Spill Claims not Paid Because BP hasn't Deposited Escrow Money

Ken Fienberg on both CBS and CNN via Crooks and Liars where he talks up the current "success" of the program.


Despite all of Feinberg's happy talk above the Press-Register has revealed this.

BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. -- Ken Feinberg said today he hasn't been able to start writing claims checks because BP PLC has not yet deposited any money into the $20 billion escrow fund it promised to create.

Feinberg, who was appointed last month to administer individual and business claims stemming from the oil spill, held an early morning town hall meeting in Bayou La Batre on Saturday before meeting with the Press-Register editorial board in downtown Mobile.

Feinberg said he is leaning toward giving partial payments to companies and people who are indirectly impacted by the spill -- an outlet store in Foley hurt by the decline in beach traffic, for example.

He also said he would do something for real estate owners to cover a decrease in property value.

BP officials and President Barack Obama agreed last month that the oil company would put $5 billion a year over the next four years into an account to pay for spill-related costs, such as claims, environmental restoration and cleanup costs.

This might just be a bureaucratic snafu, and in the long run may not be a big deal, but when we also look at how BP has treated local Scientist and experts by trying to legally shut them up about what the ecological and environment impacts of the spill has really been...

BP PLC attempted to hire the entire marine sciences department at one Alabama university, according to scientists involved in discussions with the company's lawyers. The university declined because of confidentiality restrictions that the company sought on any research.

add to this the very clear fact that clean up workers in the Gulf are still not using Reperators - (after some were threatened with being fired if they brought their own)



Hugh Kaufman just messaged Crooks and Liars the following, along with a link to the video below:

CNN may not know what they have documented. Will anybody tell them? Will they figure it out? ...

CNN documents, on this documentary airing tonight and tomorrow, that the “air smell’s [sic] bad” (it’s full of carcinogenic and other hazardous material in oil and dispersants). None of the cleanup workers are wearing respirators and nobody is testing the air.

Just like 911 WTC, these workers are gonna be in trouble 5, 10, and 20 years down the line.

Where is EPA and OSHA?

Yeah, good question - they've been MIA for quite some time.

Despite the current Right-Wing Meme that "Obama has been to MEAN to Business, and has scared them to too much change", the fact is that he's actually been pretty toothless in regards to BP.

If anything U.S. Officials have been flacking for BP, not keeping their "Boot on their Neck".

And they're certainly not getting in the way while BP hires Prison Labor - working them for up to 12 Hrs a day, 6 hours a day, in 100 degree plus toxic environment.

Work crews in Grand Isle, Louisiana, still stand out. In a region where nine out of ten residents are white, the cleanup workers are almost exclusively African-American men. The racialized nature of the cleanup is so conspicuous that Ben Jealous, the president of the NAACP, sent a public letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward on July 9, demanding to know why black people were over-represented in "the most physically difficult, lowest paying jobs, with the most significant exposure to toxins."

Hiring prison labor is more than a way for BP to save money while cleaning up the biggest oil spill in history. By tapping into the inmate workforce, the company and its subcontractors get workers who are not only cheap but easily silenced—and they get lucrative tax write-offs in the process.

...

Work release inmates are required to work for up to twelve hours a day, six days a week, sometimes averaging seventy-two hours per week. These are long hours for performing what may arguably be the most toxic job in America. Although the dangers of mixed oil and dispersant exposure are largely unknown, the chemicals in crude oil can damage every system in the body, as well as cell structures and DNA.

Did someone say Slavery was over? Fact is - it's not, particularly if you read all of the 13th Amendment which has an bright bold exception for the "Duly Convicted".

The Oil Spill itself may be stopped for now, but it's long term environmental and health impact remains a giant dark cloud looming just under the surface of our full comprehension, one that is likely to continue taking it's toll - for generations.

Vyan

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Fox Lies: Obama has Failed to Violate Law & Bring Foreign Help for Gulf

This particular lie, again supporting the narrative that Obama hasn't "done enough" to stop the BP Gulf spill, is rather noxious simply because it's just not true.

CARLSON: Meantime, international help has been offered, but not accepted. A lot of people are asking why. It's called the Jones Act, which prohibits international ships from operating in US ports. Our next guest says it's time to waive the outdated law.

[...]

CARLSON: Let's talk about this Jones Act waiver. So basically, what this means is that currently international ships cannot come into US waters, but doesn't this all boil down to a political discussion about unions?

So basically Fox claims that Obama has failed to bring in more help for this Oil Spill because of those damn dirty Unions!  Let's also recall that President Bush also suspended the Davis-Bacon Act after Katrina which protected the wages of workers involved in the cleanup - and we've all seen how such "swift, decisive action" resulted in a completely restored and renewed 5th Ward five years later... Not.

President George Bush has issued a Proclamation suspending the prevailing wage provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act in geographic areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The proclamation suspends section 3142 of U.S. Code title 40, which provides for prevailing wage standards for federal government construction contracts. Under the Act, federal construction contracts in excess of $2,000 must pay workers under those contracts the area "prevailing wage" under a wage determination for the various classes of workers.

Under section 3147, the President has authority to suspend the Act during a national emergency. "An unprecedented amount of Federal assistance will be needed to restore the communities that have been ravaged by the hurricane," the Proclamation notes. "Accordingly, I find that the conditions caused by Hurricane Katrina constitute a 'national emergency' within the meaning of section 3147 of title 40, United States Code."

The suspension applies to contracts to be performed in certain counties of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana parishes; the suspension will remain in place "until otherwise provided."

Yeah, cuz the best way to save the people after Katrina, was the screw the crap out of the people after Katrina and bring in Blackwater/Xe and Halliburton Contractors.

According to Sister Sarah - the Dutch know how to do this because of their experience with Dikes!



