exactly what would you have him do once "off his lazy ass"? Like suggested, don scuba gear and go fix it himself? Has anyone considered that there isnt a viable solution yet? Instead of belly aching about what a terrible president he is, why don't you come up with a solution. BTW, he stated that he would gladly listen to any solutions out there!

Betsy, he could accept the help that was offered from several foreign nations. They have ships equipped to clean up oil spills. But, he has not accepted it. Why?

Is it so hard to answer the question why he won't allow foreign ships to participate in the clean up?

Betsy, I agree with dave 20121.......also there have been many entrepreneurs on Fox and perhaps other news channels with good ideas. He can definitely look into them. If you don't what in the heLL you are doing look to someone smarter than you are, and that would be almost anyone.

recyclecongress,

There is only on problem with your thought... Obama does not think anyone is smarter than him!

Early on in this mess, when it was not expected to last nearly this long, one of the main considerations in determining whether or not to accept help offered by other nations was the length of time it would take to get it here. The logistics of organizing and travel made these well-meant offers somewhat less feasible than it sounds on the surface.

I still haven't seen too many really constructive ideas being put forth as to what President Obama himself should be doing.

Tamy,

You nailed it there with that comment!!! Keep up the good posting!

Tammy:

#2: are you thinking that we have a bunch of oil drilling experts that know more than the engineers at BP?

#4: No Jones Act waivers have been required for the 15 foreign-flagged vessels currently in operation in the Gulf of Mexico. A foreign flag vessel can conduct certain operations as part of the flotilla if it is an oil spill response vessel and meets the requirements of 46 USC § 55113.

Nuke it, turn it into a glass bowl.

He can tell BP to get out of the area, stop ATTEMPTING to gather the oil and stop the leak. He can stop using this as a means to get the rest of the country to vote for his energy policy- He has repeated sent emails to many to vote for a stop in the drilling, etc due to this tragedy. Well like most incidents this one was avoidable. Had BP followed the OSHA/EPA CFR , or the officials that issued the willful violations -shut the job down. It could have even been avoided by safety training, safety precautions, back-up devices (don't give me the $ issue bc if they found it would help capture 1 more gal of oil it would have been there.) or the bp rep following the safe route on that day.

Do people really think they know what they are doing, or are the only ones that can try to stop this? They did not build this rig, their greed just destroyed it.

This idea of waiting over 50 days to stop a leak, then develop a plan to clean up the mess is insane. Even a normal home owner (who is not under the OSHA/EPA laws, that are already there by the way, and easy to follow had they wanted to) would start to clean up or dry up a water leak in their home as soon as it started to prevent the % of damage, even if they had to wait on a professional to fix the leak.

However the brilliant BP execs, and federal gov't officials who have allowed BP to operate while already having 760 willful citations ( that is like you having that many DUI's & you are still allowed to drive your car) NO respectable company, that truly values safety and their employees safety is ok with 1 willful violation, much less over 700 - that is criminal and cost 11 people their lives. It should be treated as such.

As stated today, He is going to give the response effort all he has and see it through until the end, but as he said there will be hard days ahead - Well we already know that and it will not be for BP or the federal gov't but for the ones who live in this region.

He has a plan - Well it is about time - hope we do not need one in a pinch. He can't speak to it, well that is bc the committee has yet to be developed, as well as the response plan. This is the worst effort I have ever seen.

They are allowing BP to hire contractors and employees from hundreds of miles away while people in these four states are now without jobs. They are even allowing bp to hire consulting agencies from outside the area, not rely on the trained staff from our military in the area, the various research universities, and DNR groups.

If you go to the BP sites and the response site ALL you can find is where to submit your ideas, or volunteer - ARE YOU KIDDING? They have taken away so many jobs and they are asking for free labor as well as donations - GET A GRIP -

Then they have these contractors that they have chosen come in - (when the oil hits the beach , not before) and provide free training even though locals are there with the staff and training. They are giving the employees too much generic training showing a lack of understanding of the basic response laws and planning. This will then allow for higher charge backs to BP for labor! They provide and allow the employees to use the wrong tools for the job, from the ppethe workers are having to wear( in 100 degree weather-then the media harshly reviews the workers for taking the mandatory breaks to avoid heat stroke). There are either no supplies or supplies like the orange containment boom that is better served to light up a run way than stop the progression of a spill in an ocean environment. There are little if any supplies to gather the oil off the water - they are called absorbents and BP and our government have no idea what is made in this country, where to get them, or how to use them. Then they fully complete the disaster by using some of the products that are poorly designed ( but cost lots of money) to clean the oil off the sand, when it would be more effective in regards to time and money to remove the oil with a small amount of sand and dispose of that way even though that is a higher disposal cost. We would not have that issue if we were at all pro active using some of the methods to block, and ABSORB as much as possible, like the governors have all been begging for -

HOW MANY OF YOU SAID SOMEONE????HAD LOTS MORE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE THAN THAT OTHER CANDIDATE SINCE SHE HAD ONLY BEEN A SILLY GOVERNOR! WELL IN THIS SITUATION THESE GOVERNORS GET MY VOTE/

SO what can the president do? - Well at day 57 and the state of the spill, the beaches, the response, it looks like he and the rest of the federal government CAN DO NOTHING and will continue to do nothing. Hope those state govenors save him before those people follow his advice and start looking for a party to blame.

You go right ahead and allow this - Allow them to ensure some companies follow the laws (they are there for a reason, and they can be enforced, followed, as seen in every other industry) while BP gets away with 760 willful violations - I guess it was not your loved one that did not come home!

I am willing to bet that all of the mid and lower level employees of the Mineral Mis-Management agency were Bush appointees.

Those who criticize Obama for what he has or has not done fail to realize that Bush would have done far less.

