Why is Obama stalling oil cleanup in the Gulf?

[XJEEPER]

Keeping local governments in the dark is just one reason why the frustration of residents in the Gulf is so palpable.

State and local governments know their geography, people, economic impacts and needs far better than the federal government does. Contrary to popular belief, the federal government has actually been playing a bigger and bigger role in running natural disaster responses. And as Heritage fellow Matt Mayer has documented (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/04/Federalizing-Disasters-Weakens-FEMA-and-Hurts-Americans-Hit-by-Catastrophes), the results have gotten worse, not better.

And when the federal government isn’t sapping the initiative and expertise of local governments, it has been preventing foreign governments from helping. Just three days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the Dutch government offered (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/7043272.html) to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms and proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands. LA Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) supported the idea, but the Obama administration refused the help. All told, thirteen countries have offered to help (http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/05/06/us_not_accepting_foreign_help_on_oil_spill) us clean up the Gulf, and the Obama administration has turned them all down.

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/10/morning-bell-how-the-white-house-is-making-oil-recovery-harder/

Many in the U.S., including the president, have expressed frustration with the handling of the cleanup. In the Netherlands, the response would have been different, Visser said.

There, the government owns the cleanup equipment, including the skimmers now being deployed in the Gulf.
“If there's a spill in the Netherlands, we give the oil companies 12 hours to react,” he said.
If the response is inadequate or the companies are unprepared, the government takes over and sends the companies the bill.

While the skimmers should soon be in use, the plan for building sand barriers remains more uncertain. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal supports the idea, and the Coast Guard has tentatively approved the pro-ject. One of the proposals being considered was developed by the Dutch marine contractor Van Oord and Deltares, a Dutch research institute that specializes in environmental issues in deltas, coastal areas and rivers. They have a strategy to begin building 60-mile-long sand dikes within three weeks.

That proposal, like the offer for skimmers, was rebuffed but later accepted by the government. BP has begun paying about $360 million to cover the costs. Once again, though, the Jones Act may be getting in the way. American dredging companies, which lack the dike-building expertise of the Dutch, want to do the work themselves, Visser said.

“We don't want to take over, but we have the equipment,” he said.
While he battles the bureaucracy, the people of Louisiana suffer, their livelihoods in jeopardy from the onslaught of oil.

“Let's forget about politics; let's get it done,” Visser said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/7043272.html (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/7043272.html)


I hope this isn't the exploitation of an emergency and our planet to force Cap and Trade legistation through and to also somehow justify the government takeover of the oil industy..........:flamemad:

:us:

[XJEEPER]

Wow, that was almost too easy to predict...........

President Obama recently used the Gulf oil spill to stress the need for Congress to pass cap and trade, specifically the bill introduced by Senators John Kerry (D–MA) and Joe Lieberman (I–CT) after much delay. The 987-page American Power Act (APA) aims to reduce 2005 levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 80 percent by 2050, the same target that the House version passed last year.

Despite promises of consumer protection, however, the economic effects are the same. APA aims to increase energy prices, which would kill jobs and protect large corporations at the expense of the consumer—all for a minimal effect on the earth’s temperature.

The American Power Act will be sold as an economic stimulus, a planet saver, and an answer to the conditions that led to the oil spill. But the only winners are the big corporations who managed to get a seat at the table when the bill was crafted. For the large majority of Americans who did not, the bill would have a negative net impact.

APA is a significant tax on energy that would reduce Americans’ income, destroy jobs, and greatly shrink the economy. No amount of protections or rebates would save consumers from skyrocketing energy costs. And worst of all, there would be little environmental benefit to show for it.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/American-Power-Act-Oil-Spill-Does-Not-Justify-Wrecking-the-Economy (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/American-Power-Act-Oil-Spill-Does-Not-Justify-Wrecking-the-Economy)

[Boatwrench]

"While the skimmers should soon be in use, the plan for building sand barriers remains more uncertain. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal supports the idea, and the Coast Guard has tentatively approved the pro-ject. One of the proposals being considered was developed by the Dutch marine contractor Van Oord and Deltares, a Dutch research institute that specializes in environmental issues in deltas, coastal areas and rivers. They have a strategy to begin building 60-mile-long sand dikes within three weeks.