Glenn Beck is also on the case and out to say that Obama cares more about the Unions, than the Environment.



Of course the problem with all this is - it just isn't true! Via Media Matters.

National Incident Command: "15 foreign-flagged vessels are involved" in the response.  A June 18 document released by National Incident Commander, Adm. Thad Allen, and a June 15 press release from the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center state: "Currently 15 foreign-flagged vessels are involved in the largest response to an oil spill in U.S. history. No Jones Act waivers have been granted because none of these vessels have required such a waiver to conduct their operations as part of the response in the Gulf of Mexico."

Acting Maritime Administrator: "[T]wenty-three percent of the vessels responding to the oil spill are not U.S.-flag," and they are "not in violation of the Jones Act." David Matsuda, acting Maritime Administrator, stated in June 17 congressional testimony that "[d]uring the current situation in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S.- flag vessels have been used in every situation where U.S. vessels and crew are available. Seventy-seven percent of the vessels providing oil spill response in the Gulf are U.S.- flagged." He added, "Even though twenty-three percent of the vessels responding to the oil spill are not U.S.-flag, none of these are known to be in violation of any U.S. law or regulation. Vessels that do not call upon points in the United States are not in violation of the Jones Act."

Foreign equipment has also been used. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stated during the June 15 edition of Fox & Friends that "foreign entities are operating within the Gulf that help us respond" to the oil spill. Gibbs also stated in a June 10 press briefing that "we are using equipment and vessels from countries like Norway, Canada, the Netherlands. There has not been any problem with this. If there is the need for any type of waiver, that would obviously be granted. But this -- we've not had that problem thus far in the Gulf." Fox News reporter Brian Wilson wrote on June 10 that "[t]he Coast Guard and the Administration are quick to point out that some foreign technology is being used in the current cleanup effort," including containment boom and skimmers.

So Foxes big solution to the Oil Spill problem is to Ignore U.S. Laws - just like they think it's just fine that BP and other agencies regularly Ignore U.S. Safety and Environmental Regulations and that what we really need to do is Invite More Foreign Help in to U.S. Waters. Ok, fine - I guess having a few thousand more illegal aliens running around in the Gulf causing potential Shipping Accidents with the thousands of boats that are already there is just fine, long as they aren't headed for Arizona anytime soon.

Vyan

From the Dkos Comments: Why Doesn't the Obama Administration think they need to waive the Jones Act to allow Foreign Ship to help with a Spill Cleanup? Because they're already exempted from the Jones Act already.

http://www.1800jonesact.com/...
Specifically, 55113 illustrates the exemption of foreign vessels involved in spills and cleanup.

Oops!

Damn

Damn, and with the Cap Blowing OFF today - this will only get worse.

Source

Wherein Foxers Cried: Leave BP Alone!!!

Leave BP Alone!

Media Matters has identified at least 62 recent instances of media conservatives defending BP, 38 of which occurred on the Fox News Channel, Fox Business, the Fox Nation, or the talk shows of Fox News hosts. There were at least 21 criticisms of BP's escrow account as an Obama "shakedown" or "slush fund," 10 attacks on President Obama for supposedly "demonizing" BP, 15 examples of conservatives deriding investigations of the company, 12 claims that environmental regulations are responsible for the spill, and five absurd conspiracy theories about the spill.

And it's not like it's a winning argument for the vast majority of the nation.

According to the latest CNN poll, a huge, huge, huge majority of Americans supports the $20 billion escrow fund that BP agreed to create in order to help pay for the Gulf of Mexico cleanup. 

But that hasn't stopped Fox, oh no sirree.

Yes Damnit, Bush Does Share the Blame for the BP Spill

As shown by Media Matters:(Quoted at Length just to emphasis it wasn't just one single point of failure)

Inspector General reports detail MMS ethics violations during Bush admin.

Inspector General found "a culture where the acceptance of gifts from oil and gas companies were widespread" in Louisiana MMS office under Bush. The Department of Interior's Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigated allegations against MMS employees for conduct that "occurred prior to 2007" in the Lake Charles, Louisiana, district, and "found a culture where the acceptance of gifts from oil and gas companies were widespread throughout that office," and that prior to 2007, "receiving gifts such as hunting trips, fishing trips, and meals from oil companies appears to have been a generally accepted practice by MMS inspectors and supervisors in the Gulf of Mexico region." MMS subsequently "provid[ed] additional ethics training to employees."
IG investigation found email porn, illegal drug use at Louisiana MMS office under Bush. The Lake Charles investigation also found that -- in addition to accepting gifts from oil companies-- MMS employees "admitted to using illegal drugs during their employment at MMS," including a clerical worker who said "he had used crystal methamphetamine the night prior to coming to work at MMS," and an inspector who "admitted that he might have been under the influence of the drug at work after using it the day before." Moreover, while reviewing MMS employees' email accounts "from 2005 to 2009," the OIG found "numerous instances of pornography and other inappropriate material on the e-mail accounts of 13 employees, six of whom have resigned."
IG: Bush MMS employee negotiated a job with drilling company while inspecting their platforms. The IG report states that a Lake Charles MMS employee, who now works for the Island Operating Company, an oil and gas production firm, negotiated a job with the company while inspecting IOC platforms.  
Source told OIG that some Bush MMS inspectors allowed oil and gas companies to fill out their own inspection forms. From the May 24 report on the Lake Charles MMS office:

Another confidential source told investigators that some MMS inspectors had allowed oil and gas production company personnel located on the platform to fill out inspection forms. The forms would then be completed or signed by the inspector and turned in for review. According to the source, operating company personnel completed the inspection forms using pencils, and MMS inspectors would write on top of the pencil in ink and turn in the completed form.
We reviewed a total of 556 files to look for any alteration of pencil and ink markings, notations, or signatures. We found a small number with pencil and ink variations; however, we could not discern if any fraudulent alterations were present on these forms.