Wha?

#2: are you thinking that we have a bunch of oil drilling experts that know more than the engineers at BP? Obviously the BP engineers are doing such a bang up job right. Of course I think there are others that might add some common sense to the picture as most engineers go by their book knowledge.

#4: No Jones Act waivers have been required for the 15 foreign-flagged vessels currently in operation in the Gulf of Mexico. A foreign flag vessel can conduct certain operations as part of the flotilla if it is an oil spill response vessel and meets the requirements of 46 USC § 55113. What is the harm in waying the Jones Act ?

RE: Federal Government Responsibilities:

Protect the US Borders from the oil; verify, protect and recover the income loss of US Citizens from the spill: verify, protect and recover the job loss, the loss of wildlife and what the effects are and will be on the future - Obama, with his rhetoric, is just wasting time and causing more damage!

We all know what can/cannot be done re spill. Two more months for wells, etc., etc. In the mean time, the action that is lacking is in the clean up area. The request last night re fight to oil spill in the ocean, at the islands, before the beaches just doesn't get mentioned. Example of what the President could do: he activated 17,000 national guard, waiting for states to request mobilization, states have only requested mobilization for 1,000. Why? Because they don't have equipment or anything to work with. Get those supplies down there. Organize something so the regions have somewhere to request what they need and get it. After 50 + days this mobilization s/b in place. That is what he could do that he has not.

Yea and send in Joe the plumber

We have a major destruction of our wild life and not just one idea will be used, we have to realize that it does take time to develope these idea's on a large scale and this will become an industry for the next 30 to 50 yrs.

I think this disaster shows how little this administration really knows.

Being familliar with 150 years of oil well history, you never give disaster a chance.

Knowing that gushers are very unpredictable . . .

Knowing that oil spread quickly . . .

Knowing that oil disasters take months to clean up . . .

Knowing that we had never had such a problem at such a depth before . . .

Knowing that when a 911 call comes in a complete response team is sent for just the suspicion of fire or the report of a vehicle collision.

Doesn't

Early on in this mess, when it was not expected to last nearly this long, one of the main considerations in determining whether or not to accept help offered by other nations was the length of time it would take to get it here. The logistics of organizing and travel made these well-meant offers somewhat less feasible than it sounds on the surface.

seem really lame?

AND

BESMART - since you think it is so easy to stop, and you have so much experience doing clean-up and plugging wells - let's send YOU!

1) Obama and company haven't dumped BP is because they didn't even know what a BOP was until someone on staff told them.

2) If they dump BP they have to hire say Exxon-Mobil to come in. They got reemed by the Fed for the Exxon-Valdez mess, why would they want to take the responsiblity and be blamed by Obama day in and day out for not doing enough?

3) Shell Oil (British Owned) isn't going to take the job with Obama reeming BP. Heck he tried to send Great Britains gift of a Bust of Winston Churchill back.

If you think Bush was bad for being arrogant, Obama is Bush on major steroids. I worked for someone like Obama. Anyone of any value quit. The best thing to do is fire this President. He is not preserving and protecting the Union his policies are alienating EVERYONE and is setting one group against the other as never seen before.

Nothing but talk that is all our government can do and it would make no difference who the POTUS was. Only a complete fool believes that BP is not doing everything possible to stop and contain the leak. This is costing them billions of dollars each and every day not only in damage and clean up, but in the loss of the oil they could be capturing and selling.

Now I hear Obama wants to take control? Does he know something about stopping the leak, containing the spreading oil or a better method of clean up that he has been keeping secret from the rest of the nation? Me thinks he has alternative motives for wanting control. I think the two primary concerns of his are (a) Control of the money being spent by BP so that "HE" can decide who gets what amount and when. (b)Public image of being in control of something that is (at this time) a force of nature and beyond control of man. I have a feeling that if he is not careful he will turn a bad situation for him into his worst nightmare. The man has no clue how to even act like our POTUS much less be in charge of stopping an massive oil well blow out a mile under the ocean, controlling the spread of that oil or the clean up after it finally stops or is stopped. Give a man enough rope and he will hang himself. I wonder if Obama feels the proverbial noose tightening around his neck or if his ego is too large to allow that to happen?

What really irks me is the way he used this as a platform to try and sell his Cap & Trade. Wind and Solar are fine as far as helping to reduce our need for the use of fossil fuels in generating electricity. But they won't provide enough reliable power to replace coal or natural gas generating power plants. They won't power the machinery needed to plant and harvest crops. The won't provide the fuel needed to power the trains, and trucks to bring the crops to warehouses and eventually to market. They won't provide the fuel needed to power cars, buses and RVs to support the tourist trade that so many places and jobs depend on. Just how long do you think our national and state parks would stay open if no one visited them? How long would places like Disneyland and Six Flaggs stay in business if no one could go there anymore. How many more thousands of jobs would be lost. Has Obama given thought to the loss of both state and federal revenues if no one purchased another drop of gas or diesel? Again if no one uses the roads, no need for road maintenance crews and more job loses and ultimately more loss of state and federal revenues.

Anyone with half a brain left alive can see that Cap & Trade will hurt this country not help it. It will place an indirect tax on all Americans at a time we can least afford it and it will have no noticeable positive effect on global warming. Much like Obama taking control of the gulf oil spill, and Obamacare, nothing good will come out of it.

I don't know what the gov can really do, but I think most people are expecting Obama to call in Bruce Willis and Ben Afleck to fly a space shuttle down there and save the world.

Actually, one idea would be to round up all the teabaggers in their "drill baby drill" t-shirts, put em all in a giant industrial sized teabag, and dump it down in the gulf to plug the hole. Would seriously redefine "teabagging" and allow teabaggers to drill for their oil right at ground zero.

