So is this guy stupid? or is he in oils pockets so deep he thought he should stick up for them? As for the BP CEO I have no idea why congress bothered to question him. He isn't going to say one word to hurt his company later. So why do they even try. It does nothing but try my nerves. I want to know what happened also but I believe that is going to take some time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/us/politics/18barton.html?src=mv
Choice of better words
Technically, it is a shakedown. Yes, it's BP's rig, but where's the cash from the other company involved? The one that runs it (or is that the other way around)? More and more evidence piling up that our government pretty much dropped the ball on inspections for this rig too.
So nobody knows what actually happened yet or who's specifically at fault, but Obama forced BP to put up 20 billion of its own money to cover costs.
If you got into a car accident, but the investigation hadn't happened yet to figure out if you were at fault, the other driver, road conditions, a car defect, etc. would you like it if the government told you to fork up a ridiculous sum of money to pay for everyone's damages?
So I get where that senator was coming from. Was it stupid to say? Yes, but it isn't completely without merit.
As for the hearings, this is the kind of dog and pony show Congress loves to put on to show the public that they're working hard for them. Truth be told, it means nothing. I mean what do you seriously expect to come out of it? The BP CEO isn't going to burying his company. He's not going to incriminate himself, his employees, or his company. He also can't say anything like: "Perhaps if you chuckleheads spent more time tightening up your own legislation instead of yanking each other's cranks, then there wouldn't be loopholes and lapses in inspections that might have lead to this incident."
For example: Did you know that the rig was registered to the Marshall Islands and not the U.S.? Know why? Because if you register your rig in the U.S. it takes approximately 6-8 weeks to finish your inspections before you can start working. If it's registered in a foreign country the inspection process is over in 4-8 hours.
So nobody knows what actually happened yet or who's specifically at fault, but Obama forced BP to put up 20 billion of its own money to cover costs.
If you got into a car accident, but the investigation hadn't happened yet to figure out if you were at fault, the other driver, road conditions, a car defect, etc. would you like it if the government told you to fork up a ridiculous sum of money to pay for everyone's damages?
So I get where that senator was coming from. Was it stupid to say? Yes, but it isn't completely without merit.
As for the hearings, this is the kind of dog and pony show Congress loves to put on to show the public that they're working hard for them. Truth be told, it means nothing. I mean what do you seriously expect to come out of it? The BP CEO isn't going to burying his company. He's not going to incriminate himself, his employees, or his company. He also can't say anything like: "Perhaps if you chuckleheads spent more time tightening up your own legislation instead of yanking each other's cranks, then there wouldn't be loopholes and lapses in inspections that might have lead to this incident."
For example: Did you know that the rig was registered to the Marshall Islands and not the U.S.? Know why? Because if you register your rig in the U.S. it takes approximately 6-8 weeks to finish your inspections before you can start working. If it's registered in a foreign country the inspection process is over in 4-8 hours.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
Yes, it's BP's rig, but where's the cash from the other company involved? The one that runs it (or is that the other way around)?
Could be some legal bullshit that was signed. Meaning BP could be legitimately screwed in that area. Or they could've been unfairly singled out because they've got the ability to drop billions of dollars at a moment's notice (apparently) & they're a "big, evil" company or some such. And they eat babies. Baby seals, too.
More and more evidence piling up that our government pretty much dropped the ball on inspections for this rig too.
Slam dunk. If they feel like regulating the fuck out of everything, they should get a jetliner flown up their collective ass every single time they break one of their own rules. They didn't do their goddamned job. They shouldn't even have the right to fine anyone.
As for the hearings, this is the kind of dog and pony show Congress loves to put on to show the public that they're working hard for them.
I always wondered why Congressional hearings were even held. It's a room full of old, out-of-touch people whose only real talent in life is lying to people en masse & convincing them to donate money. Unless you need them to make a judgment on that type of thing, why ask? What the fuck do they know about oceanic petrochemical engineering? I can run a panel on "dangers in neurosurgery" tomorrow. Seeing as how I've got next to zero training in that area, I wouldn't expect me to come up with an educated, informed opinion on the subject, though.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
is he in oils pockets so deep he thought he should stick up for them?
Not just him, but several U.K. media outlets.
When the socialists are bitching that you're treating a company too harshly ... well, just wow.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."