Inspector General: "Culture of ethical failure" at Colorado MMS office under Bush. The Office of Inspector General also issued a report on September 9, 2008, stating that several investigations uncovered a "culture of ethical failure" at the Lakewood, Colorado, MMS office. The report stated that "between 2002 and 2006, nearly 1/3 of the entire RIK [Royalties In Kind] staff socialized with, and received a wide array of gifts and gratuities from, oil and gas companies with whom RIK was conducting official business." In addition, the investigation found a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity in the RIK program - both within the program... and in consort with industry. Internally, several staff admitted to illegal drug use as well as illicit sexual encounters." The report further stated:

Our investigation revealed that many RIK employees simply felt that federal government ethics standards and DOI policies were not applicable to them because of their "unique" role in MMS. When interviewed, many RIK employees said they felt that in order to effectively perform their official duties, they needed to interact in social settings with industry representatives to obtain "market intelligence." Some felt their free attendance at industry functions was an absolute necessity given that it was industry's practice to conduct business over lunch, dinner, and golf outings.
One RIK employee opined that because RIK regularly paid a major producer to transport oil, it was perfectly appropriate for him to attend a "treasure hunt" in the desert with all expenses paid by the producer. Another RIK employee went so far as to say that RIK's goal was to be "part of industry."

In September 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced plans to end the royalty-in-kind program, which collected royalties in oil and gas, rather than cash.

Under Bush, MMS relaxed oversight of drilling, ignored safety warnings, downplayed oil spill concerns

Bush MMS adopted regulation stating drillers are "in the best position to determine the environmental effects of its proposed activity." The Washington Post reported on May 25 that the actions taken by MMS, "are shaped in part by a 2005 regulation it adopted that assumes oil and gas companies can best evaluate the environmental effects of their operations." The article stated that "[t]he rule governing which information the MMS should receive and review before signing off on drilling plans states: 'The lessee or operator is in the best position to determine the environmental effects of its proposed activity based on whether the operation is routine or non-routine.' " Rolling Stone magazine reported that these "new rules pre-qualified deep-sea drillers" to receive ... an exemption from environmental review," even though such exemptions were "originally intended to prevent minor projects, like outhouses on hiking trails, from being tied up in red tape."

In April 2008, Bush MMS loosened rules requiring blowout plan. The Associated Press reported on May 5 that a "rule change two years ago by the federal agency that regulates offshore oil rigs allowed BP to avoid filing a plan specifically for handling a major spill from an uncontrolled blowout at its Deepwater Horizon project." AP further reported: "The MMS rule change, made in April 2008, says that Gulf rig operators are required to file a blowout scenario only if one of five conditions applies. For example, an operator must provide a blowout scenario when it proposes to install a 'surface facility' in water deeper than 1,312 feet. While Deepwater Horizon was operating almost 5,000 feet below the surface, [BP spokesman William] Salvin said the project did not meet the definition of a surface facility. The MMS official agreed."

And just to cap it off, this all started at the very beginning of the Bush Administration when in May of 2001 an executive order was issued short-cutting the MMS permits approval process to just 30 days. Via the New York Times

The 2000s....ushered in an era of aggressive, government-backed offshore oil production. In May 2001, Bush, acting on recommendations from the oil industry, signed an executive order that required federal agencies to expedite permits for energy projects and paved the way for greater domestic oil exploration. 

Yes, you could argue that the Obama administration had their finger on the switch at the time of the DW Horizon disaster and they too share some of the blame - but you have to recognize that the MMS had been specifically disabled from properly doing their job - by the Bush Administration, and what we really need to blame Obama for is not FIXING THAT FAILURE FAST ENOUGH to prevent this disaster from occurring.

No matter how many times Republican Pundit argue that anyone who says Bush shares some of the blame for just "scapegoating" or that mentioning these facts are somehow "ridiculous and offensive" as Dana Perino has done, let's just go one step further and remind them that when they were in power they tried to blame 9-11  on Bill Clinton, and further claimed that No Terrorist Attacks Occurred Under George Bush.



The facts do not deflect all blame from President Obama - not hardly. But this reflexive need to protect and deflect blame from irresponsible corporations like BP, Enron, KBR, Goldman Sachs and Blackwater, and to burnish the tarnished legacy of George W. Bush in denial of all facts and reality is practically pathological. 

Vyan

Brooks Equates $20B Restitution Fund w/ War Crimes of Cheney

Wherein New York Times Columnist David Brooks backs up Joe Barton on the "Shakedown" thing.

Brooks: We're a nation of laws, we have laws to protect the unpopular even those who do bad things. We have a set of laws. What President Obama did when he very publicly and very brutally strong-armed BP was that he went around these laws. Well, just imagine if Dick Cheney did it to somebody he didn't like?

I'm not worried about what'll happen with the money, I'm worried about the erosion of the rule of law, the President using the vast powers of the government to strong-arm a company -not matter how unpopular, no matter how badly they may have behaved.

So let me get this perfectly straight, the idea here is that Obama circumvented the rule of law by getting BP to pay for the damage that they caused without first taking them to court? They struck, essentially a "gentlemen's agreement" - the same thing that might happen outside of a courtroom in order to defer or end litigation to accomplish the same goal, which is Restore the people of the Gulf.

Shields nails it (Obama Derangement Syndrome):

Shields: What does Barton do, he takes BP and identifies them with the Republican Party. He puts a Republican face on BP. It's almost an inclination to Blame America First, these people are so consumed with attacking President Obama, they're going to take the side of BP!?

The main objection, and you can see it here in this clip with Bill O'Reilly Grilling Michele Bachman, is that they Obama used the threat of prosecution in order to "extort" money from BP. The thing is this is what just about every prosecutor in the country does when they arrange for a plea bargain for a lesser charge when the accused agrees to admit their guilt and make reasonable restitution.



