I'm Required, By Law, to Pay Federal Taxes but I'm NOT Left in Control of the IRS

[laughingliberal]

I also pay payroll taxes (or I did when I was employed) and I don't get to be in charge of the SS fund.

I also pay property taxes which are used to fund police and fire departments I do not command and with which roads are built that I do not direct the building of.

A law which requires oil companies to 'participate' in cleaning up their messes and be 'responsible' for the costs does not mean we leave decision making and direction of operations in their profit protecting, blood and oil stained hands.

[truedelphi]

1. Oh but with the campaign financing, Corporations are people

And with so many of our officials in the pay of the upper most of the companies, BP will get its way.

this is a total win-win for BP. In the worst case scenario, if the Gulf should end up a dead sea, why that will be a win for them because then why should we environmentally protect a dead region? They will be able to Drill Baby Drill as much as they want.

And with them forcing the President's hand (or most likely just greasing it a bit) they are in charge of the cleanup - so they will end up profiting.

The dudes in overalls that have the hay to mop up oil will get no where - because that type of system would threaten the money that the BP execs will make from their more toxic cleanup products. In fact, the "Hay will save us" crowd would find that they would be charged with polluting the Gulf were they to try to use that method unless it gets Congressional (or some type if Major Agency) approval.

I have seen these battles fought before - in the matter of trying to get the janitors at local schools to use less toxic methods. You cannot get a janitor for a Calif. public school to use vinegar to prevent wasp infestation rather than use some heavy hitting toxin - as vinegar has not been approved by EPA for that purpose. And of course it never will be, as there is not money in it for any Big CorpoRATtion to ask for its approval.

[laughingliberal]

2. Your post hits on all the worries I have about the future of this situation.

Thanks for posting it

[truedelphi]

3. You are welcome. Sadly, if we hope to see anyone jailed soon, it will be

The guys in the overalls with their HAY that will get the jail time.

There are a dozen or more laws on the books about the illegality of putting un-approved material in water ways, regardless of the purpose in doing so.

[pitohui]

8. i'm sorry but you're out of your tree

there is no way BP is profiting from this massive fuck-up

this is not the exxon saying it's all the drunk guy's fault and refusing to pay people, they're paying people off right and left (as they should be), today they announced a $500 million grant for oceanography/marine research, the first chunk of which is going to LSU...they are handing money out every which way to try to silence the anger

this is costing them BIG TIME

your experience w. fighting wasps in some small town california school, surprisingly enough, has exactly zero relevance to the need to contain a massive oil spill gushing from deep waters in the oil of mexico --- believe it or not, some problems are technical in nature and require a technical solution

guys collecting hair and hay are just "feel good" occupy the dumb driven cattle, so you feel like you're doing something, and to keep your wheels spinning, it's a step above watching "american idol" and thinking you're involved in a real american community, no, actually, it isn't a step above that, it's EXACTLY that

BP screwed up here but if you think the screw-up will be fixed by some beauticians with some spare hair they cut and some farmers with some hay they couldn't otherwise sell...jesus, grow up, and oh by the way, the next time you want to fight a wasp with vinegar YOU spray the vinegar at the wasp don't ask the janitor to do it, that's just shitty (i've tried the experiment, and you're asking the guy to get his happy ass stung, but you don't care, do you??? because vinegar is cheap and who cares about the worker -- when i'm being cheap-ass at least I'M the one wielding the vinegar i don't ask somebody else to take the risk for me)

hay is not going to solve the crisis in the gulf of mexico and it just pisses me off that you think people from the south are all stupid and stuff and that we would simply refuse to use a cheap simple fix if one existed

what motive would we have for refusing to fix this? there's no motive, you just assume we live in the south, we're stupid

[Spheric]

16. Why would they want to silence the anger? Oh yeh, ...

because it will cost them far more than if they don't. If they can pretend to actually give a shit, it will go a long way in providing them cover from future extensive regulation and criminal and civil damages imposed by Washington.

Believe it or not, BP is not the leader in the technology needed to mitigate this disaster. There are numerous other sources for that technology, including but not limited to their "competitors" in the oil industry.

It takes a certain brand of faith in the unseen hand of the market and not a small dose of naivete to believe that BP's interests perfectly align with the greater interests of society in this matter. If that were the case, this never would happened in the first place.

It makes no sense at all to place BP in charge of this when they have more incentive to minimize and cover up rather than to actually rectify.

Puh-leaze.

Edit: By the way, I'm from the South. I just want to let you know that I am not stupid enough to fall for that BP company line.

[freddie mertz]

4. Indeed!

Stop being so reasonable!:hi:

[no limit]

5. Great point

[leftstreet]

6. K&R

[waiting for hope]

7. K&R

Same shit .. different day. Halliburton is involved .. any questions?

[laughingliberal]

9. Yes, all the usual suspects. nt

[treestar]

10. At this level, we might, as we cannot do anything else

the federal government does not know how to clean up an oil spill of this magnitude without help. From people in that business.

Collecting taxes, is just collecting, an ordinary activity any business can do.

[laughingliberal]

11. The federal government does, however, have the ability to hire people with the expertise

to get the job done. My suggestion would be some with no agenda other than solving the problem. I am convinced BP is more interested in protecting their profits and limiting their liability than they are in finding the best resources for solving the problem.

[Spheric]

13. Would you have a problem with involving ALL of the oil companies...

who supposedly have the technical expertise under the direction and guidance of the government?

By the way, nobody knows how to clean up an oil disaster of this magnitude. They don't even know how to stop or slow the gusher to mitigate the damage in less than two or three months.

Nobody does.

That's why some countries require a relief well to be drilled simultaneously with the exploration well. That way, in the event of an underwater accident, the relief well is already in place. But who needs expensive regulations like that?

Duh.

[Spheric]

12. Are you looking for sanity?

That seems like a strange request. :sarcasm:

K&R

[Johonny]

14. yes clearly we need to fix the regulatory agency in charge

but at the moment I'm not sure the regulatory agency in charge is any cleaner or better than the oil companies themselves. It once again demonstrates it is much better to have a good plan before something goes wrong than try to make one on the fly afterwards. The failure of a strong regulatory body with contingency plans and the ability to coordinate a response once again highlights the weakness of the Republican political philosophy. Good responses to problems don't happen overnight, they happen because of years of training and anticipation by multiple disciplines.

[Spheric]

15. Very true. /nt