American capitalism likes to see themselves an automobiles in a perfectly flat world in which only their car exists and there are no obstacles to the car going anywhere it wants. But the reality is that there are lots of competing cars, the world is not flat and there are farm fields and houses everywhere.

In order for traffic to move efficiently, we need paved roads and stop signs and traffic lights and rules that say that cars can't drive across your lawn and fines for scofflaws.

The is a good metaphor for regulation of any industry. Without regulation it is a chaos and everyone suffers. Just look at NYC traffic when just one street light fails. Everyone seems to want deregulation and chaos, but when you pin these people down, they don't really want it. Who wants deregulation? Corporations!

Look at past degregulations.

The airline industry wanted complete deregulation --- the spearheads were Delta, Eastern, Piedmont, TWA and PanAm. Of these only Delta (though in bankruptcy 6 times since) survives. Over 150 cities lost all air service. And we got the "wonderful" hub system that "allows" passengers to fly 40% further then necessary to get to their destination. But they can drink a $4 soda and nap on a $2 pillow while they wait for their delayed or cancelled flight.

The railway industry wanted deregulation. But the trucking industry (via the Teamsters) got to dictate the rules. Though it needs only 1/400th the fuel to move a ton of freight a mile versus trucks, deregulation virtually destroyed the rail industry while driving American dependence on foreign oil through the roof.

There has never been an example of any industry that has successfully regulated its self. It might have been possible in the old days when we had a stock market and investors were focused on dividends and long-term growth. Now we have no stock market, only a commodities market in stock speculation and the entire focus is on next quarter's profits. There is little incentive for corporations to do the right thing long-term and lots of incentives to lie, cheat and steal.

The financial industry spent billions buying political influence. When I was a youngster (I'm 66), you could go to prison for charging more than 6% interest except in a handful of special cases (such as intraday loans.) Banks were regulated with lessons learned from the Great Depression. There were firewalls between insurance companies, financial holding companies, investment banks, commercial banks, and private banks. Banks were most heavily regulated by the states. Regional and then national banking killed state regulation. Usury laws were overturned state by state. And all the lessons of the Great Depression were ignored.

Even small deregulation were disasters for the people, though hugely profitable for the corporations. A good example I like to use is AFLAC --- the duck people. For years AFLAC's rip-off insurance was legal and available only in its home state of Georgia. It could not even advertise by mail outside of Georgia and could not even advertise on Turner's CNN because it was such a shady company. But it "owned" a lot of state legislators and stayed in operation through legislative fiat. It took its profits and went to Japan where there is virtually no consumer protection and the idea of catastrophic coverage was unknown. They made huge profits in Japan and used that money to make themselv es legal in state after state. I think it is about 40 states that they are allowed to operate in currently and they are spending heavily on the last 10 states legislators.

We do need regulation of corporations just as we need stop signs and paved roads. Thoughtfully regulated industries do much better in the long term that their unregulated cousins. Regulation is not socialism unless the profits and "means of production" belong overtly to the government. Deregulation has thrown so many babies out with so much bathwater, that it staggers the imagination how hundreds of years of carefully-crafted regulation have been undone in about three decades.

The amount of power that corporations have bought in Washington and statehouses around the country is difficult to comprehend. And that power is increasingly graduated.

I live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and consider myself a moderate-to-progressive old-style Democrat. But we have a wonderful Mercedes Plant 12 miles away. But this plant was brought about by two of the most crooked politicians in the Senate. They basically exempted Mercedes from all local taxes and guaranteed that there would be no unionization. Tuscaloosa was forced.

HLP asked an excellent question. There were few takers offering serious responses, and most of those served up ideas that have already been implemented, or are just plain silly.

At present, there are over 3,600 vessels and 11,000 people responding to the spill, and help has been accepted from more than 500 vessels of opportunity. Experts from industry, government, and academia have been called in from all corners. 2.3 million feet of containment boom and 2.7 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed in strategic areas. Unimpacted areas are being protected, and areas already impacted are being cleaned as quickly as possible. It is amazing that that there has not been more damage than there has. Partly, this is due to the diligent efforts to contain, recover, burn, flare, and disperse as much oil and natural gas as possible while it is still far from the coast. Ships, planes, men, and women are working around the clock to do everything they can.

The problem isn't the response actions, the problem is the fact that the well is still spewing thousands of barrels a day into the Gulf. Until the well can be plugged and the release of oil stopped completely, which will probably happen sometime within the next two months, we are fighting a rear guard action.

Implementing oil spill response is the duty of the responsible party, BP, with the oversight of the US Coast Guard. BP's role is primarily to hire Oil Spill Response Organizations (OSROs) certified by USCG. The OSROs, most of which are private enterprises or consortia funded by industry, provide the bulk of the equipment and manpower. If USCG felt that BP were not doing everything possible, they would take over the response and direct the actions of the OSROs.

Getting BP to put $20 billion into an escrow fund was a great accomplishment, and unprecedented in the history of the oil and gas industry. Seeing to it that USCG and the incident commanders are well qualified (and so far NO ONE has complained about the USCG command structure) is indicative of responsible governance.

What the government needs to do from here forward is determine, with the advice and cooperation of industry experts and others, what could have been done to prevent the catastrophe in the first place – first there was a blow out and then the blowout preventer failed – so that we can take measures to minimize the incidence of future blowouts and ensure that the next time there is a blowout the means to seal the well will already be in place, at the site, in advance. In other words, new regulations will have to be written, just as the Oil Pollution Act followed on the heels of the Exxon Valdez. That is not going to happen next week or next month (unless you want really awful statutes and regulations, which would not be at all effective).