That proposal, like the offer for skimmers, was rebuffed but later accepted by the government. BP has begun paying about $360 million to cover the costs. Once again, though, the Jones Act may be getting in the way. American dredging companies, which lack the dike-building expertise of the Dutch, want to do the work themselves, Visser said.

“We don't want to take over, but we have the equipment,” he said.
While he battles the bureaucracy, the people of Louisiana suffer, their livelihoods in jeopardy from the onslaught of oil."


I heard the LA governor being interviewed on the radio last week expressing the idea of the sand dikes, but saying he was waiting for CG & EPA approval. I wondered...(I do a lot of that while stuck in traffic)...the governor is the states' executive, the CEO the HMFIC, the leader. Where was this guy's leadership? Build the friggin dikes and tell the CG & EPA to pound sand already. You were elected to lead, well then lead. Worry about the lawsuits later, but your beaches and tidal low lands have been saved.

Deregulation of the oil industry brought about the rules and protocols that prevented the CG from steeping right in and federalizing the scene. Additionally once the scene is federalized I believe uit falls into the "you touch it, you own it" realm. Hmmm, imagine the oil industry being deregulated wonder how that happened.

The CG does not have some magic spill preventer or cleaner, there are cutters that are equipped with skimmers and some from the west coast are on their way to the gulf, but it doesn't just happen.

The Jones Act. My work with the Jones Act dealt specifically with passenger vessels. But how difficult could it be to flag these dredges under US registry and place a US master onboard. Just like the Kuwaiti tankers during the Tanker War of the Reagan Administration.

[5-90]

While I find the dicking around deplorable on this, could someone summarise the "Jones Act" for me? Thing's probably five hundred pages long - boil it down to a few paragraphs, please.

[Boatwrench]

The Jones Act is used to protect (what is left of) the US shipping industry. Commerce between two US ports of call can only be conducted by US flagged vessels. Think Matson Lines SEA-HNL-OAK triangle and Sea-Lands former hold on all of AK barge traffic. US flagged vessels are required to have a US master and crew.

The cruise ship industry avoids SF Bay because they either sail all the way to Ensenada, Mexico or to Vancouver, BC before making a port of call. The majority of cruise ships have Panamanian registry. That's why the dinky 3-day booze cruises out of LA call on Ensenda and off the east coast the Bahamas. They have a foreign port in between the two US ports.

That is the small portion that I dealt with, cruise ships.

There are many sections of The Jones Act i do not even want to try and understand and I am unsure how it would affect dredges.

[RichP]

The serious downside of the sand dikes is it does not stop the oil, the oil goes right through it, slows it down some but it passes through. The oil does however have a thicker viscosity, I wonder if some filter boom type of setup could be dragged though the water and keep the oil in front of it while passing seawater and some kind of collection system.
I did hear they are using kevins costener brothers system and are putting it into production for bigger models.

[Boatwrench]

The Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System was purchased with funds from OPA90, The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 a barn door closing measure after the Exxon Valdez spill. The CG's page is Here (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.uscg.mil/hq/nsfweb/nsfcc/ops/ResponseSupport/Equipment/images/SORS.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.uscg.mil/hq/nsfweb/nsfcc/ops/ResponseSupport/Equipment/esbindex.asp&usg=__LweAEw7L6EV8XbquTgEY2M-2rR0=&h=207&w=297&sz=15&hl=en&start=11&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=fsB0Kv5C9aIACM:&tbnh=81&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dvoss%2Boil%2Bskimmer%26um%3D1%26hl%3D en%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1)

The VOSS works really well if the Vessel of Opportunity is a 180' bouy tender, however the last one was decommisioned and retired about 6 years ago. The VOSS does work with other vessels, but just works best with a 180 footer. The 180' replacements, a 225' has a built in VOSS. The vessel tows a barge or dracone behind it to pump the product into and when full are towed to a processing plant for decanting.

The other system I am familiar with is OWOCRS (O-walkers) Open Water Oil Containment & Recovery System. I didn't get to see this system used much after VOSS because it is cumbersome to PM and "reload" the charges. When I left this career path with the CG (1995) there were about five of us on the strike team that had ever saw the OWOCRS used. Early in the incident when ADM Allen mentioned in a press conference that the seas were to large to contain the spill I assumed the OWOCRS had finally been phased out and retired.

