Okay people, what EXACTLY is it you want Obama to do about the oil spill?

Do you want him to put on a diving suit, swim to the bottom of the gulf and plug the leak himself?

Seriously, what is it you think he and the government can do about it?

You want the Navy and/or Coast Guard to clean it up?

Fine, now please explain just how they are supposed to do that?

You want FEMA in charge?

Okay, how if FEMA equipped to clean up this oil spill?

I see people whining about Obama not being "mad" enough?

How mad is enough? Is he supposed to scream and wail every 5 minutes like so many of you are? What does that accomplish?

Why is it Obama's personal responsibility to fix everything they ever happens, and to have fixed it yesterday?

I can see it now......next time wildfires break out in the west people are gonna blame Obama for not stopping the fires. After all, he's not just the president, he's a miracle worker, right? I can hear it now...Obama is not mad enough, he's not leading, he's not doing enough rain dances.......

So, again, I ask, and I'm asking for specifics, what is it you expect Obama to do that he is not already doing?

When Saddam Hussein unleashed the hundreds of millions of gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf during the first Gulf War I don't remember liberals demanding that George HW Bush clean that mess up, so why the double standard? Same with the Exxon Valdez oil spill and Reagan.

Face it folks, shit happens, and the government can't fix everything. That's a fact of life, like it or not.

in power. The R's believe no matter what that the best answer to all or any problems is letting corporations handle it themselves without any government interference.

Make BP stop spraying dispersant, and remove them from cleanup efforts.

That would be a start. (Oh, and BP still gets the bill for the cleanup!) Fuck those assholes!

Why do we let BP tell the EPA to fuck off when they were told to use less toxic dispersant?

They should not be using any dispersant! It hides the problem, and makes the cleanup more difficult.

It's a difficult situation but that's how it goes. All he can do is pressure BP privately and show outrage publically, that's all he can do, any President could of done. If there was resources a sure fire way to plug the hole it would be done right now, no-one would want this, all we can do is hope for the best and a breakthrough.

Actually confronting the problem is too risky politically, a real hot potato! Dont wanna get burned!! Just let it spew for months and months and duck the responsibilities of taking charge!!!

Change we can believe in.

yet you don't seem to have any answers to the problem at hand.

How is endless whining about Obama gonna stop the oil leak? Instead of constant negativism, what would YOU do if you were president?

You just dont want to hear them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/22/frustration-mounts-as-oil_n_585913.html



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8396797
www.epa.gov
http://www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/05/05/ongoing-administration-wide-response-deepwater-bp-oil-spill



After you review all the links provided, check back in and let us know specifically what else needs to be done.

Great! We just have to watch as BP sprays toxic dispersant (after being told to stop by the EPA). That's just lovely.

Endless posts about how nothing can legally be done. That's just fucking great! What a bunch of shit! No action, just excuses.

They threw a bunch of cheezy fucking booms out, and the waves just washed over them. Now the marshlands have been destroyed. There are ways to clean up surface oil, but the dispersant makes it sink, and impossible to deal with. BP has fucked up the cleanup big time, and I can't believe so many here are just giving up and insisting that it's hopeless, nothing can be done. What a load of crap.

what is it he is specifically supposed to do (besides, as you demand, "stop spraying dispersant")?

they are trained for or have the resources to do.

And who is going to stop the oil spill? Again, that's not something the military has the expertise or equipment to do.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/22/frustration-mounts-as-oil_n_585913.html



The EPA site gives quite detailed accounts of what they, BP and a whole host of federal agencies are doing. http://www.epa.gov/ They going into all kinds of technical details regarding various dispersants.

Their act together.

Wow this does feel like Katrina.

Obama and crew owe us a better performance after they let these assholes screw up and cause this mess. We are over a year into Obama's presidency. This is 100% his baby.

:shrug:

I found a wonderful post put together by another DUer with links and information:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8396797

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

A cursory view of the following websites will show that:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill
www.epa.gov






I prefer my President like this:



Not like this:

is telling someone they're making shit up considered a personal attack now?

:shrug:

in particular, it happened in relation to my post.

Perhaps send the question as a PM.