Even Bill O'Reilly gets it:

O'Reilly: I want Obama to strong-arm these guys, it's one of the best things he's done in this whole thing!

Amen to that.

But when comparing to the Bush Administration, there is not a "Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda" to this - because the Bush Administration actually did the exact same thing with various corporations nearly 100 times.

"Last month, prosecutors and the company reached an unusual deferred prosecution agreement, under which Bristol-Myers has two years to clean up its act and prove it can operate lawfully. If it stays clean, it won't face criminal charges. Also under the terms of the agreement, Bristol-Myers made a $300 million payment to a shareholder-restitution fund and Mr. Dolan (CEO of Bristol-Myers) gave up the chairman's post to Mr. Robinson."

...

...will (not)criminally prosecute Chevron Corporation and its subsidiaries
(collectively, "CHEVRON") for any crimes related to its purchases of Iraqi oil under the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program from in or about mid-2000 up to and including in or about March 2003, that involved the payment by third parties of secret illegal surcharges to the former Government of Iraq, including asset forth in Exhibit A. which is incorporated by reference herein.
..........
It is the intent of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern
District of New York to seek the transfer of $20,000,000 of these funds to the Development Fund of Iraq (sanctioned on May 21, 2003, by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483) to be used as restitution to the people of Iraq asthe intended beneficiaries of the proceeds of the sale of all Iraqi oil made pursuant to the United Nations 011-for-Food Program.

Contrast all of this with Dick Cheney, because there is no "IF" when it comes to his involvement in Circumventing the Rule of Law against people who may - MAY - have done bad things....



Dick Cheney, with his surrogates Liz Cheney and Marc Theissen who continue to this day to argue that it's inappropriate to apply the Rules of War including the Geneva Conventions to Foreign Enemy combatants, who continue to this day to argue that Waterboarding isn't Torture - even though America has prosecuted people for it for over 100 years, going all the way back to the Spanish-American War.

Comparing Obama getting BP to pay for the cleanup of the Gulf and people who've been impacted by the spill is NOTHING compared to the Presidential Overreach and gross bumrushing of the Rule of Law that the Bush Administration - especially Dick (Halliburton) Cheney - perpetrated.

Whether it was illegal rendition, illegal wiretaps, kidnapping, torture, creating an assassination squad - practically nothing stopped Dick Cheney from completely "Circumventing the Rule Of Law" on a regular basis.


Vyan

Sen. Whitehouse EXPLODES! "America . . must never be on it's knees before Corporate Power"!

Full Transcript

This American government of ours should never, never be on its knees before corporate power, no matter how strong. It should never be in the thrall of corporate wealth no matter how vast.

This American government of ours should never give the American citizen reason to question whose interests are being served. Never.

In this complex world of ours, Mr. President, government must protect us in remote and specialized precincts in the economy. In those remote precincts, few people are watching, but big money is made.

We must be able to trust our government, both in plain view in front of us, and in corners far from sight, to be serving always the public interest, not doing the secret bidding of special interests; of corporate interests, because that's where the big money is at stake.

Have we now learned, have we now finally learned, from the financial melt-down and the Gulf disaster, the price, the terrible price, of all those quietly cut corners?

Have we now learned what price must be paid when the stealthy tentacles of corporate influence are allowed to reach into and capture our agencies of government?

I pray, let us have learned this; let us have learned that lesson. I sincerely pray we have learned our lesson, and that this will never happen again. But let's not just pray.

Where the Slick Is Going...

If this Oil Spill isn't capped before it reaches the Gulf's Loop Current - Computer Model Simulations indicate that it will coat all of the coasts of Florida and the entire Eastern Seaboard, finally pooling in the Mid-Atlantic. Simply Horrible.

Vyan

Biden Blasts Barton

BIDEN: There’s an entire way of life in jeopardy. This is just not about jobs. This is just not about whether or not the waterfowl is polluted and you can’t — this is an entire way of life that’s in jeopardy. And to sit there and say that we’re being — in effect, as I understood the statement — that he was ashamed we’re being tough on an oil company who caused the problem — I mean, I — look, I just think that it’s pretty important to the people of Louisiana all the way through Florida and even in his home state of Texas that people disassociate themselves from that.
That’s not the role — there’s no shakedown. It’s insisting on responsible conduct and a responsible response to something they caused. And I find it outrageous to suggest that if, in fact, we insisted that BP demonstrate their preparedness, to put aside billions of dollars — in this case, $20 billion — to take care of the immediate needs of people who are drowning — these guys don’t have deep pockets. The guy who runs the local marina, the guy who has one shrimping boat, the guy who has one small business — he can’t afford to lose $10,000, $12,000, $15,000, $30,000 a month. [...]
What is wrong with that? How is that a shakedown? I mean, I just — I don’t know, I find it pretty astounding, the comment.

It may be astounding, but it really shouldn't be surprising - it was part of a Republican House Talking Point from the previous day that the agreement made between the White House and BP was a "Shakedown". The kind that the Bush Administration implemented between 85 and 97 Times when it choose to "Defer Prosecution" of a Corporation in lieu of cash settlement.

We have to realize that Joe Barton is a former Oil Executive, one who worked for Atlantic Richfield, which is now ARCO and owned by BP. Just like Barton is currently Owned by BP. Corporate Shills and Lackeys are what these people are. This is where they're leading the Tea Party, right over the cliff.

The GOP Doesn't want a Shakedown of BP, They Want a Shakedown of Tax-Payers - as pointed out by Mike Papantonio.

Joe Barton's Corporatist Wingnut Fans, thinks he had a "Point"

People may want to argue that Joe Barton's outburst expressing sympathy and an apology to BP for being asked, and agreeing, to Pay for all the Shit they Fucked UP was just a one time, one person event. Not really.

