Score one for Obama.

[rwguinn]

How about keeping the oil from reaching the shore?That too much to ask of the Jug-Eared Incompetant?

yep.
He's not omnipotent, nor can he do things that the experts in the field cannot.
That is, unless he has a giant roll of a molecular sieve stashed in the basement of his house, so he can erect a wall around the leak to keep oil in and let water through-and refuses to use it...

 

[Beerina]

Good news. BP is not going to pay dividends this year. (Or ever, if justice prevails.) That leaves more for the government to sieze when justice is done to the oil toads.

Yey. Millions of retiree's funds take a hit. Execs still flabulously wealthy.

 

[Shalamar]

Liberals think Obama is doing an Ok, if not great job in this mess.

Conservatives froth at the mouth and think he should be doing more.

In other news, water is wet, and skepticism is dead.

 

[Lurker]

Yey. Millions of retiree's funds take a hit. Execs still flabulously wealthy.

I'm ok with that. Are you ok with that? If BP stock tanks, that is the market reacting. If BP has to pay for cleanup, that too is fine by me. Better BP than me. As for the BP stockholders, that is part of the risk of owning stock. IF BP execs were omniscient enough not to be invested in BP stock then that is just the way it is. I find it more probable that they were heavily invested in BP stocks so BP execs are probably less flabulously wealthy than they were 3 months ago.

That being said, unless the costs get really out of hand, BP can handle it. The likelihood of going under are small, which is good.

 

[Blue Mountain]

How about keeping the oil from reaching the shore?That too much to ask of the Jug-Eared Incompetant?

A report from 2007 assessing the environmental impact of such a deep water spill concluded it would not reach shore. Not to mention in the first days of the disaster BP underestimated the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf (or they knew it was much more serious than they were letting on—we'll have to wait until the inquiries are held and the court cases heard.) It's probable that Administration's response planning was relying on both of those when deciding on the risk to the shorelines and if they needed to get involved.

In a situation like this, for the President it's "damned if you do and damned if you don't." Obama appears to have decided not to get involved in the early stages based on the belief that the spill was of concern but not catastrophic, and to let BP sort the issue out on its own.

The President is not Superman. Nor does he have the advantage that a Hollywood scriptwriter does in knowing what's going to happen on page 88 of the script.

 

[applecorped]

The President is not Superman. Nor does he have the advantage that a Hollywood scriptwriter does in knowing what's going to happen on page 88 of the script.

 

[bynmdsue]

So he's completely useless.Got it.

I won't harp on your boyfriend again.

 

[Ziggurat]

When I google Pakgen boom I get a couple of fact-challenged right-wing blogs (with good old HotAir on top) followed by your post. Color me unimpressed.

And unimpressive. The thing is, I misspelled the name. It's Packgen.

And I was even less impressed when I read that Pakgen's boom failed to meet standards. Now I'm not going to sit here and pretend to know about something that I spent a whopping 30 seconds googling.

Perhaps you should have spent longer than 30 seconds researching the topic, then.

As for failing to meet standards, well, that's what the coast guard claims, after Admiral Allen got caught with his pants down when he said that he hadn't heard of them, even though his office had been informed by senators Snowe and Collins. And did the information about Packgen's boom failing to meet standards come from coast guard tests? No, actually, it came from BP.

I guess you find BP a credible source right now. What with their impressive recent track record of honesty, openness, and competence. Me, I'm more inclined to believe explicit and detailed test results than vague 3rd hand reports.

But at least I learned enough not to assign any weight to your commentary.

Keep telling yourself that.

 

[daredelvis]

Soo, all those retirees that may have invested in BP and may depend on them are gonna have to pay huh?

Way to sock it to em big O.
Let them eat dog food and see how they like it...booyah.

I'm sure when I go back and check I will see several post by Drysdale with similar hand ringing about the financial status of GM retirees.

Daredelvis

 

[Cicero]

Liberals think Obama is doing an Ok, if not great job in this mess.

Conservatives froth at the mouth and think he should be doing more.

In other news, water is wet, and skepticism is dead.

JREF libs may echo that sentiment, but there are lib pundits and politicians who say POTUS Obama has performed poorly since the beginning of the leak.

K.O.
Ed Shultz
Donna Brazille
Bill Press
Jonathan Alter
Tom Friedman
Chris Matthews
Kirsten Powers
James Carville
Jon Stewart

http://www.breitbart.tv/mass-democrat-defection-liberals-attack-obamas-response-to-oil-spill-crisis/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzIu4uoLwhU

In other news, oil keeps leaking, skepticism was never alive on JRER political forum.

