James Carville Slams Oil Response

[ASUG8]

SCBH:

CNN's online writing and scrawl on TV at lunch left the interpretation of "Coast Guard authorization" open to interpretation a bit. It kind of implied that they had to sign off on the decision for BP to take action.

BP certainly isn't inspiring any positive vibes about being willing to do the right thing. They appear to be making it look like they're only concerned about fixing the problem, but they may very well have been attempting to preserve their investment for as long as possible. With the BP issue and the Valdez I have zero faith in the oil industry to do the right thing first.

I think for better or worse, Obama in his press conference pretty much says that this has been the Fed's call from day 1:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/27/ob ... er/?hpt=T1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Obama, speaking at a White House news conference, says BP is operating under government supervision and must consult administration before undertaking any measures.

"Those who think we were slow" in responding to the Gulf oil spill "don't know the facts," the president says.
Obama says the federal government has been involved in decision-making since Day One of the crisis: "This notion that somehow the federal government is sitting on the sideline for the last three or four or five weeks, we've just been letting BP make a whole bunch of decisions, is simply not true."

The president asserts that if "BP's contractors are not moving as nimbly or effectively as they need to be, then it is already the power of the federal government to redirect those resources."

[GannonFan]

I think for better or worse, Obama in his press conference pretty much says that this has been the Fed's call from day 1:

I don't think there really is any doubt about that - people may think otherwise, but the Feds have had full control of this thing from the time it happened. The question is whether they did anything with that control (i.e. directed BP) or just nodded their head at anything BP said. Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of the latter for the past month or so.

[Skjellyfetti]

I agree that it appears they have deferred too much to BP to get the spill stopped.

But... BP is much better equipped to stop the oil spill than anyone else. I think the failure with Obama and the federal government was to assume that BP would act fast to stop the leaking oil... but, instead they tried every method they could think of to salvage the oil rig.

[ASUG8]

I think for better or worse, Obama in his press conference pretty much says that this has been the Fed's call from day 1:

I don't think there really is any doubt about that - people may think otherwise, but the Feds have had full control of this thing from the time it happened. The question is whether they did anything with that control (i.e. directed BP) or just nodded their head at anything BP said. Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of the latter for the past month or so.

The reason I posted it was because if I recall there was some legislation put in place post-Valdez that put the oil companies in charge of the cleanup. The assumption of control by the government in this case seemed to be contrary to that legislation.

[GannonFan]

I agree that it appears they have deferred too much to BP to get the spill stopped.

But... BP is much better equipped to stop the oil spill than anyone else. I think the failure with Obama and the federal government was to assume that BP would act fast to stop the leaking oil... but, instead they tried every method they could think of to salvage the oil rig.

I don't think it's that - why would BP not want to plug the leak? Why is it beneficial to them for the leak to continue? I think BP's a really crappy company with an unparalled awful history of safety and environmental negligence, but it does them no good to just let the leak continue.

But I agree that the Feds had to let BP pretty much lead them along - the Feds have no experience, expertise, or other options in terms of dealing with this. I think the problem Obama's administration has had here is that while they made it a point to go out of their way to remind people that BP is at fault and they will pay for this, people really, first and foremost, wanted the leak plugged. Busying ourselves with hearings and legislation on how to pay for future catastrophes just looks feeble when done alongside video of a leak that just goes on and on for months. People don't think BP or the Feds are doing enough to plug the leak, and neither have done a good job to convince people they are.

[Skjellyfetti]

I don't think it's that - why would BP not want to plug the leak? Why is it beneficial to them for the leak to continue? I think BP's a really crappy company with an unparalled awful history of safety and environmental negligence, but it does them no good to just let the leak continue.

They didn't want to let the leak continue. They just tried to do their harebrained ideas like lowering that giant slab of concrete on top of the leak to try to stop it... and allowing them to be able to keep the rig afterwards. I didn't say they were purposefully letting it shit all over the Gulf for a month. But, I have to wonder why the "top spill" thing wasn't their first attempt... when it was the best way to do it... but, it would render the rig useless afterwards. This is just my opinion, as well. I don't know why they tried all the other stuff first instead of the "top kill."

It just makes sense to me..........

*dramatic pause*

Does it to you?