– PAT BUCHANAN: “Barton made a very courageous statement in my judgment. … To have anyone stand up and even indirectly defend [BP] and say that they were a victim of a shakedown shows some political courage.”

– INGRAHAM: “I think Joe Barton, before he apologized, had a legitimate point.”

– NAPOLITANO: “That is a classic shakedown. The threat to do something that you don’t have the authority to do. ”

– KILMEADE: “One Congressman calling the BP compsensation fund a ’shakedown,’ but does he have a point?”

– GINGRICH: “The president is directly engaged in extorting money from a company.”

– VARNEY: “It is Hugo Chavez-like, is it not? To sieze a private company’s assets.”

Yeah, it's not like any politician has ever asked a private company for money.

The thing these people seemed uniformly not to understand is that this private company has functionally destroyed the assets and livelihood of nearly every other private company in the region. And they have to be asked, what makes BP so special while all the assets of the Hotels, Resorts, Restaurants, Fishermen and Tour Boats in the area, not to mention the health and safety of their employees and customers - are supposed completely worthless?

Why don't all those other private companies count? Is it because their owned, operated and frequented by "small people"? Obama isn't Taking this money, BP is Giving it Back to those whom they have already TAKEN from.

Small People who it's clear are on Michele Bachman's mind too.

“They have to lift the liability cap,” said Bachmann. “But if I was the head of BP, I would let the signal get out there — ‘We’re not going to be chumps, and we’re not going to be fleeced.’ And they shouldn’t be. They shouldn’t have to be fleeced and make chumps to have to pay for perpetual unemployment and all the rest — they’ve got to be legitimate claims.

“The other thing we have to remember is that Obama loves to make evil whatever company it is that he wants to get more power from. He makes them evil, and what we’ve got to ask ourselves is: Do we really want to be paying $9 for a gallon of gas? Because that could be the final result of this.”

Yeah, like when we were paying $5 for gas just a couple years ago - that was all Obama's doing, not the speculators on the derivatives market trying to cash in.

Obama did not make mortgage companies put out time-bomb loans, he did not make financial companies trade in bogus securities and derivatives designed to fail, he did not make health insurance companies take people's premiums then make up bogus reasons not to pay for their care and he DID NOT Spill this Oil in the Gulf.

These companies did all this Evil Shit - themselves.

This argument, this right here, is the dividing line between the wingnut Tea Bagging Feudal Corporate Serfs, and the sane people in this country. It's not about punishing the wealthy out of spite or jealousy simply for being successful, it's about making them responsible for their failures, which as that company grows larger and larger can clearly be catastrophic.

The Tea Party, knowingly or not, are nothing more than shills and mouth pieces for their corporate overlords, channeled through Right-Wing Radio and Saudi Oil Owned Fox News. Maybe looking at what BP has done to the Gulf, and listening to these little weasels bow and crawl before their feet, will help make it obvious just who the Right-Wing/Tea Party Masters are... or maybe it's already too late for them to be deprogrammed into functionally hating themselves.

Only time and November will tell.

Vyan

Rep Joe Barton - Apologizes to BP for White House "Slushfund Shakedown"

This almost too douchey to be believed, at the beginning of today's BP hearings Rep Joe Barton (R-TX) actually apologizes to BP for having to pay for the damage - THEY CAUSED! Un-fracking-real.

I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown. In this case, a $20 billion shakedown.

In a rare direct response Press Secretary Gibbs shot back...

"What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction. Congressman Barton may think that a fund to compensate these Americans is a 'tragedy', but most Americans know that the real tragedy is what the men and women of the Gulf Coast are going through right now. Members from both parties should repudiate his comments."

Dead Sperm Whale Found in Gulf

Via Fox News Tampa

GULF OF MEXICO - Scientists have spotted a dead sperm whale in the Gulf of Mexico, and are doing tests to see if the oil spill had anything to do with its death.

The whale was found floating 77 miles due south of the Deepwater Horizon spill site.

It is the first dead whale spotted since BP's rig exploded on April 20.

The whale was not found in oiled waters, but scientists can't yet say where or how it died.

They say its condition suggests it has been dead for several days to more than a week, and they are taking samples from it to glean information on how and where it died.

,,,

They live at depth in areas where subsurface dispersants and oil are present, and feed on deepwater squid, which may also be impacted by the oil and dispersants.

The sperm whales are an endangered species, and some scientists say that just a few sperm whale deaths could endanger the long-term survival of the Gulf's entire native sperm whale population.

Obama Gets BP to Create $20B Escrow Fund for Gulf Victims

Less than 24 Hours after President Obama's first Oval Office Address - he delivers on one of the primary promises he made. via Huffpo.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senior administration officials tell The Associated Press that BP has agreed to finance a $20 billion fund to pay the claims of people whose jobs and way of life have been damaged by the devastating Gulf Coast oil spill.

The independent fund will be led by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw payments to families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

It wasn't a spectacular speech, but it seems to have begun to accomplish what it needed to accomplish.



Look, I know that many people are upset that various MSNBCC hosts criticized Obama's address so heavily - but we all have to admit this is good news. It accomplishes a large part of what Congress had been attempting to do for weeks with modifying the Oil Spill Liability Cap.

I think this shows, maybe, that BP is finally starting to get the message after having all the other heads of Big Oil do donuts over them with the bus in front of Capital Hill.

This country, big slow giant boat that it is, just might be turning a corner - and corporations might start to realize they have responsibilities to their customers and workers, not just their shareholders.

Maybe, just maybe, BP might finally begin to realize that you can't buy good publicity by trying to bribe the media, you do it be actually doing good things for the public, rather than nickle and dimeing them to death on damage claims.

We have to remember just what Obama is up against, as the Head of the Republican Party - Rush Limbaugh - complains that there isn't any FEDERAL MONEY included in the Escrow Account...