I don't believe a fucking word of it. They've been lying from the start. They're using that dispersant because they have a vested interest in using it.

This is absurd. A total clusterfuck.

for corporations. I agree. And now we're stuck dealing with them in the situation they created.

I anticipate future legislation will come from this, but right now, this is the best we got.

ok, that's too much, it's unrealistic for him to admit he lied.

But he can easily admit he was wrong.

He should do that, admit he was wrong, along with Sarah Palin, the republicans, and some corporate-oriented democrats.

He should also praise some people who are right about the risks of drilling, including the bulk of the Democratic Party.

He should single out people, for example Raul Grijalva, who have been paying attention and raising alarms, while drilling supporters have been ignoring and dismissing those alarms.

but it would help the other problem, that I can't believe a word he says about oil, because he has baldly lied about it.

Along with a thousand other issues that he inherited from the damn Republicans who endorsed every measure to relax regulations on off-shore drilling.

Admitting he was wrong is fine, but we are in the midst of the biggest oil crisis ever so I think it would be redundant to admit that he was wrong.

He was likely told it was safe. We know for a fact that BP said they had safety measures in place that they did not. If they had, this would not have happened. So actually, it would have been safe in the hand of more responsible people.

Lying is when you know what you are saying is not true but you say it anyway. He is not an expert on drilling so he has to rely on information from others whom he choice to trust.

He might admit to being bamboozled, but I doubt that he lied.

Lemme guess, the market will take care of it, right?

And are we talking about the same Army Corps of Engineers that did such a lovely job on the levees in New Orleans?

There is even a book about it called, "THe Army corps of Engineers response to the exxon valdez"

BP is incompetent and has lied and played down the spill from day one. Epic fail, they have no interest whatsoever in protecting the environment. All BP cares about is trying to recover profit by siphoning off whatever oil they can get, they know that once the leak is sealed, it will be hands off. With BP in charge, the leak will still be spewing, and they will still be siphoning, three months from now. Time for the adults to take charge.

How impressive. Of course, the fact that the book was written on behalf the US Army Corps of Engineers means it is factual and unbiased, huh? Why only one book, which just happened to be commissioned by the corps? Why didn't anyone else write any books about the corps role in the Exxon Valdez disaster? Could it be because the Army Corps of Engineers role in that disaster was minimal? Could it be despite the "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Response to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill" Alaska is still facing the effects from that oil spill all these years later?

And you would know this if you had looked before you leapt.

during the exxon valdez spill. Did they forget everything they learned that time?

Sid

...the big one is the lack of urgency in the gulf of Mexico on part of the US government.

"When Saddam Hussein unleashed the hundreds of millions of gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf during the first Gulf War I don't remember liberals demanding that George HW Bush clean that mess up, so why the double standard? Same with the Exxon Valdez oil spill and Reagan."

We liberals absolutely did complain. I was one of them. And BP had just recovered its reputation just prior to this. It was the liberal protests and compalinits that caused them to market themselves as environmentally concerned. Obviously it was a lie.

And those leaks were nowhere near the vast quantities of this leak.It is a real shame that Kevin Costner, one of those liberals you are yammering about bought the technology from our government because he had the foresight to "imagine " such an accident and our EPA couldn't be bothered to develop a cleanup plan.

What do I want? I want this to be treated as the catastrophe it is and not an inconvenience. I want the president to give updates. I want transparency.He promised us that when he was elected.And I want him to remove BP and to fine them. I want the drilling stopped.Not put on "hold". Not a moratorium, but ended.

video I saw here on Du last week, two farmers showing how hay abosrbs oil, cleans the water in minutes, then floats so you can scoop it up and then use that as fuel.
Seems a lot better than dumping KEROSENE into the water killing every living thing for miles,a s BP is now doing!!!!

It creates the illusion of less oil, while killing all living creatures. BP has purchased one third of the kerosene in the entire world and is dumping it into the gulf.
That is NOT ok with me!

Put Al Gore in charge of the environmental part of the response, cleanup efforts. Fire Salazar? Never should have been hired.

Having said that, I don't think FEMA can plug the leak.