As for more resources, if Bobby Jindall wants more boom deployed, he doesn't need Barack Obama to personally deliver it. He can requisition it from OSROs around the country (or world, for that matter) and send BP the bill. This Jones Act business is a moot point. Oil spill response is specifically exempt from the Jones Act, so those calling for its repeal are merely diverting public attention from more reasonable and responsible efforts to meaningless blather.

Bobby Jindal will probably do just that because he is an action oriented person and is proud of this country. He wants to see our coastlines remain in pristine condition. This disaster pales in comparison to the Exxon Valdez disaster. our government is NOT doing enough and BP needs to comply with our laws, however, I'm uncertain if our President even knows or cares about them. Let's keep America free and CLEAN!!

And elect ...... Sarah Drill- Baby- Drill Palin? Time for Republicans to recycle their party and come up with new ideas beyond sitting on deads butts obstructing and complaining. What is their alternative plan? For health care reform, it was "don't get sick" and if you do "die quickly." For the spill it is"don't have an oil spill" and if you do "suffer quietly"?

I am a Republican and there simply isn't enough of us to make much impact. Evangelicals have made a mockery out of our party. And yes it is our fault. There is many among us that were never agreeable to that far right. Greed for votes opened the door to our demise...

How about accepting help from foreign nations???

thank you Earl! Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't!

Focus on STOP THE LEAK...all else can wait. 100% of USA and BP resources on STOP THE LEAK. Political BS and causes & hearings can come later. Everything should be directed toward STOP THE LEAK! China would have it stopped by now & done the talking & finger pointing later. USA is all about words & not actions...& yes I know China is a terrible government,but they get stuff done!

Earl,

Your comment is drivel. Putting BP into receivership would have to be for a financial reason. They are not even close to bankruptcy. Yes, their stock has taken a major hit but they are a long way from going belly up.

I'm a conservative and I view him as being a weak and ineffectual president, because he claims that all of his words and posturing are action when it's nothing more than a photo op for him. He doesn't get that he actually has a job to do. Turning down assistance from other countries and not enacting a NOAA plan that was in place and pre-approved was foolhardy at best and borderline criminal at worst. My heart goes out to the people who's lives and livelyhood are being so severely impacted by this continuous comedy of errors.

JSaint159

And what countries have more expertise at oil drilling than we do?

This is ConservaNut drivel and and pure OP (Obama Pissing).

If you are criticizing Obama it is because YOU are the main part of the problem.

Yeah Right! This problem is Bush (2) because he reversed the moritorium put on off shore drilling by his Father Bush (1) It is not the Governments problem. You Republicans want less government and want the government to butt out of private business. Say Yes!!! Well this was an accident that happened on PRIVATE PROPERTY. It was not a Natural Distaster. Now the Government has done all it can do by pushing BP and other responsible people to clean up their mess......The problem is the oil companies in general for not having an effective clean up plan in case of spill - They are still using 30 year old technology for clean up. So if you feel a need to blame someone blame BP and other oil companies for not spending the $'s needed for improvement - they are obligated to protect the american people and the environment. They messed it up - not the government. They should clean it up. Besides, you guys want smaller government then why it is okay for us the taxpayer to pay for the President and his people to worry about a PRIVATE MATTER. He has more imporant things to do.

What America needs to gain from this experience is an important question not being asked.

For example, if I want to build a new home, I would have to build it to code and be inspected. If a billionaire oil corporation wants to build a deep ocean oil rig, WHERE IS THE CODE AND STANDARDS THAT NEED TO BE MET AND WHERE ARE THE REAL INSPECTIONS?

BP was cutting costs and corners. They were allowed to do this because of absolutely no regulation at all. There is absolutely no excuse at all for this sloppy, reckless and careless mode of operation with either no regulation or brainless regulation. BP and TransOcean both have a history of disasters that should have given regulators a heads up on the potential danger.

Another question is what other countries are doing with their own deep ocean drilling. Canada requires a relief well to be built next to the primary well in case of an emergency. That makes complete sense with deep ocean drilling where the margin for error is small and the potential for catastrophe is huge. Norway and Brazil require an accoustic device that triggers an over ride on the Blow Out Preventer to stimulate shutting down the oil flow.

Recyclecongress -- You watch Fox, that explains everything. Had he accepted European help, you would be saying "He's close to Socialist Europe" And when he didn't you blame him for not accepting help. Why recycle Fox's (Glen Beck, O'riely, Huckabee) view here. This is MSNBC.

MtMike, BP was in communication with MMS on changes to their drilling. Each time, they were granted permission to carry out their plan. Many experts who have reviewed that, have concurred that alarm bells should have been going off at MMS. But, the milk is already spilled. What are we doing about cleaning up the mess? According to the President, everything in his power. Doing whatever it takes...not so fast. The Netherlands offered the assistance of their government's oil spill response team on day 3. Their skimmers have the capability of skimming more oil than is currently estimated to be pouring into the ocean at the upwardly revised numbers. They were told thanks, but no thanks in an official communication from our government. the Netherlands have equipment that is capable of building berms faster than any equipment we have. Again, the Netherlands were told thanks, but no thanks. This isn't from Glenn Beck it is from Geert Visser, General Counsel Netherlands Embassy in Houston.

Jym Allyn,

How about ALL of the countries in the middle east for starters. Then lets go to the North Sea and look at Norway (1000's of offshore rigs). Get a clue of what you are talking about before you call someone else the problem.

I dare you to come up with one thing that he has enacted since becoming president that has had a positive effect on the country. Bear in mind that you had better be able to quantify that positive effect, because I don't back down in the face of your liberal hate speech rhetoric. Oh and yes it is Liberals and NOT conservatives who are the ones spewing hate all over the place. I don't hate the president, I just find him to lack the tools to handle the job, and as a voting taxpayer it is my right to call him on it.