Meanwhile the Senate just today pretty much tabled the latest Unemployment Benefits Extention. (Why? He asks... silly rabbit because Governmentin' is Hard Work)

Score one for the O-Man, now we move toward getting some kind of serious Green Energy Program going to ensure this can never happen again.

Vyan

Obama is not Dumbledore!

We'd all like to wish that Obama was Dumbledore and could solve this with a wand flourish and a loud - Expelliarmus Shout, but that's not the case.

If we want to avoid putting this spill fix and clean up on the public dime as John Beohner suggested (and has already walked back) we have to recognize some practical realities.

The US Military does not possess a Fleet of Oil Tankers or Fishing/Skimming Vessels. The Ships needed to clean the oil from the water have to come from private companies. Either BP is going to pay for it and hire those ships as sub-contractors, or the government will. The problem is if the government takes this over, exactly how long will it take to get the funds appropriated with people like Jim Bunning in the Senate running around saying - "But it has to be PAID FOR"?

Tax payers are not footing the bill for this. Not. Gonna. Happen. Unfortunately if BP is passing out the checks, then BP Calls the Shots! It's a total Catch-22.

It may make Obama "look weak", but really the reality is that International Corporations have become This strong. We saw it during the Housing Crisis and Bank Bailouts and we're seeing it now. These people are modern day King's, with their own private armies of thugs and serfs to do their bidding. Governments are just an inconvenience to them, which they can simply buy off in time.

I think what needs to happen is that we need to allow the EPA and OSHA to contract out the cleanup and skimming crews and then directly BILL BP for the costs. Don't let BP decide how things should be cleaned up, where, or what protective gear should be used since - they're LIABLE for it all, and it's in their corporate interest, and their share-holders interests to minimize and limit their liability as much as possible.



Right now a mechanism to actually TAKE THIS AWAY FROM BP and "Commandeer their ships" as Michele Bachmann insanely suggested - doesn't really exist without declaring Martial Law and seizing the assets of BP and all the other ships involved - we'd have to have the Coast Guard and Navy become PIRATES in international waters. And after that the really bad stuff happens, we'd have to start placing the workers into Forced Labor without compensation. Nobody wants to see anything like that happen.

This isn't Obama's problem to fix, not all by himself. He doesn't have that kind of authority over private companies, but Congress could create it with some amendments to the Clean Water Act to allow this kind of Ad Hoc Clean-Up Crew Contracting and Billing to ensure BP stays on the hook, but not in the driver's seat.

BP Blocks Media Access to Cleanup Workers

Despite the announcement two day ago by BP Exec Doug Suttles that "No one is to prevent the media from access" -

Recent media reports have suggested that individuals involved in the cleanup operation have been prohibited from speaking to the media, and this is simply untrue. BP fully supports and defends all individuals rights to share their personal thoughts and experiences with journalists if they so choose.

BP has not and will not prevent anyone working in the cleanup operation from sharing his or her own experiences or opinions.

Really Now?

Then why did BP Security - on a Public Beach - respond this way to a reporter?

OFFICIAL 1: Every single security guard here has given the instructions to every single news crew that you can be outside of 100 yards of the workers or along the boom.

WALKER: And who’s saying that? Because no one can tell me that, unless you’re the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, you’re the Coast Guard, or you’re the military, can you tell me where to go on this public beach.

OFFICIAL 1: I can tell you where to go because I’m employed to keep this beach safe. And right now, those are my instructions. I’d like to keep the workers safe as well.

WALKER: I’m going to try to talk to the worker under the tent. Can I do that?

OFFICIAL 1: No, no.

WALKER: He’s on break.

OFFICIAL 1: You are not allowed to interview any workers.

WALKER: The workers can talk to the media, according to the BP CEO two days ago. Still hasn’t trickled down to you all?

OFFICIAL 2: We already heard that one too.

WALKER: What do you mean you’ve “heard that one”? It’s true.

OFFICIAL 1: The e-mail did not explicitly give you permission to do that.

Can you believe the NERVE of these Lying Rat-Bastard Fucker-heads?

From DAY-ONE BP has been Bullshitting Us about how much oil was coming out of the well, about how safe the dispersant Corexit 9500, they've used and manipulated the Coast Guard to keep the Press and even NOAA away from the Underwater Death Plumes.

The sad part is that there isn't a lot the local or federal authorities can do. Even after Sherrif's finally escorted these reporters over to the workers They refused to Talk (because they most likely knew there would be reprisals) Legally their silence can be contractually maintained and mandated.

Work and Shut Your Mouth - Or Starve!

American Freedom in operation.

Update 1 This isn't the first time this has happened as shown by ABC News. Via Thinkprogress. This report does a good job of pointing out how the workers are essentially terrified of BP, trapped in a situation where their normal jobs are gone - and this is all they have left. It's like a Slave Labor Force. Also note in this video - NO RESPIRATORS!

ABC News reporter Matt Gutman “was hassled by the manager of a nearby crew, asking Gutman why he was on the beach.” Gutman captured the interaction on video, and said “several people” had asked him “not to talk to any of the workers here”:

Here's another example with Alabama Firefighters complaining that BP is keeping them from HELPING, when they actually have the training to do this job.



Update 2 I've been meaning to write this as a separate diary, but I think making this point here - since this is now Rec'd will probably have more impact. Obama is not Dumbledore!.

We'd all like to wish that Obama was Dumbledore and could solve this with a wand flourish and a loud - Expelliarmus Shout, but that's not the case.

If we want to avoid putting this spill fix and clean up on the public dime as John Beohner suggested (and has already walked back) we have to recognize some practical realities.