1. I want the entire fucking Navy in the Gulf cleaning up. Coast Guard also. Any possible ship. Commandeer anything they can use in even the slightest to contain/sweep up/monitor/etc. the surface oil. If an enemy was attacking New Orleans from the sea, you know they would be there.

2. I would tell all the other oil companies "First group to propose and implement a seal off of this well gets all of BP's GOM concessions." Make them all think about it. Perhaps BP might work harder to win this particular race.

3. Instead of having some blue ribbon commission figuring out what went wrong, have the best minds available working on a solution. Everything on the table.

4. Lead. Lead, dammit. Every day have your people give press briefings on the latest efforts, what went wrong, what is next. And make sure someone , one person, has absolute authority for determining what activities are going on and when.


There are some things being done. What is lacking is any sense of urgency by BP, by Obama, by Washington. People are scared and angry, and acting like the serene above it all "leader" isn't cutting it. Obama doesn't have to publicly get mad but someone in his admin sure as hell does.

Hense no urgency on their part. THey want to delay capping as long as they can hold out. That is what happens when you let the market take care of it.

Here's a few:

1. They were in the process of capping off the well when it blew. If they wanted profits not capping it would have been easier and cheaper.
2. They are guaranteeing decreased future profits by decreasing chances of getting another permit to drill.
3. They are increasing their liability that courts will force them to pay by the day.
4. They are increasing the support for alternative energy which will eventually put them out of business because competitors are more likely to get the business that is left.
5. They are destroying their reputation, guaranteeing the loss of customers (thus revenue) to their competitors.

The list could go on. They cannot possibly collect enough oil to make up for the costs to them of allowing the spill to continue. And the expense for collecting it this way likely outweighs their chances for generating a profit off of it.

They don't know how to stop it. That is painfully clear. I'm going to invoke Occam's Razor here.

seriosuly.

...and you've understated the ridiculousness.

but BP is fined on the count of every barrel that is spilled. Hence they want to stop this as soon as possible.

The faster the plug it, they better off they are.

1) What is the Navy supposed to go? Give every sailor a bucket and have them scoop up the oil? The Navy is designed to fight wars, not oil spills.

2) Interesting idea, but, and correct me if I am wrong, Obama is a president, not a dictator, and therefore cannot make such declarations just because you think it's a good idea.

3) Any proof that isn't already happening? Why can't both be done at the same time?

4) That's already happening.

A great man once said "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Sometimes we have to realize that everything can't be fixed as soon as we would want or hope, and that living in fear is not the answer.

1. The nave has ships. Ships that can tow booms, and other cleaning devices. The Navy also has to clean up spills of it's own.

2. Obama can do many things as president. And one is to implement the laws that are out there, and another is to issue executive orders. So, fine BP and order the justice department to find a way to destroy their ability to do business in this country. You think he is powerless. I say he is not. And there is enough evidence of wrongdoing in this case to sue to remove BP's stewardship of their existing leases. At a minimum he can make damn sure they never get another lease in this country again.

3. Goes to my point 4. If it is happening, why isn't it point 1 or 2 in Gibb's pressers?

4. Bull. Think of our response to 9/11. Why not the same sense of urgency?

Fear comes from a lack of information coupled with perceived (merited or otherwise) incompetence and the very real thought that this might never end. That great man you quote made things happen, whether or not some folks thought he really had the power to do it. Real Leadership.

serious question.

Really?? You want Obama to emulate Bush on 9/11?? You really think a hysterical, misguided, strike at everything and anything kind of response is what we need?

which might just change some of the rules. There were crimes involved in this disaster. File murder charges and lying to the Federal government, and turn it into a crime scene.

I don't think that businesses have such sovereignty that they are allowed a complete hands off approach while they are destroying our country.

There is one major conundrum though. I really don't think anyone knows how to stop the leak. But the last people who should be involved in drilling a 2nd well is BP. That is absolutely unconscionable.

Although I strongly support Obama and have been slow to criticize him, I think that he is not publicly demonstrating the sense of urgency that this event deserves. I have no doubt that he is doing everything he can behind the scenes short of what I said above. But it is time for him to pull out that executive order pen that Bush used so freely.