The sand would slow the oil reaching the beaches and allow collection ( of the sand) for disposal. Slowing the oil makes clean-up easier but increase disposal costs because of contaminated soils.

All CG cutters & US flagged ships are equipped with Oily Water Seperators, the units are too small to be effective for other than their own produced bilge slop.

[n1ywb]

I think we should string up the BP BOD and use them as oil booms.

I'm sick of people shouting "Small gummint! Low taxes!" out one side of their mouth then shouting "SAVE ME! BAIL ME OUT! CLEAN UP MY OIL! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN? BUT BY THE LORD DON'T STOP MY DRILLING!" out of the other side. How hypocritical.

Anyway it's a retarded amount of oil that bubbles up over a ginormous area and there really just isn't that much that we can do about it and huge amounts of it are still floating around somewhere underwater. You can't boom off the whole damn gulf and even if you did it wouldn't stop it from spreading through underwater currents. It's a royal fsckup of epic proportions, the price of which we'll all bear for probably centuries to come. There's no way to fix it. The only way to stop it from getting worse is to plug the well, which it seems nobody had a good plan for doing, for which IMO BP and the oil industry bear primary responsibility, while the feds bear a secondary responsibility for allowing the industry to behave recklessly, and the public has tertiary responsibility for paying more attention to Tiger Woods etc than to their elected officials.

[420BlackXJ]

I'm sick of people shouting "Small gummint! Low taxes!" out one side of their mouth then shouting "SAVE ME! BAIL ME OUT! CLEAN UP MY OIL! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN? BUT BY THE LORD DON'T STOP MY DRILLING!" out of the other side. How hypocritical.



^ Couldn't agree more.

[XJEEPER]

(http://www.breitbart.com/image.php?id=iafpCNG.63a128958094fb519016d188cf557 e83.101p0&show_article=1&article_id=CNG.63a128958094fb519016d188cf557e83.10 1)ALL ABOARD THE SOCIALIST PROPAGANDA TRAIN.........FULL SPEED AHEAD!!!

I knew there was perfectly logical explaination as to why Obama refused to let the 13 countries who rushed to help contain/clean up the leaking oil when the accident happened.

If this leak is really akin to 9/11, why did Obama have time to attend parties, concerts, golf outings, etc instead of pulling out the stops on a containment cleanup plan and engaging all available resources, with BP on the hook for the tab??

It's perfectly clear...... "don't let a crisis go to waste".

Use it for political gain and to further the Socialist agenda.

************************************************** *******


President Barack Obama (http://topics.breitbart.com/Barack+Obama/) likened the disastrous oil spill (http://topics.breitbart.com/oil+spill/) in the Gulf of Mexico (http://topics.breitbart.com/Gulf+of+Mexico/) to the September 11 attacks in an interview published on the eve of his fourth visit Monday to the stricken region.

"In the same way that our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy was shaped profoundly by 9/11, I think this disaster is going to shape how we think about the environment and energy for many years to come," he told Politico.com.

Obama said he would be making a fresh bid to get Congress (http://topics.breitbart.com/Congress/) to pass a major energy and climate bill.

He was quoted as vowing to "move forward in a bold way in a direction that finally gives us the kind of future-oriented ... visionary energy policy (http://topics.breitbart.com/energy+policy/) that we so vitally need and has been absent for so long."

"One of the biggest leadership challenges for me going forward is going to be to make sure that we draw the right lessons from this disaster," he said.

Obama said he could not predict whether the nation would transition completely from an oil-based economy within his lifetime but that "now is the time for us to start making that transition and investing in a new way of doing business when it comes to energy."

Obama travels Monday to Mississippi, (http://topics.breitbart.com/mississippi/) Alabama, (http://topics.breitbart.com/Alabama/) and Florida (http://topics.breitbart.com/Florida/) on a two day visit to a region reeling from the effects of the worst oil spill in US history.
On Tuesday, he will address the crisis in a rare primetime speech to the nation from the Oval Office. (http://topics.breitbart.com/Oval+Office/)

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.63a128958094fb519016d188cf557e8 3.101&show_article=1 (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.63a128958094fb519016d188cf557e8 3.101&show_article=1)

:us:

[XJEEPER]

I think we should string up the BP BOD and use them as oil booms.