 

[andyandy]

Predictions by analysts of the overall cost of the spill to BP, when criminal penalties are included, have been rising. On Wednesday, Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James, estimated the total legal cost, including criminal fines, at $62.9 billion, which would dwarf the $20 billion escrow account to be used to pay claims of economic loss.

$100 billion! $1trillion! A million lawyers mop their fat sweaty faces with anticipation.....

 

[varwoche]

The thing is, I misspelled the name. It's Packgen ... Perhaps you should have spent longer than 30 seconds researching the topic, then.

If you cite your sources, I think we'll do just fine in averting this sort of misunderstanding in the future.

I guess you find BP a credible source right now. What with their impressive recent track record of honesty, openness, and competence. Me, I'm more inclined to believe explicit and detailed test results than vague 3rd hand reports.

You're placing the onus on me for your errant post. Whatever. Now that you've sharpened your pencil, I'll take a fresh look.

 

[Shalamar]

JREF libs may echo that sentiment, but there are lib pundits and politicians who say POTUS Obama has performed poorly since the beginning of the leak.

K.O.
Ed Shultz
Donna Brazille
Bill Press
Jonathan Alter
Tom Friedman
Chris Matthews
Kirsten Powers
James Carville
Jon Stewart

http://www.breitbart.tv/mass-democrat-defection-liberals-attack-obamas-response-to-oil-spill-crisis/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzIu4uoLwhU

In other news, oil keeps leaking, skepticism was never alive on JRER political forum.

And JREF cons can only point and scream with glee 'He's a BAD MAN!'

Frankly, I'm at a loss to know what the hell Obama is personally supposed to do in this mess. Throw money at the problem? cons are already pissed at the amount of money the administration is spending. It also seems that pretty much no-one has the ability or technology to clean up a mess of this scale.

The real criticism I see is that the current administration didn't do enough to shore up the regulations for off-shore drilling, which *may* have prevented this mess. it also may not have.

Now cons are complaining that Obama is taking BP itself to task for what happened, putting pensioners at risk should BO go under for their own failure.

So we have Obama, who didn't put everything aside to stand at the shore line personally directing the cleanup, the caps, and whatever else should be done while BP, the only people on site with the information to say how bad it actually is, seemed to have not stated, or known just how bad it actually is.

So tell me, cons, what should President Obama actually be doing to stop the spill?

 

[Ziggurat]

You're placing the onus on me for your errant post. Whatever.

No, I'm criticizing you for dismissing the issue out of hand, and stating that you'll basically discount anything I say in the future, without even asking for more information.

Now that you've sharpened your pencil, I'll take a fresh look.

OK.

 

[Lurker]

I'm sure when I go back and check I will see several post by Drysdale with similar hand ringing about the financial status of GM retirees.

That's our Drysdale. Always concerned about the little people.

 

[eeyore1954]

I am not really sure who is managing the 20B fund but I will sure feel confident if the US Governement is involved. Fraudsters will be happy also.

 

[Drysdale]

I'm sure when I go back and check I will see several post by Drysdale with similar hand ringing about the financial status of GM retirees.

Daredelvis

Not sure I even chimed in on that. But to the topic at hand.

The point is, will witholding the dividends stop the leak?

I did'nt realize it would.

 

[Cicero]

And JREF cons can only point and scream with glee 'He's a BAD MAN!'

But you said libs were not criticizing POTUS Obama for his handling of the leak, when of course they are. What JREF conservative has called POTUS Obama a "bad man" in regards to this leak?

So tell me, cons, what should President Obama actually be doing to stop the spill?

Since libs are criticizing POTUS Obama for his impotency in handling the situation, why not ask them as well?

 

[Lurker]

Not sure I even chimed in on that. But to the topic at hand.

The point is, will witholding the dividends stop the leak?

I did'nt realize it would.

No, but it will help BP pay for damages. If I recall correctly, dividends are paid AFTER business expenses. Not sure why you again want to circumvent normal methods of doing business. You some sort of commie?

 

[Drysdale]

Actually, I can see it coming now.

Once the leak is stopped and Obama commends BP for a job well done while also taking credit BP will be in bad shape financially. And since many investors are Amreican we will naturally turn around and bail them out also.

Is'nt that pretty much the pattern?