It's time to start cracking down on corporations who would destroy our sea, land and livelihoods, who poison our children and pets by putting toxic products in their food and toys, who destroy our air and ozone, our planet, etc. It is time for Obama to demonstrate his leadership and show the world how it is done. I'm sick to death of these greedy little monsters who where largely allowed to fester during the Bush administration. It's time for Obama to crack down on them before they absolutely destroy this world.

It is not in BPs best interest to stop the spill. They can still make money by siphoning whatever they can, while they can.

To keep it from imploding? Maybe they could use it to plug the pipe. Holy crap.

You should really consider how stupid you sound. Its serious.

There is only a very limited number of platforms and expert crews to accomplish this task. You don't look in the Yellow Pages under Off-Shore Drillers. The comments that the Coast Guard or Navy should be tackling the problem is asinine as best. They have neither the equipment of expertise to do a damn thing.

It sounds like, Do something, do something!!! Well, just what would you like him to do? Pray tell me.

1. http://epa.gov/ At this link, the EPA details all they and a host of other federal agencies are doing. The White House site also details who is involved. http://www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill

2. I'm not sure this is legal.

3. You can have both. One team with expertise in stopping the leak and the other team with expertise in implementing corrective actions. In fact, they might well discover other potential disasters.

4. He has been speaking every day and working on this every day, despite belief in the contrary. http://www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill and http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/05/05/ongoing-administration-wide-response-deepwater-bp-oil-spill


I suppose Obama could run around like a chicken with it's head cut off. However, in addition to this disaster is the general business of the American people. I'd prefer someone who can calmly look at things versus hysterical hand-wringing.

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of greedy little whinny brats. GWB nearly puts us in a second Great Depression. In the first quarter of 2009 when Obama took office the GDP was minus over 6% and by the third quarter of 2009 we were showing growth again. In February 2009 we lost 750,000 jobs and by April 2010 we gained nearly 300,000 jobs. Somehow the President was supposed to turn an unemployment rate of 10% around overnight. Now BP has an oil spill and Democrats join in with such assholes as Bobby Jindal and blame Obama for not getting it stopped fast enough. The oil industry drills wells and sometimes things go wrong and there is nobody better equipped to deal with such things as the oil industry. These arm chair experts think you summon some Aaaanold or Tom Cruise character to come in and save the day like in Hollywood. BP is losing millions of dollars every day in lost oil and labor costs trying to get the thing capped not to mention all the mess that will need cleaned up afterwords. To say BP is purposely letting the oil leak into the Gulf so they can reclaim the oil is just ridiculous. It probably costs them many times more to pick up the oil and make it usable than they would get for selling it. Then on top of that every day the thing leaks more and more people are going to demand they stop off shore drilling, I don't see what BP would gain from that either. Of course there will be some DUer with a tin foil hat that will come up with some vast Wall Street conspiracy I suppose. wah wah wah

he's probably doing as much as he can. Hopefully, he's got his Attorney General finding a fine team of attorneys to make suing BP's ass off their career.

Also, it would be nice to have him redirect the Coast Guard to stop becoming BP's private navy on the shore. Yes, there shouldn't be a lot of interference at the site, but having the Coasties tell CBS News that they cannot film something many, many miles away is just bullshit.

What should Obama do? If you don't know you are totally blind

reverse the planned escalation of offshore drilling

remove the Bush cronies from the MMS management. LIKE HE SHOULD HAVE DONE FROM DAY ONE. This is the regulatory agency that should have caught the poor maintenance of the BOP that is the cause of this spill. Sheesh, it's like the justice department, Obama still hasn't replaced most of the Bush cronies there either.

Stop BP from using the toxic dispersants, Like dumping more toxins on top of toxic oil is going to make things better.

Ban caps on company liability for damages. It's $75 Million and that is a sick joke. NO LIMITS.

Push for prosecution conviction incarceration for oil company execs. NONE of the Exxon CEO's went to prison. ALL of the BP execs should do prison time. Where's the Obama justice department on this one? Just like the AIG execs who went free. CRICKETS

Stop granting exemptions to BP for environmental impact statements. Like they did just before this spill.

Stop the Coast Guard from barring reporters from access to the oil on the beaches.

It's business as usual in Washington DC, Obama has only made token image changes.