I'm sick of people shouting "Small gummint! Low taxes!" out one side of their mouth then shouting "SAVE ME! BAIL ME OUT! CLEAN UP MY OIL! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN? BUT BY THE LORD DON'T STOP MY DRILLING!" out of the other side. How hypocritical.

Anyway it's a retarded amount of oil that bubbles up over a ginormous area and there really just isn't that much that we can do about it and huge amounts of it are still floating around somewhere underwater. You can't boom off the whole damn gulf and even if you did it wouldn't stop it from spreading through underwater currents. It's a royal fsckup of epic proportions, the price of which we'll all bear for probably centuries to come. There's no way to fix it. The only way to stop it from getting worse is to plug the well, which it seems nobody had a good plan for doing, for which IMO BP and the oil industry bear primary responsibility, while the feds bear a secondary responsibility for allowing the industry to behave recklessly, and the public has tertiary responsibility for paying more attention to Tiger Woods etc than to their elected officials.


Please define retarded or ginormous on a scale of quantifiable measurement.

According to readily available data, I discovered that there are 3858 oil platforms operating in the U.S.Gulf. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06mexico/background/oil/oil.htm

lhttp://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06mexico/background/oil/media/platform_600.jpg (javascript:history.go(-1))

While this oil spill in huge, on the grand scale, it does not justify a total restructuring of our main energy source....nor does it justify passing legislation that will further cripple our economy and force Americans to pay more for everything that they consume.

[Wallyman]

XJEEPER,
You are right om the $$$.
Couldnt agree more.His handlers want him to have his "9/11" moment so they can use it during the campaign of 2012..... if we still have elections.

[tharlanjr]

copied from pirate...


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574346610120524166.html

The guy who funds all of the organizations supporting and affiliated with Barack (e.g., center for american progress, moveon, mybarackobama, huffington post, etc.), George Soros owns MAJOR positions in Brazilian exploration companies where they have found oil off shore in deep water.

So magically, there are now 35 or whatever deep water drilling platfoms nearby, with no work, available for rent or sale. I think the phrase is "buyer's market".

Basically, Soros just literally orchestrated a fire sale of deep water drilling platforms to his Brazilian company while shutting down all US competition.

[tigerchief]

You forgot the rest of it:

EDIT: PS, if you question the "conspiracy theory" (I use quotes because after it's reality, is it really a theory?) long time friend and head of Soros' Center for American Progress, John Podesta, has been at the white house every day since the spill started. He's been giving the orders, and Barack just repeats them, google it.

[tharlanjr]

my bad, you the orig poster?

[tigerchief]

No, but I did post in that thread.

Why'd you quote only part of that post?

[tharlanjr]

just grabbed the first half, wasn't on purpose...

[Darky]

Please define retarded or ginormous on a scale of quantifiable measurement.

According to readily available data, I discovered that there are 3858 oil platforms operating in the U.S.Gulf. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06mexico/background/oil/oil.htm

lhttp://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06mexico/background/oil/media/platform_600.jpg (javascript:history.go(-1))

While this oil spill in huge, on the grand scale, it does not justify a total restructuring of our main energy source....nor does it justify passing legislation that will further cripple our economy and force Americans to pay more for everything that they consume.
I heard on the radio that there's something like 5 million gallons of oil a month leaking. But the Mississippi is spewing 3 million gallons of fresh water in the Gulf every minute!

I'd have to look the numbers up again to be sure, but it was something to that effect. Every 2 minutes the Mississippi puts out more fresh water than the leak spills oil in a month.

[XJEEPER]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/22/judge-halts-obamas-oil-drilling-ban/

A federal judge in New Orleans halted President Obama's deepwater drilling moratorium on Tuesday, saying the government never justified the ban and appeared to mislead the public in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Judge Martin L.C. Feldman issued an injunction, saying that the moratorium will hurt drilling-rig operators and suppliers and that the government has not proved an outright ban is needed, rather than a more limited moratorium.