The US Military does not possess a Fleet of Oil Tankers or Fishing/Skimming Vessels. The Ships needed to clean the oil from the water have to come from private companies. Either BP is going to pay for it and hire those ships as sub-contractors, or the government will. The problem is if the government takes this over, exactly how long will it take to get the funds appropriated with people like Jim Bunning in the Senate running around saying - "But it has to be PAID FOR"?

Tax payers are not footing the bill for this. Not. Gonna. Happen. Unfortunately if BP is passing out the checks, then BP Calls the Shots! It's a total Catch-22.

It may make Obama "look weak", but really the reality is that International Corporations have become This strong. We saw it during the Housing Crisis and Bank Bailouts and we're seeing it now. These people are modern day King's, with their own private armies of thugs and serfs to do their bidding. Governments are just an inconvenience to them, which they can simply buy off in time.

I think what needs to happen is that we need to allow the EPA and OSHA to contract out the cleanup and skimming crews and then directly BILL BP for the costs. Don't let BP decide how things should be cleaned up, where, or what protective gear should be used since - they're LIABLE for it all, and it's in their corporate interest, and their share-holders interests to minimize and limit their liability as much as possible.



Right now a mechanism to actually TAKE THIS AWAY FROM BP and "Commandeer their ships" as Michele Bachmann insanely suggested - doesn't really exist without declaring Martial Law and seizing the assets of BP and all the other ships involved - we'd have to have the Coast Guard and Navy become PIRATES in international waters. And after that the really bad stuff happens, we'd have to start placing the workers into Forced Labor without compensation. Nobody wants to see anything like that happen.

This isn't Obama's problem to fix, not all by himself. He doesn't have that kind of authority over private companies, but Congress could create it with some amendments to the Clean Water Act to allow this kind of Ad Hoc Clean-Up Crew Contracting and Billing to ensure BP stays on the hook, but not in the driver's seat.

Vyan

Liz Cheney is from Mars!!

Ok, maybe not Mars - some other world, like Titan or maybe Wyoming, either way she's not from This Planet.



After Liz directly Slams Dailykos for spreading a rumor that "George Bush broke up Al and Tipper" (a claim that can be easily disproven as bogus and inane with a simple search) - the fireworks really start:

Huff vs Liz - Round One: DING!

HUFFINGTON: Right here, we have the poster child of Bush-Cheney crony capitalism. Halliburton involved in this, and we haven’t said about that. They after all were responsible for cementing the well. Here’s Halliburton, after it defrauded the American taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars –

CHENEY: Arianna, I don’t know what planet you live on, but that’s not –

HUFFINGTON: — it’s involved again. I’m living on this planet. ... Halliburton was involved in this. How can you say it is not?

TAPPER: Well, Halliburton was cementing the pipe.

HUFFINGTON: How can you say Halliburton has no relationship?

CHENEY: Her assertion that Halliburton defrauded the U.S. government –

HUFFINGTON: It did. It did.

CHENEY: It was Bush-Cheney cronyism is the left talking point –

HUFFINGTON: It was — hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraq.

CHENEY: Arianna, is absolutely not true. It is absolutely not true.

Despite Liz Cheney's extra-terrestrial flights, the Wall Street Journal has this to say about Halliburton's involvment in the BP Disaster.

An oil-drilling procedure called cementing is coming under scrutiny as a possible cause of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico that has led to one of the biggest oil spills in U.S. history, drilling experts said Thursday. [...]

The scrutiny on cementing will focus attention on Halliburton Co., the oilfield-services firm that was handling the cementing process on the rig, which burned and sank last week. The disaster, which killed 11, has left a gusher of oil streaming into the Gulf from a mile under the surface. ... According to Transocean Ltd., the operator of the drilling rig, Halliburton had finished cementing the 18,000-foot well shortly before the explosion.

The other issue with Ms. Cheney objects to is the assertion that Halliburton "Defrauded the Government" in Iraq. Well to be far more fair to Ms. Cheney than she would certainly be with Arriana or Dailykos - she's half right. It wasn't just Halliburton that defrauded the government, it was also Halliburton's Subsidiary KBR.

From Thinkprogress.

Second of all, Halliburton became notorious for its malfeasance in Iraq. It allegedly tried to cover up the gang rape of one of its contractors, knowingly exposed U.S. troops to deadly toxins, and ignored warnings of unsafe electrical wiring that led to the death of U.S. soldiers. In 2007, federal auditors told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that the government had wasted $10 billion on “overpriced contracts or undocumented costs.” Of that amount, $2.7 billion was charged by Halliburton.

See, Arriana was wrong there - she only said Halliburton defrauded the government for "hundreds of millions" when in fact - It Was $BILLIONS!

Now technically Halliburton began selling off it's minority shares in KBR in 2006 and some of the more eggregious actions by KBR didn't occur until after that - but the report from the House Auditors, wasn't directed at only KBR, it was Halliburton too.

The larger claim, that this explosion was the result of corporate malfeasance coupled with regulator paralysis - is also true. via - ahem - Huffpo

Both companies failed to provide a competent crew, failed to properly supervise its employees and failed to provide Rushto with a safe place to work, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The lawsuit also names oil-services giant Halliburton as a defendant, claiming that the company "prior to the explosion, was engaged in cementing operations of the well and well cap and, upon information and belief, improperly and negligently performed these duties, which was a cause of the explosion."

Yeah, and who was doing the cementing again?

Must have been Martians.

For the record I have no knowledge or comments about George Bush being involved in Tipper and Al's breakup - other than if Liz Cheney wants us to think she actually read Dailykos I've got this drilling platform off the coast of Louisiana to sell, that's available for Absolute Rock Bottom prices...

Vyan

Oil Worker Filled out his Will on Deepwater Horizon - because of Safety Concerns

Via Crooks and Liars.