Earl, you are correct in saying that Obama is doing an admirable job.

recycle, plenty of help is being accepted from foreign countries, your premise is not accurate.

Chief, you are correct that the key is stopping the leak, but puttng 100% of American resources to the task is not going to help. You can ask the assembly line workers at American automobile plants to stop building cars and work on plugging the well instead, but that won't seal the well any sooner. Completing the relief well is the most likely solution, and beyond a certain level, additional resources will have no effect.

IOT, this is not the "liberals" fault. There is plenty of drilling in shallow water off Louisiana. This well was drilled because there is oil to be had in deep water. As for containing and buring oil near the release site, BP has been doing that since the very beginning. Whatever your news source is, it's very unreliable. Your blaming of Obama for the blowout is far fetched to say the least.

Maxi, you make several good points, but Bush didn't cause the blowout any more than Obama did. It's not really the spill response that's inadequate, those guys are doing an awesome job. The BIG problem is the inablity to deal with a blowout. We need regulations to minimize the occurence of future blowouts, and regulations and technology improvements to ensure that blowouts can be capped quickly.

Mountain Mike, you make a lot of sense. I might not agree with everything you say, but I do agree with the vast majority of it, and respect that all of it is thoughtful, reasonable, well intentioned, and well put.

Dave, those Dutch oil skimmers are on the way and will join a fleet of around 4,000 other vessels, and inumerable skimmers, already hard it. Had the Dutch boats arrived a few days sooner, it wouldn't have made much of a difference, and tasking equipment selection to the President of the United States is not only preposterous, it would be a breach of the Incident Command Structure established by regulation. Oh, and berm building is also underway. The "alarm bells that should have gone" off is a reference to a downhole pressure gauge on the Deepwater Horizon that registered zero shortly before the blowout occurred. That wasn't a planned change to the drilling plan that was approved by the MMS. It was never communicated to MMS, because the well blew out about 30 minutes later and the rig was totally destroyed.

JSaint, your comments make no sense. Which Middle Eastern country do you want to put in charge of the oil spill response, and why? It's not a rational proposal. Your "dare" has nothing to do with the oil spill, but I'll take the bait, without resorting to hate rhetoric.

1. Obama has enacted sorely needed health care reform that will extend medical coverage to all Americans, putting us on a par with the entire rest of the industrialized, capitalist world. In doing so, it will put a damper on spiralling health care costs caused in part by people with no insurance getting needed hospital treatments and then sticking the medical community with the bill. (The usual culprits are the millions of American citizens with no health insurance.)
2. He has helped save thousands of American manufacturing jobs by making LOANS to American automobile manufacturers. You want your money back? Buy an American car!
3. He saved millions of Americans from unemployment and spared the country a second Great Depression by backing the TARP loans that saved the American financial system from certain ruin. The "official" nemployment was headed toward 16 percent with no end to the rise in sight. Have you looked lately, after peaking at 12.4% the rate is now down to 9.7%. Still too high, but if you buy something made in America (like a car) it will help more than anything the government can do.
4. He got BP to creat a $20 billion excrow fund for this spll response, when BP could have hidden behind American law limiting liability for oil spills to a paultry $75 million.

He IS A SOCIALIST! He does intend to takeover as much as possible. Oh, and directing his head of NASA to have the priority of making the muslims feel good! What is that about? Maybe NASA can help with the 'stoning' of the woman Iran convicted of adultery and that will show we love the muslims. The woman will be killed for having sex--what a wonderful people--let's all help them feel good!!

Obama did not cause this leak, but he did not "protect our shores from all enemies foreign and domestic". THIS IS HIS JOB!! iNSTEAD OF TALKING ABOUT WHO IS RESPONSIBLE, HE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN ALL THE HELP AVAILABLE TO KEEP THE OIL FROM REACHING SHORE. iT WAS THERE HE JUST WAITED TOO LONG. He waited and now it is TOO LATE!! Whatever efforts are put in will not change the fact that life in the Gulf (where I live) is changed forever. The ful extent of the damage will noy be known for many years, but know that there is still oil in Alaka from over 20 years ago and there is still oil in the backwaters from a, what is now a small spill, 42 years ago in the Gulf.

SHAMEFUL WITH THE TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE TODAY--BUT YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID!!

Hey, Tyranusex,How 'bout he asks other countries with experience dealing with offshore-drilling leaks for advice/help. How 'bout he waive the Jones Act to allow foreign clean-up vessels to participate ? Is he afraid of the unions which seem to own him body and soul. How 'bout he gives some of the innovators and inventors who are begging to be heard some attention, rather than ignore them. I guess that's what you get when you have a bunch of left-wing ideological academics runnig the country.

Why is he following the Rahm Emmanuel creed, let no crisis be wasted? Cap and Trade will not stop the oil flowing!

And why does he not get the full resources of government on the cleanup? Bobby Jindl is doing more than all the Feds, who have a bunch of convicts and deadbeats strolling the beachs working(?) 20 minutes out of every hour?

Why does he continue to critisize and demonize BP, driving their stock down, then hoping they have the resources to pay for the cleanup? Indeed, why does he spend so much time and energy on the blame game. There's pleenty of blame to go around.

Set priorities! STOP THE LEAK!

No Jones Act waivers have been required for the 15 foreign-flagged vessels currently in operation in the Gulf of Mexico. A foreign flag vessel can conduct certain operations as part of the flotilla if it is an oil spill response vessel and meets the requirements of 46 USC § 55113.

Wha?,

What's the reason that these ships were not allowed to come to the Gulf? They were offered but turned down. Why?

Are you unaware that there are approximately 4,000 vessels responding to the spill at present? The three everyone seems to be hollering about are on their way, so there will be at least 4,003 when they get here.

Do you really think that Bobby Jindall has to get a note from the President of the United States before he can requisition and deploy boom wherever he wants?

