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

[The Mad Monk]

And BP has done a great job stopping the flow.
BP has done a great job containing the spill.

It's been a month. And the government has assembled a committee. WOW.

Rah, Oerdin is a trained geologist, as am I. Listen to us, just on this one small matter.

BP is doing all it can right now, it has all the assets and the expertise. The government, for all its bluster, has neither. They formed a committee because that is all they can do. Ever.

[Asher]

And BP has done a great job stopping the flow.
BP has done a great job containing the spill.

It's been a month. And the government has assembled a committee. WOW.

I'm not sure you understand why it's not solved yet. It's not that BP is inept, it's that it's unprecedented and everything they've tried has failed.

The government knows even less than BP, why would you think they'd have been more successful?

It's in BP's best interest to stop this ASAP. The longer it goes on, the more it costs them and the worse the PR is.

[rah]

They could have mobilized a work force to help clean the shores where it's coming aground.
Leaving everything to the company that caused the problem wouldn't be my first choice.

I agree that they're the experts but they don't have the resources to clean it up. The government does. I have no problems with charging them. But right now I see widespread damage happening while bp doesn't have the resources and the government isn't doing squat.

No I don't expect the government to stop the leak.

[Asher]

Last I heard, Obama offered the services of the government with the caveat that they'd charge costs back to BP. Doesn't that torpedo your claim?

[MrFun]

Can you list the specific resources that the government has, Rah, that they would be able to do a better job than BP?

[The Mad Monk]

Well, yeah, the cleanup is another matter. From what I understand, Louisiana is about to do their own cleanup...Federal permits, funding and the Army Corps of Engineers be damned.

[rah]

Last I heard, Obama offered the services of the government with the caveat that they'd charge costs back to BP. Doesn't that torpedo your claim?

No. Where was this on day one?

Can you list the specific resources that the government has, Rah, that they would be able to do a better job than BP?

MANPOWER DOH.

[The Mad Monk]

MANPOWER is sitting on its ass waiting for permtis from the EPA.

[Asher]

No. Where was this on day one?

No one knew what needed to be done on day one.

[rah]

How about day 7 or 14.

And hopefully in an emergency the president could help sort through the red-tape.

I can't believe the republican is the one arguing why the government isn't doing anything and the others are defending them doing nothing.

[Asher]

That's because you're wrong, rah.

You seem to think the President can snap his fingers and assemble resources to fix the problem. It's not a manpower issue, it's a thinking issue.

He's already committed the help of manpower. Sounds like the government increasingly is getting in the way of the effort here (eg, EPA). And while I'm sure a presidential order to override the EPA would be possible, would it be smart? There's no guaranteed way to clean this up, there are things to consider. The President shouldn't snap his fingers and pretends he knows better than the top scientists.

Wouldn't it be fantastic if Obama overrode the EPA and green-lighted the sand-based quarantine ideas. And then it turns out the sand-based quarantine causes additional damage to the environment. Oops?

[rah]

I've been wrong before

But I'll bet in the future, that the current administration will take abuse for not reacting quicker.

[Ben Kenobi]

That's Obama for you. I guess he really doesn't care about New Orleans or black people either. Can you imagine what Katrina would have been like with the dual knockout of Nagen and the Bamster?

[Dinner]

Legally the President has the authority and the duty to act this is especially true as BP has shown itself to be untrustworthy and ineffectual in dealing with this crisis.

Technologically speaking the only thing which really can be done to stop this is drilling a relief well which BP is already doing. Sure, I would like to see the environmental impact study waved for the barrier islands around the marches but it's a bit to late for that as the oil is already there so it won't do much good at this point. The best thing the government can do is document how much oil is going out, review what corner cutting BP & Co did to cause this disaster, and then change regulations to prevent a repeat in the future.

[Ben Kenobi]

You seem to think the President can snap his fingers and assemble resources to fix the problem. It's not a manpower issue, it's a thinking issue.

Hilarious. Did you say the same about Bush when he actually gave a ****? No you savaged him along with all the other democrats for not acting quickly enough. Nice to see the double standard in play.