He's just an actor in a corporate sponsored "We Are Change" TV show. IT'S NOT REAL. The giveaway is that the Orwellian TV is totally own by the corporations that are raping the planet.

+++

Im not sure i believe this one. I saw the video and all that was release was the coast guard officer saying the line. It seemed kind of fishy frankly. What seems odd is why CBS didn't release the full video of the exchange. Other agencies have filmed the very beach they where trying to go to.

Obama and Dems are trying to raise it to 10billion

insert excuse/talking point here.

:argh:

No one ever seems to learn:
(a) He's not God and never said he was
(b) He's doing the best he can under the circumstances
(c) The circumstances in question are that Republican presidents and senators and representatives and ceo's have created this mess and left it bubbling and stewing on the desk in the Oval Office
(d) Reread (a) and (b).

Hekate

Obama would come out swinging, kicking butt, etc., but you are absolutely right as to what he can & cannot do.
It's frustrating to hear all the negativity from "our" side especially since I thought "our side" used reason & logic, rather than let emotions rule the day.

It's so easy to point fingers & believe me, the GOP will have the long knives out to slice & dice Obama, but do we have to join in? Obama doesn't have to come out & hold a press conference every day for me to know that he is angry at BP (& many of the folks at MMS), he's directly involved in pushing for some solution, and once the well is capped & clean up underway, he will push to hold BP accountable. ALL while handling all the other f***ups left on his desk by GWB & Cheney.




.....

This will be his downfall if he looks weak. I laughed when Republican's said it was his Katrina. I'm not laughing now.

from tanking.

Gawd for a moment I took you for a chronic Obama complainer.

<snip>
Napolitano declared the spill a crisis of "national significance" on Thursday. That's a move that Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said allows the government to pour resources from across the country into the effort.

"If BP does not request these resources, I can and I will," Landry told reporters in New Orleans.
<snip>

The required sense of urgency is missing in this statement. That's a problem for the president, since he's in charge of the dumbass admiral who was quoted.

I want a pony too when he finishes with the oil issue

outfit, and then he can go down there and plug it up. It's so easy; it's not like there's any kryptonite down there. Jeez, you're so dumb!

They use them in the Middle East. Why isn't he bringing them in?

He's not leading, he's starting to look like Bush did during the New Orleans flood. Pointing fingers and placing blame, not leading.

is sure trying to clean up this mess ASAP and for all our sakes I hope it's possible:bounce:

we just don't get enough of those

corrupt executives and government officials that allowed this to happen. (Real people.) They should pay for their greed and negligence out of their own family fortunes, and then spend time in jail. Meanwhile, the grownups will be cleaning up this mess for years, if not more.

Furthermore, I want Obama to stand up now and say how this is going to be prevented in the future. Will oil companies take orders from the EPA? Will drilling permits continue to be issued? How will we move away from oil energy dependence?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x310125

I think the "chill out" crowd are trying to deal quietly with the fact that BP et al. have a lot more influence in Washington than anyone there wants us to know.

Insert excuse/talking point here

Is the talking point *I* keep hearing.

Which tells me that somebody, somewhere is compromised and can't do the right thing.

Unless the Oil Corporations get together and get the spill fixed & cleaned up within, say 3 months.

I know, I know, Obama wont/cant/is not allowed/really does not have the power to do that because (insert excuse/talking point here.)

As I said earlier, the military may be the only unit in government that could make a difference here.

Washington (CNN) - One of President Obama's fellow Democrats is warning that if BP's latest attempt to stop the oil spill is unsuccessful, the president must take complete control of the increasingly dire situation.

"If this thing is not fixed today, the president doesn't have any choice and he better go in and completely take over, perhaps with the military in charge," Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla, said in an interview Wednesday with CNN.

"The military has an apparatus, the organization by which it can bring together the civilian agencies of government and to get this thing done." said Nelson.

Nelson's comments reflect growing frustration among lawmakers in Congress – even in the president's own party – that the administration has not done enough to stop the spill and quell the damage.

Who has it in their power to make that happen?

DO IT!

NOW!

on this with all their resources.

This is turning out to be a ecological disaster of mega proportions.
There is no time to waste.