The Jones Act does not prohibit foreign vessels from participating in oil spill cleanup operations, so why are you asking for repeal of a law that protects American waters and shipping interests?

Welcome.

Obama is an idiot.. he says the area will recover.. why don't you ask the people affected by the Exxon Valdez spill if they've recovered, if the wildlife and environment have recovered. NO! That was 20 years ago, and a LOT LESS OIL..

Also, there was a biologist stating that people trying to clean up the oil on the beaches were in need of respirators (masks), and we're getting skin rashes.. BP is not going to give them this because it would show the world just how bad the situation is.. so why doesn't our government (OBAMA are you listening) to purchase the hazmat material that is needed so that the people fighting to clean up the oil are safe!

Did the government not learn anything about what happened to the crews working ground zero (increase in cancer etc.)...

Foreign ships & help need to be brought in to help.. it should be "all hands on deck" period.. leave nothing unturned.. all these entrepeuners with ideas for cleaning up the spill let them start using their products ASAP.. what's there to loose.. No, instead let's wait and do an analysis for two weeks are you kidding me!!!

Instead of focusing on potential lawsuits, and we're going to make BP pay.. the government needs to STOP THE SPILL, & CLEAN UP THE SPILL as quickly and efficiently as possible.. if other countries or companies need to get involved so be it.. GET IT DONE!!!

USE any means or resources necessary to stop the leak and clean up the oil.. the destruction to this area is a Travesty, and it disgusts me!!

The oil companies make less than 7.5% profit on their sales. Would you buy stock in a company that made less than 7% profit? I sure wouldn't. If they gave away gasoline for *FREE* do you have any idea how much lower the cost at the pump would be? If you think it would save more the 15 cents, you're sadly mistaken.

Any profit is obscene to a Marxasst liberal. The profit is billions, but there is never any mention of how much was spent making that profit of approximately 8-10% which is in no way obscene for any business to earn.

Oil companies are the most regulated industry in the world. And got news for your pea brain - the US government makes more on every gallon of oil than the oil companies. When BP, ExxonMobile, Shell, ect loose money the US government looses even more money. And the US government has done zip zero to earn the money the oil companies at least risked capital and time for what they earn.

Please tell me you didn't actually say that the Republican Congress is tying the presidents hands. How brain dead are you. The Democrats hold large margins in both the house and senate.

The truth is that liberals will refuse to do anything that they could possibly be held accountable for. The problem to them is not who is going to pay to fix this problem, it is how are they going to spin the blame so they can look good. Bad news folks, it's too late to look good.

Sufrcat are you insane? How many people have to point out to you that the Democrats have a near super majority in both chambers and have had control since halfway thru Bush? Post in a kiddie chat you ignoramace. You need to open your eyes and see you have been sucked down Obamas smoke pipe about how the Republicans have blocked so much. They Can't. Reality is Obama can't get his own party to pass his crap ideas

Tamy-915834

The oil companies are regulated, and they control and write the regulations.

Do you remember Enron and their friend Dick Cheney? Enron appointed the government regulators that approved the financial raping of California.

The Bush appointed SEC regulators are the ones who approved the financial raping of America by the Ponzi scheming "investment bankers."

Conservative and gullible seem to be synonymous.

Jym Allyn - you need serious metal help.

Jym Allyn - the financial rape of America started when Slick Willie Clinton signed off on the repeal of the Glass-Steagall banking act of 1933. That opened the door for our investment bankers to have their way.

Several of the comments regarding beach clean-up have mentioned STRAW or HAY for an absorbent, why are not these items being brought in by the truck load? Landscape blowers, used to blow straw on highway berms and medians should be in use to broadcast these materials in an efficient and rapid response manner. They can be used either on land or mounted on small barges or used on the decks of work boats, we are not engaging the cleanup in a manner characterized as agile, or mobile.

BEACH RAKES have been manufactured for 50 years which have the capability to replace up to 100 workers in manual mode. Why aren't there fleets of these in use? They certainly would be cheaper and less time consuming than all the money being wasted on people in plastic boots and gloves, who might be better used in other areas.

We have too many mechanical resources available to waste them through lack of imagination and implementation.

This is the 21st century; has anyone used 'GOOGLE' to find out what's available to expedite this situation? What's use of an internet and all that knowledge if it's not going to be used?

jsaint and readitwell...Democrats lost their "super majority" when the Kennedy seat went to a Republican, and a lot of dems lost their spines long before that.

Tamy...you are delusional...(and what kind of metal will help Jym?) While praising the tremendous sacrifices the oil companies have made "they at least risked capital and time for what they earn" you forgot to glorify their risking the environment and peoples lives. WOW they're awesome!!!!!

Bubba's Grandpa - I've lived in central and north Texas now for nearly 35 years but fondly remember the halcyon days of my childhood running wild on the sugar sand beaches of central Florida. I had forgotten about those big BEACH RAKES until you mentioned them. They used them on Clearwater Beach, St. Pete Beach and Treasure Island almost every night during the summer. Of course that was back in the days of detachable pop-tops and glass bottled everything. The rakes sure lowered the injury level by removing these items and more. (I wonder how many sets of car keys they found and how much loose change.) Using beach rakes with a smaller sieve screen would be a fast way to clean large areas of tar ball and Lord knows what else from the sands. Straw tossed into the water would soak up huge amounts of the oil and be easier to strain out of the water. So why hasn't the Messiah given the go ahead? Both would be effective, cheaper and free up manpower to deal with the oil in more inaccessible areas like the marshes, sloughs, and tidal pools.