But I agree that the Feds had to let BP pretty much lead them along - the Feds have no experience, expertise, or other options in terms of dealing with this. I think the problem Obama's administration has had here is that while they made it a point to go out of their way to remind people that BP is at fault and they will pay for this, people really, first and foremost, wanted the leak plugged. Busying ourselves with hearings and legislation on how to pay for future catastrophes just looks feeble when done alongside video of a leak that just goes on and on for months. People don't think BP or the Feds are doing enough to plug the leak, and neither have done a good job to convince people they are.

I agree with this. But would add that hearings and legislation were the dumbfucks in Congress, though... not Obama. And... that's also the only way Congress can appear to be engaged in the problem. If they just sit and do nothing... they get labled "do nothing" by their constituents... and they can't afford that... especially the ones from Gulf states.

[houndawg]

I don't think it's that - why would BP not want to plug the leak? Why is it beneficial to them for the leak to continue? I think BP's a really crappy company with an unparalled awful history of safety and environmental negligence, but it does them no good to just let the leak continue.

They didn't want to let the leak continue. They just tried to do their harebrained ideas like lowering that giant slab of concrete on top of the leak to try to stop it... and allowing them to be able to keep the rig afterwards. I didn't say they were purposefully letting it **** all over the Gulf for a month. But, I have to wonder why the "top spill" thing wasn't their first attempt... when it was the best way to do it... but, it would render the rig useless afterwards. This is just my opinion, as well. I don't know why they tried all the other stuff first instead of the "top kill."

It just makes sense to me..........

*dramatic pause*

Does it to you?

But I agree that the Feds had to let BP pretty much lead them along - the Feds have no experience, expertise, or other options in terms of dealing with this. I think the problem Obama's administration has had here is that while they made it a point to go out of their way to remind people that BP is at fault and they will pay for this, people really, first and foremost, wanted the leak plugged. Busying ourselves with hearings and legislation on how to pay for future catastrophes just looks feeble when done alongside video of a leak that just goes on and on for months. People don't think BP or the Feds are doing enough to plug the leak, and neither have done a good job to convince people they are.

I agree with this. But would add that hearings and legislation were the dumbfucks in Congress, though... not Obama. And... that's also the only way Congress can appear to be engaged in the problem. If they just sit and do nothing... they get labled "do nothing" by their constituents... and they can't afford that... especially the ones from Gulf states.

Seems pretty clear that the idea was to save the well if at all possible, regardless of damage. Too bad about that dead battery in the remote control....

The pressure in that well must be stupendous to be spewing the way it is against 5,000 ft. of water pressure.

[JohnStOnge]

Peanut Gallery. I'll say the same basic thing as I said when Bush was being criticized for the response to Katrina: Hindsight is 20:20 and it's a whole lot easier to sit in the peanut gallery and rail about what somebody SHOULD do than it is to actually be the person having to manage the situation.

[Seawolf97]

In the long run it is probably France's fault for selling us Louisianna in the first place. Did they tell us about Cat 5 Hurricanes and oil spills and such. OF course not! Just dump the real estate on a new immature country and run. Then they felt guilty and sent us the Statue of Liberty. it is a French Plot all along !!

[JohnStOnge]

In the long run it is probably France's fault for selling us Louisianna in the first place. Did they tell us about Cat 5 Hurricanes and oil spills and such. OF course not! Just dump the real estate on a new immature country and run. Then they felt guilty and sent us the Statue of Liberty. it is a French Plot all along !!

Louisiana has the most biologically productive environment among the 50 States and it will continue to be so in spite of this incident. Also, there wouldn't be any oil spill if there weren't any oil. And in today's context, oil is pretty important.

There's also the matter of the Mississippi River reaching its terminus in Louisiana. Having a port near the terminus of the Mississippi River is pretty darned important to the United States.

[T-Dog]

Peanut Gallery. I'll say the same basic thing as I said when Bush was being criticized for the response to Katrina: Hindsight is 20:20 and it's a whole lot easier to sit in the peanut gallery and rail about what somebody SHOULD do than it is to actually be the person having to manage the situation.

Very true. I'm tired of the need to blame someone. We can wait until this thing is fixed and clean-up is in full effect to start the blame game.