He also said the Interior Department also misstated the opinion of the experts it consulted. Those experts from the National Academy of Engineering have said they don't support the blanket ban.

"Much to the government's discomfort and this Court's uneasiness, the summary also states that 'the recommendations contained in this report have been peer-reviewed by seven experts identified by the National Academy of Engineering.' As the plaintiffs, and the experts themselves, pointedly observe, this statement was misleading," Judge Feldman said in his 22-page ruling.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration will appeal the decision, and said Mr. Obama believes the government must figure out what went wrong with the Deepwater Horizon rig before deepwater drilling goes forward. Still, the ruling is another setback as Mr. Obama seeks to show he's in control of the 2-month-old spill.

Democrats and Republicans from the Gulf states have called on the president to end the blanket moratorium, saying it is hurting the region.

Oil company executives told Congress last week they would have to move their rigs to other countries because they lose up to $1 million a day per idle rig, and said there are opportunities elsewhere.

[XJEEPER]

Adding to the list of things that Obama has done that are above the law......what give him the right to demand money from BP, without due process? Don't get me wrong, I feel that BP is liable but the way this administration is operating is that of a tyrannanical dicatatorship.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/537967/201006211813/Is-US-Now-On-Slippery-Slope-To-Tyranny-.aspx

[Jeff in VA]

this just in........

sand berm construction halted

BP removes cap on wellhead (rumored that a ROV accidentally hit it?)

captain of a vessel-of-opportunity dies from gunshot

:popcorn:

Jeff

[kastein]

I heard on the radio that there's something like 5 million gallons of oil a month leaking. But the Mississippi is spewing 3 million gallons of fresh water in the Gulf every minute!

I'd have to look the numbers up again to be sure, but it was something to that effect. Every 2 minutes the Mississippi puts out more fresh water than the leak spills oil in a month.Yeah, but that water isn't really, really toxic. I'd swim in the water, I wouldn't swim in the oil. Well, I guess I probably will later this summer if it makes it up the east coast.

this just in........

sand berm construction halted

BP removes cap on wellhead (rumored that a ROV accidentally hit it?)

captain of a vessel-of-opportunity dies from gunshot

:popcorn:

Jeff
wait, WHAT? Got a link? :shocked:

EDIT: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/us/24spillweb.html

This just keeps getting better and better. Next they'll be suggesting using tactical nuclear weapons to melt the wellhead shut.

[XJEEPER]

This just keeps getting better and better. Next they'll be suggesting using tactical nuclear weapons to melt the wellhead shut.


http://pokerterms.com/images/sharks-with-lasers-2.jpg

[rocknxj]

The impending methane gas bubble explosion should seal up all the cracks in the gulf.

[Sniggs]

Queue, "Benny Hill" music in 5-4-3-2 GO!

[Darky]

Yeah, but that water isn't really, really toxic. I'd swim in the water, I wouldn't swim in the oil. Well, I guess I probably will later this summer if it makes it up the east coast.


wait, WHAT? Got a link? :shocked:

EDIT: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/us/24spillweb.html

This just keeps getting better and better. Next they'll be suggesting using tactical nuclear weapons to melt the wellhead shut.
Just pointing out that the amount of oil is fairly miniscule in comparison to the amount of water. The oil looks terrible however since it largely sits on top of the water.

[rocknxj]

Just pointing out that the amount of oil is fairly miniscule in comparison to the amount of water. The oil looks terrible however since it largely sits on top of the water.

WTF?

[XJEEPER]

Stick with me here folks, I know this is alot of stuff to read through, but it proves that Obama's Green Policy is flawed and cannot do what he claims it will do.....unless he is now claiming that it will destroy our economy?


Read the Summary bullets 1-24 on Pages 7-9 of Spain's

Study of the effects on employment of public aid to renewable energy sources.
http://www.juandemariana.org/pdf/090327-employment-public-aid-renewable.pdf (http://www.juandemariana.org/pdf/090327-employment-public-aid-renewable.pdf)


"The study’s results demonstrate how such “green jobs” policy clearly hinders Spain’s way out of the current economic crisis, even while U.S. politicians insist that rushing into such a scheme will ease their own emergence from the turmoil."



