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To: Elroy Jetson who wrote (251981)	6/4/2010 7:14:24 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 306849

The American people already own the BP oil spill disaster... We just haven't realized it yet. But the bottom line is that BP will never (and honestly, probably cannot) pay for ALL the damage that is being done. They will not and can not pay for the economic devastation being wrecked. From fishing to tourism, from the storm damage from lost wetlands to health issues from the toxic morass they've turned the Gulf into, they will never pay for it. No, our nation will own most of those costs. And BP will continue to duck responsibility, to obfuscate data and to play their corporate games to insure that they minimize their portion of the burden. And honestly, we've never seen a corporate sponsored disaster like this before. (I'm not including the financial markets here - their damage was of a different sort, and that's another kettle of dead fish.) In fact, I'm hard pressed to come up with a more major catastrophe, given the reach and extent this BP oil spill has. The President needs to seriously use this crisis in the Gulf to motivate Congress to take stronger action. And I mean kicking Democratic ass as well as Republican. If it means risking losing politically to win on this, then that is what a great man of character must do. God knows, we need some pragmatic solutions here, and need them now...Colin Powell is right that the Military should have already taken over all coordination of the cleanup (take that responsibility away from the ruthless cost cutter BP and send them the bills)...and Robert Reich's idea of putting all of BP's North American operations in a temporary receivership makes sense as we're dealing with environmental terrorism like we've never seen before...BP has proven over and over again that the company execs can't be trusted to do the right thing for the American people -- and they sure don't have safety as their number one priority. I just heard on CNN that BP is changing the structure of it's operations -- they may be trying to limit potential liability. But remember that the original oil spill event occurred under the structure whereby BP's USA operations were owned and controlled by the parent corporation. Thus any liabilities that flow from the accident accrue to the parent corporation. What would make me more confident in our government's ability to handle this growing crisis in the Gulf...?? It's essential to not allow BP to call the shots. To not allow BP to control the data, information and press and scientific access to what is happening. To not allow BP to continue in their cycle of CYA while the destruction spreads. To not allow BP to get away with things like flat out refusing certain EPA orders (see also, BP's use of record quantities of the toxic Corexit dispersant). This is taking control of an out of control situation that threatens us economically and environmentally.