Will they fix that oil spill thingie or do they just wait....

[DinoDoc]

It's not like there's resources/expertise they have and aren't using.

Incidentally: http://www.necn.com/05/23/10/Jindal-...06&feedID=4215

[Dinner]

The big problem with building the barrier islands is due to the laws Congress has passed there is virtually nothing the President can do to speed up the process. By law the Army Corp of Engineers can't start work without doing several environmental impact reports which take a large amount of time especially with the officially required public review periods. It would be great if Congress would amend the law to allow for waving the rules in the event of a major emergency but I don't see it happening since the Republicans are so busy stonewalling the workings of the Congress and trying to just tie the legislature into knots.

[DinoDoc]

Why should the President of the USA be in charge of CLEANING UP AN OIL SPILL caused by a CORPORATION?

It's a national disaster worse than even Katrina? That seems like a good enough reason to me for the government to be in charge to me. Or if that isn't good enough, for the same reason they threaten reporters with arrest at the behest of the corporation that cause the disaster?

[giblets]

What makes this worse than Katrina? Other than the fact that Obama is president.

[giblets]

I mean, Katrina caused $80 billion in financial losses, over 1800 deaths, and substantial human suffering. So far estimates for the financial impact of this oil spill seem to be several billion. There's no confirmed deaths but 11 have gone missing. And most of the suffering seem to be sea critters. Do you actually have reasons for saying this is worse than Katrina or are you just a partisan hack?

[Dinner]

He's a partisan hack and has been for years.

[Asher]

Normally Asher, I'd agree with you on this, but the clean up isn't working and it's already a catastrophe of the highest level. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option here.

Last I heard he assembled a group of top scientists to tackle how to solve it. What else could he do?

[Asher]

It's a national disaster worse than even Katrina?

Katrina was a natural disaster, this was man-made.

The government should not be in charge, the government should avail all resources at their disposal to help. But the government does not have the expertise in this field that it would be ridiculously ****ing stupid to ask them to take charge.

You are trying to shift responsibility from BP -- the company who caused the disaster -- to the Obama administration -- which you have a childish obsession to attack. You are then trying to paint it as Obama's administration shifting responsibility to BP.

That is an insultingly stupid assertion.

[Asher]

The other main difference in Katrina is Katrina had a known solution -- get the people out of there, get the people food & water, get the people shelter.

There is no known solution here. It's uncharted territory. The government has no expertise or experience or procedures for this action. BP should have all three. Only a complete idiot in favour of big government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong would assert that the government should be in charge of something they've no clue about.

[Asher]

Am I the only true small-government guy here?

Seems like the resident republicans like to favour heavy-handed government involvement in life. Whether regulating personal relationships or cleaning up corporate messes, it's big government nonetheless. Frauds.

[Hauldren Collider]

No you're not Asher, I think we should let BP handle it because there's no way the government could be any better

[Asher]

It really bothers me, the ideological inconsistency behind the Republicans supporting government involvement here.

Isn't the fundamental idea behind small government the fact that the government is slow, unwieldy, inefficient, and ineffective? How can people reconcile this with thinking the government could do a better job at cleaning up oil than an oil company?

Boggles the mind. Everyone is insane except me and apparently HC.

[MrFun]

ZOMFG! I agree with Hauldren.

[Asher]

ZOMFG! I agree with Hauldren.

****. Now I need to re-evaluate my position.

[MrFun]

It really bothers me, the ideological inconsistency behind the Republicans supporting government involvement here.

Isn't the fundamental idea behind small government the fact that the government is slow, unwieldy, inefficient, and ineffective? How can people reconcile this with thinking the government could do a better job at cleaning up oil than an oil company?

Boggles the mind. Everyone is insane except me and apparently HC.

Another example of inconsistency with Republicans - the Bush administration increased the scope for wiretapping, intelligence gathering, and so on through the Patriot Act. Some people were concerned that ironically, this Republican administration was creating a more intrusive government.