Im sorry I never say anything about most people who post on here, but this time I must make an exception. Dave you are an IDIOT! Not worthy of US citizenship.

I second that ucg - Dave I can't imagine WHAT you thought would be positive about taking a stupid remark by Barton and turning it on Obama. The congressman was stupid to apologize and you were no better trying to change the topic.

Dave: You are one sick puppy!!!

I agree with UCG

Dave, you are a COMPLETE IDIOT

apparently, logic and common sense are optional in your comments

Babbling Inanities is Stupid

Grow up, Dave...... Get well soon

Been gone a few days but I see that the Cheerio Go-Kart Racers are still among us.

Others inTennessee must be SO proud of a nitwitt like Dave. Hey, Dave- did Michelle Bachmann ("the BP $20 Billion is a 'redistribution of wealth'") raise you, or what??

Ditto Dave,

Please climb back under your rock and stay there this time. If you cannot add sensisble dialogue just be quiet.

Make that another DITTO - what a creep.

You have my sympathy, obviously you've suffered some sort of memory problem resulting in a short-circuit to reality. McCain received a much larger chunk of campaign cash from BP than did Obama. In fact, the GOP as a whole got more than democrats in Congress and the GOP has a lot fewer members.

Hey, IR- speaking of cherrios and race tracks, putting Dave's brain in a shoebox would be like putting a BB in a boxcar.

On the upside Dave - I see your paranoia of everything New York is still working overtime!

You're in some serious need of help!

Drive-by maybe a BB rolling down Interstate 40. I was hoping these guys would run out of gas while I was busy and not looking

Welcome back Independent. Good to see you.

You too C.A. been busy doing my part to rile up the economy

You koolaide drinkers might not like him but Dave is still correct. The Obama campaign and administration have been in bed with BP. Try to separate your blind devotion with your messiah from actual reality.

Generally I would say let the idiot have his say. But Dave are you a racist or just a outright bigot. You were the same idiot, along with the republicans that commented on Obama's bow. Here a member of congress apologizing to a head of foreign corporaton on TV in the US for something they did wrong. Where are the Tea Partiers now?????

Dave TN-1853132

You needs meds and bad

Dear, dear Dave, Tn-1853132:

Exactly what part of outer space are you located in? And, does it look like a long, brown tunnel?

Barton is a moron and a traitor, whose primary concern is lining his pockets. The only Congressman I can think of who is a lower form of life is Joe Wilson, but then what can you expect, he's South Carolina GOP, and we all know how those good old boys cling to their corruption and vulgarity. Their mantra seems to be: if you can't get your way by appealing to the basest instincts in your constituency, then lie your way to power. Decent South Carolinians deserve better. I hope Nikki Haley cleans house when she becomes Governor.

You seem nice, but that's about the dumbest thing I've ever read. It doesn't matter whether or not it was intentional - an entire region's livelyhood is dependent on the gulf - should they go bankrupt and starve? Lose their homes?

If BP accidently destroyed your home, killed a few family members, and left you crippled, would a simple apology suffice?

BP was CUTTING CORNERS on Safety

Other oil companies agreed

This was PREVENTABLE, a simple apology WON'T Suffice

They were GAMBLING with their drilling, GAMBLING to squeeze out more profits

HOW MUCH PROFIT IS ENOUGH ???

Here Here!

Pat, Dave is Glenn Beck in drag.

Dennis, just the comic relief I needed and so true!

WOW! Why don't you tell us how you really feel?

Ps: For the record... I'm on your team :0)

lol.. glad I'm in good company :)) It just pisses me off having been born and raised in Texas to see these ultra-(social)-conservatives taking over. Don't recognize the place anymore and that saddens me. For instance, a few months back I heard that they are taking all non-white people out of the Texas history books. that once thick book is going to be pretty thin if they do that. Don't know why the NAACP isn't just freaking out to no ends about this racist and ignorant agenda.

CRH - I heard that too about the school books - but it's more to do with removing black history and of course adding religion!

The really scary thing is that TX is the #1 supplier of school text books throughout the US - which means that eventually students here in IL will also be effected as well!

