Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) apologizes to BP executive

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Nice move Mr President, a really nice way to treat an employer of so many thousands of your citizens....I should imagine your quite relieved there is currently something more newsworthy out there than your pitiful attempts at putting your own countries affairs in order.

Yes sir, nothing feels better than a flexing of the muscles and public humiliation, especially on the world stage.

A bit hypocritical don't you think....coming from possibly the planets biggest polluter.

While your about it why don't you dismiss the thousands of British troops currently in iraq and Afghanistan.

I'm now beginning to fully realise why your so unpopular with so many of your fellow countrymen on this forum

Rant over...feel a bit better now

It is a sad state of affairs Jim....

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

It is a sad state of affairs Jim....

Fully agree Chris and I feel much better now I've vented.

I just think it was a an easy/cheap shot by Obama, an opportunity for him to appease those who are frustrated at his lack of leadership in other important areas such as Iran and North Korea to name but two.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Things BP has done:

hired private security firms to keep reporters/photographers from accessing public beaches

not provided proper protective gear for workers, and made those workers sign nondisclosure agreements as a condition of employment (after certainly ending the previous employment of some of those new workers via the spill)

had more serious safety violations than just about any other oil company in the world

probably ruined the Gulf for decades

Oh, I'm sure I could go on..

Maybe some of the rednecks seeing their livelihoods destroyed will realize that voting mindlessly for conservative Republicans like Barton isn't in their best interest.

[SteamWake]

Things BP has done

Work hard to fix the damn leak.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Things BP has done

Work hard to fix the damn leak.

Maybe they should have worked hard to prevent such a thing from happening in the first place.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Maybe they should have worked hard to prevent such a thing from happening in the first place.

Isnt that the federal regulators job?

Meanwhile...

Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. Today, against the governor's wishes, those barges sat idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bp-oil-spil...ry?id=10946379

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Isnt that the federal regulators job?

I don't know what a federal regulator is. Is this a government guy? If so then the answer is simply no.
If I handle dangerous substances/equipment or whatever then I have to make damn sure that no one else is getting hurt by it whether there are laws for that or not. I would call that common sense.

That would pretty much be like the guy who sued the manufacturer of his motor-home for not writing in the manual that he mustn't leave the steering-wheel while driving...

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Maybe they should have worked hard to prevent such a thing from happening in the first place.

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Isnt that the federal regulators job?

No, that's BP's job first and foremost. The market doesn't work right if it can pawn off regulatory responsibilities on the state, and the state doesn't do the job well to begin with. The state's only proper responsibility is enforcing legitimate civil court decisions relating to compensation for damages.

[Wolfehunter]

Problem with this whole mess is from top to bottom. Trying to make the quick buck with no morals and consequence. Rats! They're all just ugly nasty rats.

[krashkart]

/usr/sbin/krash +grr -o /mnt/fustigated/bpnfrnds.arg

If anything good is to stem from this disaster it should be that the industry learns how to cap a leak, so that the next time it happens (and don't think it won't, because it is sure to happen again) the repairs will go much more quickly and efficiently. Also better adherence to safety standards; no more ignoring what concerns the other contractors are pointing out. No more slacking, period. And the government darn well should learn a bitter lesson from this disaster - know how to respond, do not take "NO" for an answer when offering help, and make sure the citizenry is being told everything from the start (even if all that can be said is, "We don't know yet.").

That felt pretty good.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Wolfehunter

Problem with this whole mess is from top to bottom. Trying to make the quick buck with no morals and consequence. Rats! They're all just ugly nasty rats.

Not just the bucks but the political currincey as well. Bunch of posturing .... (censored)

[Zachstar]

The moment his OWN party threatened to remove him from several party positions this lame coward caved in and retracted faster than a lizards feet in a Texas sun baked rock.

LOSER! What a joke to the State of Texas.

[breadcatcher101]

And Obama. What a joke to the whole country, running around acting like a trial lawyer than a president.

[XabbaRus]

Originally Posted by Torvald Von Mansee

Things BP has done:

hired private security firms to keep reporters/photographers from accessing public beaches

not provided proper protective gear for workers, and made those workers sign nondisclosure agreements as a condition of employment (after certainly ending the previous employment of some of those new workers via the spill)

had more serious safety violations than just about any other oil company in the world

probably ruined the Gulf for decades

Oh, I'm sure I could go on..

Maybe some of the rednecks seeing their livelihoods destroyed will realize that voting mindlessly for conservative Republicans like Barton isn't in their best interest.

Hmm the easy things to jump on for a conspiracy theorist.

As for the safety violations. Can you back that up, I mean not that there were not any violations but the statement "more than any other oil company in the world".

I don't know what your job is but you haven't obviously worked with BP. I have. If anything they have some of the most stringent rules concerning health and safety. At least here in the UK.

I'm really sorry that the gulf coast is polluted, it has wrecked thousands of peoples lives. However I am tired of BP being made out to eb the one and only company responsible.

YEs as it seems BP pushed for things to be done quicker but at the end of the day on a rig it is the OIM (Oil Installation Manager) who is in charge on the rig. He is god. He could have said stop. Transocean provided the rig, and the BOP and the other bits associated theyn are as much responsible. THEY ARE GETTING AWAY SCOT FREE. BP have done more than any poxy federal government unit have done regarding this spill. Obama is all talk talk talk. I'm the big guy yadda yadda yadda.

My rant over.

Obama knows he is rubbish and no living up to the hype. No decisive statements on Korea, or Iran. It's all let's be friends and sing kumbay f**king ya....

[Tchocky]

Originally Posted by XabbaRus

Hmm the easy things to jump on for a conspiracy theorist.

As for the safety violations. Can you back that up, I mean not that there were not any violations but the statement "more than any other oil company in the world".

The easiest things to jump on are the true ones.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bps-dismal-...ry?id=10763042

The violations are determined when an employer demonstrated either an "intentional disregard for the requirements of the [law], or showed plain indifference to employee safety and health."
OSHA statistics show BP ran up 760 "egregious, willful" safety violations, while Sunoco and Conoco-Phillips each had eight, Citgo had two and Exxon had one comparable citation.

BP have done more than any poxy federal government unit have done regarding this spill.

Well that's the point of an oil company, isn't it? To drill, use and maintain oil wells. Stands to reason that they'd be better at capping one than the government.