Obama is using the BP oil spill to leverage his Green agenda and push thru Cap and Trade Legislation, modeled after Spain's failed Green Energy program.
************************************************** *************************************************
His words, not mine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij4ngpNcsW0&feature=player_embedded

Obama's Agenda is clear.......shut down oil, force clean energy upon the nation. His actions are being controlled by The Center for American Progress.
************************************************** *************************************************

This is not the first time that the Obama administration has listened to the Center for American Progress.

They've got the Spain green jobs program. Here's what — this is the report on Spain's green jobs, OK? This is horrible. Damaging study comes out to showing that for every green job gained, 2.2 jobs are lost in the private sector. Spain has already gone through this.

Plus, each job gained costs hundreds of thousands in subsidiaries.

A six-month moratorium on drilling is a death sentence. Why? Why is it a death sentence? Well, you know those big oil platforms that are sitting down and they're going a mile down to drill — those big oil platforms are not cheap. They don't just sit around if they're not being used. They are immediately leased to some place else in the world and they are used for as long as they last.

You don't just sit around with empty equipment. It doesn't just go back on the beach. So when it's gone, it's gone. And so are the jobs, because not everybody can — not everybody can build them or work them. It's first come, first serve.

So, what happens to the equipment and the jobs? Where are they going? How does that help you? A drilling moratorium — cap-and-trade — is going to make your life easier and cheaper.

Does that sound real?

Will your energy be cheaper?

Will your job be or more less secure?

If your job isn't more secure and your energy isn't cheaper, who wins?

Because you're not. Who does? Well, the usual suspects.

Let me tell you here about George Soros, the billionaire progressive activist that funds the Center for American Progress. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Center for American Progress — which is the group that Van Jones and everybody has been hiding out in and picked the president staff — helps the president write his talking points and makes decisions.

The report in The Wall Street Journal states May 4, for instance, the cap-and-trade energy and environment expert Daniel Weiss called on the president to name an independent commission to look at the causes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. On May 22, he did just that.

On May 21, CAP president, John Podesta, privately implored White House officials to name someone to the public point person on the spill response. Guess what? A few days later, they did that.

On May 26, Weiss said that the White House needed to demand that BP immediately set up an escrow account with billions of dollars from which claims of the Gulf State residents would be paid out. Oh, yes. They did that one as well.

But don't worry. It's not like George Soros has anything to gain from how the president handles BP or anything like that. That would, of course, be wrong. And if that were happening I'm sure everyone in the media would be all over it — especially — especially thinking that there is a lot to gain here.

For instance, in Brazil. Brazil — according to Reuters, Brazil is the one that really stands to benefit from the BP oil spill catastrophe. As the U.S. moratorium makes more rigs available for other countries, Brazil is going to gobble them up. Brazil is plowing ahead now with a $220 billion, five-year — $220 billion five-year plan to tap oil fields that are deeper than BP's ill-fated Gulf well.
Remember, $220 billion, it's deeper than what we have here and the equipment is going to go from the Gulf down there.

But again, George Soros has nothing to gain from this. He is just telling the president what to do through the Center for American Progress. Soros Fund Management, LLC — I guess we should tell you this — holds a stake in Petrobras. That is the oil company in Brazil in the amount of $900 million as of December 31, 2009.

Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company, that the Obama administration — get this - the Obama administration is now lending $2 billion to. You ready? Wait for it. What is the $2 billion going for? To perform offshore drilling in Brazil.


Let's see if I have this right:

We ban it here; we lose the jobs here
we send the rigs down there;
we loan Brazil the money to do the drilling in deeper water - the oil company — the big investor is George Soros who is advising the president on how he should handle the Gulf.

Hmm.

The criminally-negligent media are too busy right now showing you pictures of birds with oil on them. They don't have time to bring you stories of politician and billionaires with grease all over their palms.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,594902,00.html

[bigalpha]

What's particularly scary is that this formation they've tapped into was estimated to produce 500,000 per day for 10 years.

[tharlanjr]

What's particularly scary is that this formation they've tapped into was estimated to produce 500,000 per day for 10 years.

500,000 what? gallons? barrels? cups?

[bigalpha]

Oops sorry. Barrels.