The State of TX has NO business what the children in IL learn!

you need to get a life , I can say a lot af things about obamas lies and ant the church he attended for twenty years but he didn;t hear the preacher trash america, and lets not forget his buddy bill ayres, talk about someone who desearves to be hung anybody who hates america like they do but Oh thats right obama keeps apoligizeing for our country .we need a leader not a socialist liar [ more transparency, less spending, and please tell queen pelosi she dont need a 18,500dollar office in S. F. thats 18,500 dollars a month to come from taxpayers pockets. no dem has yet to be able to justify this outrages spending.

HAHAHA! Carlyss man... if that's not the pot calling the kettle black I'm not sure what is... Try putting the bitterness on the back burner... will ya?

I bet he he believes everything that Fox says is true. He also believes that Sarah Palin has the hots for him as well. Poor deluded FOOL!

I absolutely agree, chris. My only problem with the fund is that it likely isn't enough.

The root of the matter is quite simple. BP's only real responsibility is to its stockholders. Maximize profits, minimize costs are the only things that matter. Even the extent to which they apologize to victims and admit liability is considered for maximum benefit. For executives to do otherwise is to expose themselves to job loss and potential legal action for mishandling the company's money.

Who then, is speaks for the victims of this disaster? It can only be the US government, and particularly the executive branch. They NEEDED to lock down this money before BP execs can exercise their fiduciary responsibility by making plans to ensure that sufficient money is NOT available to make whole those who are injured here. That includes the American taxpayer, who is likely to end up on the hook for much of the cleanup if we don't act quickly.

All of which makes it even more disgusting that Rep. Barton would apologize to BP, a foreign corporation and non-person, and demonize those who would stand up for the people who have been killed in the explosion, had their livelihoods destroyed, not to mention the incredible environmental damage that's spreading every day.

And if the President never secured the fund - the Republicans would be screaming. Damned if you do, damned if you do not.

Barton needs to apologize to the American people in the Gulf region for his remark to Hayward. I guess he just doesn't care - hey how much money does he get from BP??

All good especially that last paragraph--sums it up quite nicely.

Barton's top carrer contributor: Anadarko Petroeum. Partner with BP in Deepwater Horizon. Nuff said.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/06/top-donor-to-barton-is-partner-of-bp-on.html

I believe I heard that the $20 billion is still fluid and only the beginning. We'll see if it actually grows.

Perhaps he would have preferred to state that 'your country' will take care of you, but was not quite sure of the unanimity of effort and desire that would imply. Based on the comments of Barton and the representative from my district, Tom Price, any concern about that he may have had was apparently justified.

Dave, if BP was going to set up this account anyway why hadn't they done so, or even announced an intent to do so? And if you're Dave from TN on the old board I call BS. You say all the same things, and Dave from TN NEVER supported Obama or any other Democrat.

John B,

I am Dave from San Diego, and when I said I initially supported our President, I meant it.

BP did announce to the Media a few days before Obama's tough guy speech, that they would accept full responsibility, make the Gulf Coast whole and set up an escrow. Obama jumped in to capitalize, before they could declare an amount. Don't you think BP should get a fair evaluation of the claims that will be thrown at them. Just like Louisiana, there will be 10,000 attorneys and everyone in the South will want a million dollars for damages. The attorneys will hover like buzzards and, once again, be an embarrassment. No one should be hurt from this tragedy, but no one should capitalize either.

BP was planning on paying dividends, too, but thanks to Pres Obama--they're going to pay for the damage they caused instead. You only have to look at the Exxon Valdeez spill to see just how long it took for Alaskans to receive compensation--20 years of court battles, some people had already died. Cheers to President Obama for thinking ahead, for realizing that without this fund, the people would be waiting maybe 20 years for compensation.

This is for the people of the Gulf Coast, and for their destroyed environment. Heaven forbid than anyone on the right could give President Obama credit for anything--whatever good he does, it is attacked as photo-op, media coverage or lagging polls or the teleprompter. I'm grateful and pleased that OUR President is looking out for those who have been harmed instead of BP and its stockholders.

So Dave D,

#1) where'd you get the inside info that BP was going to set this up "without the President's request?"