At least one of the eleven men that died in the initial explosion that triggered a disaster in the Gulf expressed concerns about safety practices on the oil rig. Transocean toolpusher Jason Anderson told his wife, Shelly, that he was concerned about BP's safety practices on the rig. Anderson was so worried about an accident that he spent his last trip home getting his affairs in order.

"Everything seemed to be pressing to Jason about getting things in order. In case something happened. Teaching me how to do certain things on the motor home so that I could go and do things with the kids, make sure that I knew how to do everything," an emotional Shelly Anderson told NBC's Lisa Myers.

Her husband drew up a will and talked about his hopes for their daughter and son.The last few times Jason called her from the rig he was was clearly worried.

"They were getting pressure from someplace higher up to do things that maybe weren't exactly the way Jason thought that they should be," she said. "It was a safety issue."

"Jason's father told us Jason was concerned that BP, which controlled the rig, kept wanting to stray from procedures to finish the well faster, which Jason considered unsafe," Myers reported.

The kicker on this is that after the CEO of TransOcean came into her living room promising to "Take Care of them" afer the tragedy that killed her husband - TransOcean almost immediately turned around and began to file papers to limit their liability in the spill.

Am I alone in hoping that this family has a long and serious conversation with Eric Holder's investigator in the coming days?

Vyan

We Dumped Their Tea - They Retaliated with Oil!

It's been a long time since that fateful night in Boston when in protest of the Tea Act, a set of Americans committed a Terrorist act of vandalism by dumping boxes of Tea from the British East India Company into the Ocean.

Since Teh Book Learnin' isn't really high on their agenda, the modern day self-titled Tea Party with their anti-Government, Anti-Tax rhetoric have repeatedly failed to realize that the heart of the original Boston protest - was a Corporate Tax Cut that would have undermined local businesses.

The North ministry's solution was the Tea Act, which received the assent of King George on May 10, 1773.[26] This act restored the East India Company's full refund on the 25% duty for importing tea into Britain, and also permitted the company, for the first time, to export tea to the colonies on its own account.

Even with the Townshend duty in effect, the Tea Act would allow the East India Company to sell tea more cheaply than before, undercutting the prices offered by smugglers.

And one wonders just how they might ultimately react to the British Oil Attack?
The Tea Party has argued for "Personal Responsibility" - yet they've argued against being required to Take Personal Responsibility by paying for your own health care rather than gambling on the public dime. They apparently think being a selfish, lazy, irresponsible prick who cuts their own costs by going without health care voluntarily and then makes everyone else pay the tab when they get hit by a truck - is a "Right". That's "Liberty" and "Freedom".

Even though the final Health Care Bill didn't have Medicare for All, and it didn't have a Public Option, they still call it a "Government Take-Over" when every insurer involved will be a private company - only those companies won't be able to CHEAT their customers, by taking their premiums and then refusing to pay for their coverage via rescission and pre-existing condition clauses. Scamming people with bogus claim denials while taking their money and leaving them destitute with Medial Bills piling up is apparently another aspect of "Liberty and Freedom in Tea Party-ville" as well.

But now... now.. all of a sudden they and their Congressional Cohorts are Clamoring for Government Intervention and a Government Take-OVer.

BACHMANN: The administration, they were hands off. They didn’t do anything. Where were the boats that could have been commandeered by the government to be sent into this region to deal with that oil plume as it was coming up in the water and destroying marine life? Nowhere to be found. Why? The administration was hands off on this policy.

Why were they "hands off" on this policy? Well, beside the fact that the Navy itself IS a major polluter and hasn't shown much ability to clean their own back yard, let along Louisiana, maybe they didn't support THIS kind of "Public Option" either and thought this was BP's Responsibility - not the American Tax Payer's. Taking away the boats of Fishermen, who've already lost their livelihood due to the spill, rather than letting them earn money helping clean it up - is particularly stupid.

I would agree with Bachmann only in one small respect, BP should be providing the funding, but in no respects should they be calling the shots on the cleanup. It's like expecting a murderer to run the CSI investigation, they have every incentive to Cover Up not Clean up. The clean up should be on BP's dime, but not under their command. Maybe Bachmann could be more useful if she did some Congress-in' and came up with a way for EPA and OSHA to hire clean up workers directly as independent contractors - handling their supervision, while ensuring their safety - then bill BP for the costs after the fact.

Of course we're as likely to hear that suggestion as we are of hearing the other portions of the Tea Party who don't want the government to commandeer all the boats to even admit that there is a problem with Oil in the Gulf. In Alabama, they seem to think Tar Balls are the New Slinky. Fun for All the Girls and Boys.



All of these events are linked. From the Housing Market Boom and Bust, to the Financial Crisis, the Health Care Crisis, and now the BP Oil Spill - all of these can be traced to Gross Corporate Malfeasance. These are not Accidents, these are all the result of a bunch of corporate FATCATS Reckless Driving down the roads of our society and paying off the Cops, Regulators and Legislators to let them keep going faster and faster and faster... then comes the CRASh!

It's time we pulled these guys over on the Hell Awaits turn pike, because they're driving all the rest of us right off the road and into the ditch.

Democracy will survive this. Freedom will survive. Capitalism will survive. But only if we start seriously realize that it's out of control irresponsible corporations - like BP, Goldman, AIG, Enron, Tyco, Haliibuton, KBR & Blackwater/Xe - who give good companies a bad name, and are the biggest danger to all the above, not the government. At worst, Government can become their accomplices - at it's best it may be the last (and only) resort in protecting us all.

If we put things in these terms, will the Tea Partiers actually get it?

I actually had a face to face conversation with a Rand Paul Supporting avowed Tea Partier the other day - he got it. If Bachmann, in her own twisted way, is now saying that sometimes the Government HAS to intervene, because the corporations and the "Mystical Magical Market" simply can't do it on their own - maybe there's hope for them yet.

Maybe, if they can scrape off some of teh crazy.

Vyan