demproud,

I am well aware of Scott Brown coming along to save us from going completely over the edge. Since when however has a Super Majority been needed to pass a bill. It's only needed when you don't want to have any dialogue involved in the decision making process. You are a very typical arrogant dem. You all feel that you know what is right for everyone else. I'm here to tell you, that the country was never a Super Majority (I'm talking raw numbers) for you and your liberal friends, so what on earth made you feel that the legislative branch was going to stay that way.

jsaint....
where do you get the right to call me "a typical arrogant" anything. The fact that you think you can paint me, someone you dont even know, with such a broad brush, makes YOU the one acting arrogant. Not your whole party, JUST YOU! And, Mr. Clueless if you can show me where in my post I gave even the slightest indication that I expected the legislative branch to stay any way I'll eat this computer. Oh, and by the way, I never said we had a super majority, readitwell did, thats why I included quotation marks (most people know what those mean). My response was addressed to both of you (cause its not always about you). Has your grasp of the obvious always been an issue, or is this a new development?
Next time try reading with your intellect, and not your prejudiced opinion, and you might see what I really wrote instead of what you think someone like me, based on your vast knowlege of me, would probably write.

The oil industry is regulated, but instead of making sure the oil companies have workable plans in place in the event of a disaster of this magnitude... no let's just sit on our ass and wait until there is a massive disaster, and NO-ONE knows what the hell to do or how to stop it.. WTH...

BP & the US government are to blame for this one...after the disaster has occurred is not the time to try to "figure out" how to stop a leak and clean up the oil, that should be done ahead of time!

I feel so sorry for the people living in this region who had not fully recovered from Katrina, and then they get nailed with this! So sad...

Since our POSOTUS is trying to draw some parallels with Katrina, there is one similarity I've observed...he's stuck on stupid.

Bill-857242

Stupid is as stupid does. That is what is defined by being a Conservative.

I am sure you still have the illusion of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq in 2003. Or that Enron was our friend as well as Dick Cheney's. Or that Alan Greenspan is NOT an idiot and that SEC deregulation and trust of the Ponzi investment bankers would be good for our and the world's economy.

Eat the oil. You are the one who is spreading it.

Hey Bill

Katrina was not a private business with legal protection from government intervention (or socialism, as Republicans like to call it.) Go free market!!! How's it working for ya?

You're still stuck on stupid, Jym and demproud.

Mr. Allyn. You are the epitome of a brainwashed liberal, progressive idiot. You believe every talk point the progressives spout. Take a minute to go to factcheck.org, and see the truth about obama's speech.

The economy started down hill when Clinton allowed the Steagel act to expire.

In the gulf ; Obama has not bypassed the unions to get more help. The ships being stopped are ones not exempt under the Jones act.

Fact; Bp did not own the rig, BP did not operate the rig. BP purchased the oil from the rig.Legally, they could walk away.

Fact; in 1994, law said all offshore drilling must have at least 1 fire boom present. Currently in US - 0. One on loan from foreign country, after disaster; four weeks after.

Bill youre entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts. You can however avoid them by worshipping at the feet of OReilly, Limbaugh, and Beck. You are their favorite kind of gullible! Willfully ignorant.

dem4mentalillness, Bush did more by repealing the Jones Act. The repubs would do more. The repubs will take more effective action in Nov and 2012.

dem4life lol,

Yes in fact Jindal and Landreu have more in mind than getting drilling back online, and you with your delusions of being dem4life are just about laughable.

I would be embarassed to admit to such a thing, however, we already know the Democrats attract the fringe kooky types, so I suppose your comments are right on with your lame lack of a logical ideology

I would bet you were right there wailing away at GW over his Kartrina, funny how political affiliation slants your viewpoint. Open minded thought; GW really got blasted for Katrina, therefore, get used to tit for tat. Perhaps a little forethought back then might haved saved your Obama from being treated to a little of the same.

Imagine-Goodness

If it weren't for the repubs, this never would have happened. Cheney and Bush have always been in bed with big oil, with their secret meetings and deregulation, and looking the other way when oil companies ignored the few regulations that WERE in place.

You will be in for a very unpleasant surprise in November, as well as 2012. The Republican candidates are already shooting themselves in the foot, to the point where the only interviews they allow are on Fox Noise.

Haven't heard much from Rand Paul lately...at least not in the MSM (it's not called "mainstream" for nothing). The more these lunatics talk, the tighter their "handlers" have to muzzle them. I love it :)

MSM is way liberal, therefore you will hear little about a conservative.

The permits for the rig were issued by Clinton admin..

What is most important is not putting blame, but stopping the leak, and getting the mess cleaned up. That will take liberals ( progressives), conservatives, moderates, and probably a few illegals.

dum4life - you are absolutely right. POSOTUS is doing everything he can do. He is completely incapable of doing more.

Bill and all the other whiners,

You will be shocked, SHOCKED come November when your useless, do nothing, obnoxious and stupid republican (christians) get your dumb asses whipped at the polls. Americans are not that easily fooled. You had 8 long years and you totally blew it.

Actually his response had been much, much, much worse than Bush's.

Since our POSOTUS is trying to draw some parallels with Katrina, there is one similarity I've observed...he's stuck on stupid.

Just how many deep water drilling companies are there? Not many and BP is suppose to be one of the best. But they have proved they are not, using too many short cuts, and defective material when they knew it. We didn't, until got the information. So now Obama is after them and wants them to set up funds for this clean up and business and homes. Insteadof waiving the Jones act he didn't take the time to, as it is an emergency and he has other countries ships in there helping. Has called in experts to help. He has been on top of this the whole time doing all he can. Sure would be nice if all would work together to work this out, instead of playing politics. I don't belong to either party, But think instead of the tea party and hard Conservatives would help not say drill drill even more.

Hi again Bill

I have yet to hear Obama say "heck of a job" to anybody and to the best of my knowledge he hasnt appointed a cronies exroommate with no management experience (except in arranging horse races) to run the recovery operation. Other than that they're exactly the same.