#2) If BP had set the fund up iteself it woule not have government oversight for approving and processing claims. Which means that BP would have absolute discretion on which claims they considered legitimate.

Remember, BP's only responsibility is too its shareholders. Denying claims would increase profits. That is simply more 'trust' than I, for one, am willing to grant.

Hey there Dave. Under the inflammatory BS Barton did have a point. However, his point completely neglects the past 11+ years of BP's culture of negligence and corner cutting. If you look up BP Quality Management System on google, you will find some official documentation that explains in great detail why BP was on the verge of losing their government contracts to drill. BP has been negligent before, they have been "sorry" before, but they clearly did not learn their lesson before. People have died before due to their culture of ignoring industry best practices and actively making decisions that jeopardize the lives of those working for them and the environment in which they operate. All of the documented evidence in this case is just more of the same, they say they are sorry and they are going to change, but they make active decisions that endanger everyone around them.

Frankly, they should have lost their rights to drill on American owned land a while ago. There are other companies that are more responsible than they are.

Now, BP knows they are on a short rope. They know that they refused proper methods of control and safety when it was considered standard industry practice and recommended by Haliburton and Transocean. They know they hold by far the largest share of responsibility in this mess. What the administration has done is ensure the people who are most negatively impacted by BP's gross negligence are able to be made whole without having to worry about corporate run arounds. One of the key things here is; even if you file a claim, you can still sue if you do not believe you were compensated fairly.

Having oversight is a critical component of this. BP has shown through consistent past behavior that they are not capable of good decision making when it comes to the interests of anyone other than the top echelon of BP executives. So while due process of law is incredibly important, ensuring that families and businesses that are literally wiped out by this tragic series of choices by BP are going to be able to get some relief prior to the completion of what I can only assume will be a long drawn out trial. This is important because they need to pay their mortgages now, they need to feed their children now, they can't wait for two years while a trial is decided then more time while the fund gets setup.

The stuff about Obama being juvenile is a little questionable. I really disagree here, but since that is just complete opinion there is nothing that can be argued for or against. I can guarantee if he said "You're Country will take care of you," people would have been up in arms over that too. They would have said, how much is he going to spend, this and that. Word choice is important, but no matter what he does, someone is going to be a negative Nancy about it. I am glad he was able to use the leverage of BP's consistent past and present negligence to ensure they are held fully accountable for their own decisions that led to this event.

Of course BP announced it BECAUSE Pres Obama had been talking about this for over a week; this has been in negotiation along with the rest of the agreement for several weeks. It wasn't long ago when Hayward or the other BP spokesman made the comment that there was a limit to what BP would pay. Give credit to Pres Obama and his administration; they realize we better get what we can while we can because once BP does plug that hole--the money will be harder to get, see you in court.

Good post and discussion. The President has only done what is politically expedient just like any of our political representatives from either party. Quite frankly, I would like somone to offer solutions and stop pointing fingers, there is a difference between holding someone accountable and drawing and quartering them for a salacious public to cheer about.

Hey Fred,

Politicians will do what politicians will do, but do you think the fund is not a solution? When you say drawing and quartering, are you referring to the fund? What would you suggest as a solution to the problem of hundreds of thousands of people losing their livelihood do to the pattern of negligence at a major corporation? I mean sure, the leak needs to be sealed, no doubt, who can disagree with that, but are any of the suits going to be the ones plugging the leak? 90% of them are not engineers or scientists. Most of them probably have very little understanding of the forces at play down there. I mean heck, 90% of the American population has little understanding of what exactly is happening at the leak or with the oil that has already escaped.

I want the leak plugged, but I am glad to see that other actions related to ensuring proper response to this tragedy are being taken by those who are capable of taking them.

Do we really think congress can offer up a great solution that will stop the oil from coming on shore and plug the leaking pipe? We didn't vote Obama in as Physicist and chief. Most politicians are lawyers not scientists. If you really believe that the people who are best suited to handling the science problems are not focused on the science problems, then I don't know what to tell you. Just because the lawyers are doing lawyer stuff doesn't mean the scientists aren't doing scientist stuff.

