Gulf coast oil spill

[classicman]

The Obama administration was slow to ramp up its response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, then overreacted as public criticism turned the disaster into a political liability, the staff of a special commission investigating the disaster say in papers released Wednesday.

In four papers issued by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, commission investigators fault the administration for giving too much credence to initial estimates that just 1,000 barrels of oil a day were flowing from the ruptured BP PLC well, and for later allowing political concerns to drive decisions such as how to deploy people and material—such as oil-containing boom—to contain the spreading oil.

"Though some of the command structure was put in place very quickly, in other respects the mobilization of resources to combat the spill seemed to lag," the commission investigators found.

from WSJ
I've made my opinion known many times. This seems to corroborate it.

[xoxoxoBruce]

And if the administration had acted with greater impact, they would have been accused of interfering with private business because of their socialist agenda. Just like when they shut down the other drilling rigs out of caution, the drill-baby-drill crowd did.

[TheMercenary]

And now we have this:

Cuba, Bahamas push ahead with offshore oil plans

By Jeff Franks HAVANA, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Plans in Cuba and neighboring Bahamas to develop offshore oil fields may open big new oil frontiers at the doorstep of the United States, but the Cuban project has sparked opposition in next-door Florida reflecting the usual antagonistic U.S.-Cuba politics. Some Florida political leaders have asked U.S. President Barack Obama to find a way to stop Cuba's drilling, but so far the White House has stayed out of the issue. Cuban oil exploration plans continue on the communist-led island, where significant fresh drilling is expected to begin early in 2011. Suggestions from U.S. lawmakers such as Senator Bill Nelson and Representative Vern Buchanan have included withdrawing the 1977 recognition of Cuba's claim to part of the Gulf of Mexico and pressuring Spain to curb Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF , which is leading the Cuba exploration. Florida, mindful of its $60 billion-a-year tourism industry, has successfully kept U.S. offshore exploration well away from its shores. In the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico, drillers are allowed no closer to the state's west coast than 125 miles (200 km). Still, some of Florida's Panhandle beaches were stained by oil from the massive BP Gulf spill this summer. Buchanan, in a letter to Obama, said Cuba will drill in water deeper than the BP well, which was about 5,000 feet (141 metres) down, making it "extremely difficult" to control a spill. "It is critical that Florida's unique coastline environment and its population be protected," he said. Maritime boundaries with Cuba and Bahamas are about 50 miles (80 km) distance from South Florida, meaning they can drill closer to the state than U.S. operators. In the Bahamas, the Bahamas Petroleum Corp has leased more than 2 million acres offshore and has a joint venture in place with Norway's Statoil, but this project so far has received little mention in Florida. The stakes are high in both countries. Cuba believes it has at least 20 billion barrels of oil offshore, while estimated reserves for the leases controlled by Bahamas Petroleum have gone as high as 17 billion barrels. The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated Cuba has 5 billion barrels of oil. Among anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Florida, concerns about Cuban oil are not just environmental. "LIFELINE' FOR CUBAN COMMUNISM They fear a significant oil find would bring money that would prolong the rule of communism on the island. For five decades, they have supported U.S.

Continues:
http://classic.cnbc.com/id/39545447

[Lamplighter]

Just heard on TV another attack on Obama's handling of the oil spill.

Business people along the coast are saying the BP fund to reimburse them
for losses due to the spill are taking too long to get the $ out to them.
They say that a lot of their businesses are on a "cash basis" so
they don't have receipts to show how much they made last year.

Maybe if they had paid taxes on all of that "cash basis" income...

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Just heard on TV another attack on Obama's handling of the oil spill.

Business people along the coast are saying the BP fund to reimburse them
for losses due to the spill are taking too long to get the $ out to them.
They say that a lot of their businesses are on a "cash basis" so
they don't have receipts to show how much they made last year.

Maybe if they had paid taxes on all of that "cash basis" income...

Why attack Obama for that? It sounds like a problem with BP.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by classicman

Yes.
1) Attack ad

Obama took over this and appointed a rep to handle it. He is responsible now, not BP.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2)

People scamming the system not paying taxes now aren't getting what they
think they should or its taking too long .... whatever..

Two separate points related, but different.

I misunderstood. I thought you were separating

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

Why attack Obama for that?

from

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

It sounds like a problem with BP.

[classicman]

Yup - I believe we talked about that awhile ago. Might have been in the other thread on the same subject.
There is no way these people are going to get reimbursed without tax receipts.

[classicman]

Oh, and there was a nice followup CNN this am about it being the 6 month anniversary of the spill. They were discussing how much still needs to be done, polluted beaches, wildlife, still 16,000sq miles of the gulf closed to fishing...

[classicman]

I read that as two separate points.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by classicman

I read that as two separate points.

I read it as haiku.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by classicman

I read that as two separate points.

Really?

[classicman]

Yes.
1) Attack ad

Business people along the coast are saying the BP fund to reimburse them
for losses due to the spill are taking too long to get the $ out to them.

Obama took over this and appointed a rep to handle it. He is responsible now, not BP.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2)

Maybe if they had paid taxes on all of that "cash basis" income...

People scamming the system not paying taxes now aren't getting what they
think they should or its taking too long .... whatever..

Two separate points related, but different.

[classicman]

When the Gov't took over control of the fund, they basically absolved BP from any
responsibility of distributing the funds. If things are going slowly, it is the fault of
those in control. That is the Gov't not BP.

[Lamplighter]

As I read the setup and administration of the "BP fund",
I got the sense that the $ were actually still belonging with BP,
but that Obama selected Feinberg to be an independent administrator.

Although Feinberg could probably be removed by Obama,
I got the sense that the policies of distributing $ were those set up by BP.

With all that, it is still easier to just blame Obama for everything.

Wall Street Journal

BP Fund Administrator Promises Speedy Claims Payout
By ANGEL GONZALEZ
JUNE 18, 2010, 6:48 P.M. ET

The government-appointed administrator of BP PLC's $20 billion fund for oil-spill damage
said Friday that he would run his own show as he seeks to improve the claims process set up by the company.

"This is a program that has my imprimatur on it, not the administration or BP,"
Kenneth Feinberg said at a joint press conference with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.
"It is my program as an independent force."
<snip>

[TheMercenary]

The WSJ had a good follow up article yesterday that discussed how the money is now coming in faster and the struggle the folks went through to get what they are owed, but apparently they are getting paid.