Still stuck, dem!

fedup-1891952 STUCK ON STUPID! The comparison between Bush's handling of Katrina and Obama's handling of the BP's disaster is about limited to the fact they both affected the Gulf of Mexico. Is it only me but does anyone else think ObaMao was looking a little shell-shocked the other day in TV. Like he can't believe he's not being taken at his word.

Just because the dems control congress doesn't mean they control America. Ever heard of Sarah Palin and the tea party? I'd almost rather have her as president now so that people could pointlessly blame her.

Haha Walter, your party won and you said get over it, your party is failing, and I say get over it back, Repuplicans win when Demorcats take power, cause Democrats are ideologically empty

And where is your GOP's solutions...Stop mouthing off about Obama and the Dems...Gop never gives in solutions...their supporters all clammer to bring back the "good old values" ...I remind you the "the good old values" are ones that encouraged discrimination ...ones who encouraged the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer...the ones who encouraged us to take off restraints or laws on corps...so they now can basically screw anyone who is just the average worker...they are the ones who encouraged us to depend on oil and coal...which both pollute the only planet we have the live on...Everyone here needs to realize this is only one company's fault...BP....Remember this company makes billions....they are the big wigs...they have more money than God...it is their fault...they should clean it...They have been offered help by numerous scientist and engineers but have refused help...Obviously they have a financial interest in trying to salvage this drill hole instead of shutting it down ....they think they can save it ...regardless of how much it destroys the Gulf and the coastal area and all the wildlife ...now is the time to refuse to buy their gas and protest against them...not Obama...he had nothing to do with their safety issues...which obviously something was wrong...and the idiot who tried to blame Obama for the award given...he did not pick the company...some other big wigs picked it...he just gave the award to them in a presentation....

How is this President Obama's fault. Even in his campaign for Presidency he urged the US to give up their dependency on oil...to use our intelligence and innovative resources to develop Green Energy and Green Jobs...The GOP were the ones in the years before Obama saying "Drill Baby Drill"...Hech...Palin and McCain were saying the same less than two years ago...Bush, Chaney have money invested in the oil companies...there was a mutual stuffing each others pockets with cash prior to Obama...Obama inheritted the economic mess and now he has inheretted the oil obsession and safety avoidance of the drill happy oil companies and conservatives who have no vision of how much better the world would be without this dependency. Give us a break...GOP has done absolutely nothing since Obama has got in the office to help out or put their 2 cents in...whenever a vote for something crucial comes around...they walk...they do not even give any ideas or discuss...that is their motto..ignore it...don't discuss...don't find a mid-way to make all happy...

You cannot deliver goods or drive cars with solar power. The idea is to give up dependancy on FOREIGN oil. The way to do that is to drill in the USA so that the oil we buy gives money to companies HERE rather than fund countries that in many cases are growing terrorists who want to destroy the USA.

How many people do you think a plane powered by solar power might hold? How many boxes of goods could a UPS truck.... hmm powered by green power (whatever that means) deliver.

We could have more clean electric power if we build Nuke power plants, but you cannot drive trucks and cars with electricity.

Liberals push the oil companies farther and farther out to sea then when something like this happens, they say,"see what the conservatives have done." Let them drill in shallow water where they have human access to the well heads. Had this been a shallow water well, it would have been capped long, long ago.

Drill HERE is still the only solution to dependence on Foreign oil.

WOW, you are moonbat crazy. Lets forget about stopping the problem. Let's jump right to the hearings. Look you bone head hearings are not needed. It's really quite simple BP gets the bill and a gigantic fine and is prohibited from EVER drilling offshore again. No need to further waste taxpayer $$ on a hearing. They of course will hold hearings. Not to actually do anything, but rather to create the impression that they are. Politics as usual. Lack of change you can believe in...

Did anyone notice Bobo the Marxist Clown saying anything about the BIG SAFETY AWARD HE gave to BP for that rig?

Hello? Can anyone hear me? Gee... it suddenly got real quiet in here?

Let's try again:

Did anyone notice Bobo the Marxist Clown saying anything about the BIG SAFETY AWARD HE gave to BP for that rig?

Hmmm? Still quiet? Odd?

Yo Suzi, let me guess, your gay, you think people owe you a life, and you voted for Obama, I would imagine your mother and father also have wrnikles and frankly speaking, you will someday also. I hope your losing your tail end filling your gas tank LMAO@you

Readitwell

Yo, that would be "you're gay", I'm an R.N., I work 4 12 hour days, get paid quite well, I certainly did vote for President Obama, love my job and my 2 children, and I live 15 minutes from the hospital in which I work, so I doubt I'll lose my tail filling my gas tank. I'm straight, but I don't see how that is relevant.

LMAO@ your dumb ass!

Yo, Readitwell, you're right, I proudly admit I voted for our president, I work every day as a trauma nurse and nurse practitioner, spent 4 weeks in Port au Prince with Doctors Without Borders, work in a local clinic, sans pay, as a nurse practitioner, I'm not gay, and drive a Prius.

Sorry to disappoint ;)

Whoops! Thought Dumb Ass was talking to me!

Obama couldn't clean up his own rear if he had to. His agenda and cronies is more corrupt than any in the last 20 years as Presidents go.

Are you forgetting the George and Dick show? I can't imagine that our country has ever had a more corrupt or incompetent government. If you republicans think you're going to be back in power any time soon you are in for a rude awakening. We've seen the last of republican rule for a generation.

I am still trying to figure out the connection between voting for ObaMao and the oil in the Gulf and being gay/lesbian. Try as I might I just can't get my head up my backend to see to see Readitwell (a.k.a. Dumb ass) point of view.