I don't mean to single you out, but the drawing and quartering things really caught my eye. And all this stop the blame game stuff is kind of getting on my nerves. By the time this well is closed up, people will be onto the next big thing and they will have forgotten completely that BP was grossly negligent and has been, with regard to standard safety and environmental safeguards, for at least the last 11 years. The majority aren't even talking about the dearth of documentation that shows how BP has consistently followed this course and this is of huge concern when we consider their future ability to operate responsibly in this industry.

When there is a problem one of the things that people ask is, could this have been prevented? This is a fundamental question and it should always be asked. In this case there is already documentation that shows BP actively disregarded industry safety standards in favor of speed and cost saving. If they would have followed industry standards and this still happened, the conversation would be different. But the fact is, they didn't follow those standards and the unthinkable happened. They then tried to claim it was a one in a million situation where 5 fail safes failed to work, but what they didn't say; they undermined those fail safes by weakening them or bypassing them all together. 11 people lost their lives do to these decisions. It is not inappropriate to say, x happened because of y. The cause and effect paradigm is perfectly acceptable when the two things are based on factual evidence. The spill happened because of an explosive discharge of gas. Fine, but how did the explosive discharge of gas happen and so on. Then you ask you ask what factors could have prevented y from happening and you find out there were several. Then you ask, why did these factors not have an effect in this case? You find out they were weakened or bypassed to save time and money. Then you get mad.

Aten,

Took me a while, but here is my repsonse;

Hey Fred,

Politicians will do what politicians will do, but do you think the fund is not a solution? (Fund is fine, probably in the end it will be less than what is really needed. Do we stop here or go back for more?) When you say drawing and quartering, are you referring to the fund? No, I was referring to the symbolic exectution of BP’s CEO. We might as well take the guy out and shoot him for humanitarian reasons. What would you suggest as a solution to the problem of hundreds of thousands of people losing their livelihood do to the pattern of negligence at a major corporation? Negligence is a legal term, decided in courts, not a matter of opinion. I agree mistakes were made, but why only is BP the only neck on the proverbial line? Where is the outrage at the rest of the remaining culpable parties? I mean sure, the leak needs to be sealed, no doubt, who can disagree with that, but are any of the suits going to be the ones plugging the leak? 90% of them are not engineers or scientists. Most of them probably have very little understanding of the forces at play down there. I mean heck, 90% of the American population has little understanding of what exactly is happening at the leak or with the oil that has already escaped.

I want the leak plugged, but I am glad to see that other actions related to ensuring proper response to this tragedy are being taken by those who are capable of taking them. I agree

Do we really think congress can offer up a great solution that will stop the oil from coming on shore and plug the leaking pipe? Hell No! We didn't vote Obama in as Physicist and chief. Thank God! Most politicians are lawyers not scientists. If you really believe that the people who are best suited to handling the science problems are not focused on the science problems, then I don't know what to tell you. Just because the lawyers are doing lawyer stuff doesn't mean the scientists aren't doing scientist stuff. I agree, so what is it the government or the President have to do with this that is productive? They obviously can pass laws and the executive branch has right to enforce and monitor these, Where have they been? By the way this is not a specific issue for any given Administration. They all, Republican or Democrat, have there own pet supporters that they obfuscate for and look the other way.

I don't mean to single you out, but the drawing and quartering things really caught my eye. And all this stop the blame game stuff is kind of getting on my nerves. By the time this well is closed up, people will be onto the next big thing and they will have forgotten completely that BP was grossly negligent (Issues for the Courts to decide) and has been, with regard to standard safety and environmental safeguards, for at least the last 11 years Not to be legalistic here, but if that is the case have they been fined? Issued a cease and desist order? Where is the aspect of accountability if indeed these regulations and such have been violated? If this is the case who else is being held responsible if BP or any other company or organization is allowed to get away with it?. The majority aren't even talking about the dearth of documentation that shows how BP has consistently followed this course and this is of huge concern when we consider their future ability to operate responsibly in this industry. If these are facts then again I ask who is being held accountable for allowing this to continue?

When there is a problem one of the things that people ask is, could this have been prevented? Hind sight is always 20/20 and it is quite easy to play Monday morning quarterback. This is a fundamental question and it should always be asked. In this case there is already documentation that shows BP actively disregarded industry safety standards in favor of speed and cost saving. Where is the regulation enforcement? If they would have followed industry standards and this still happened, the conversation would be different. But the fact is, they didn't follow those standards and the unthinkable happened. They then tried to claim it was a one in a million situation where 5 fail safes failed to work, but what they didn't say; they undermined those fail safes by weakening them or bypassing them all together. 11 people lost their lives do to these decisions. It is not inappropriate to say, x happened because of y. The cause and effect paradigm is perfectly acceptable when the two things are based on factual evidence. The spill happened because of an explosive discharge of gas. Fine, but how did the explosive discharge of gas happen and so on. Then you ask you ask what factors could have prevented y from happening and you find out there were several. Then you ask, why did these factors not have an effect in this case? You find out they were weakened or bypassed to save time and money. Then you get mad.

In the end we can ask a thousand questions. We can learn from the answers to these questions and not make the same mistakes. Real progress is made only when appropriate and rational discourse occurs, not when public executions for political expediency are the order of the day to satisfy the mob’s needs. There is higher ground here that was missed. Cooler heads do prevail.

Dave

And Bush's "Bring it On" rhetoric to the terrorists is so much better. Bill Maher had a statue w/ someone head up their ass, was that you?

It appears that a number of Republicans from the Gulf States are also super angry at Barton. Just wondering, Is Barton's district located along the Gulf coast line?

Ron -

Ron, Atlanta mentions in a comment above that Price is from his district.

He has my sympathies.

I would hope that part of the investigation by the AG would also be investigating the MMS. You are tight that those who "inspected" the plans and rigs should equally be found guilty of say negligent homicide. Accountability should be required by all.

I would guess (and I would hope) that the MMS people who were involved in the collusion with the oil companies would at minimum all lose their jobs.

I've said this before, Obama needs a giant can of Raid to clean out the corporate roaches at MMS and yes, that includes Salazar. Never before has such a unbelievable incompetent agency existed. They are there simply to be another extension of the corporate greed that goes on in the country. Clean it all out and restock w/ people who have NO part of the industry. Enviromentalist would be good, the Republicans would on filabuster and all who would be recommended because their energy buddies would be locked our and truly regulated.

I think he, like me, thought that the whole death panel thing was so laughable that it wouldn't gain any traction. He, like me, obviously underestimated the stupidity of a large chunk of people in this country.

Sorry, it was BAD POLITICS

You can't assume ANYTHING

I don't think the Goopers who made the charge really beleived it, either

If you don't stand up for yourself, people will walk all over you

Remember High School ?

I surfed (San Diego) played in a band, and held the record for the 880 in high school... :)

Had to laugh at that. So, you had outside interests, not politics, good for you, a well rounded human being.

I disagree. Pres Obama has taken the GOP to task quite often; he just doesn't yell at them. It was a pleasure watching Obama clean their clocks with cameras at their GOP off-site meeting and at other times. The GOP complains he needs valium and doesn't respect them so he must be telling them things they don't like behind closed doors. He hit them hard and often on the death panel and other lies in many speeches--he did not name names but he didn't have to. The GOP does not walk all over Pres Obama; he just knows when the time is right to call them out. To me, if Pres Obama behaves like them, he becomes like them.

It is easy to sit and quarterback, WE don't have to work with republicans to get 60 votes for cloture. Whether we like it or not, democrats need at least one republican and sometimes more. It never pays to burn bridges.

The problem w/ the whole 60 votes thing is that the Dems don't walk lock step like the Republicans. Trying to get them do anything is like herding cats, just doesn't work. There will always be a few of them who want more, Joe Liebermann, Blanche Lincoln, Mary Landrieu, and that Nebraska tool.

Without a respirator!

Nice find :)

@Jenny:

Don't apologise. He's a Republican and, as we have seen in the past two years, the man-crush is a Republican "thing". As is self-haterd and denial.

Sad, sad people. Trapped in an angry fantasy and without the wherewithal to think their way out of a paper bag.