How should the people of the Gulf coast, affected by the BP oil disaster be compensated?
There is no better way to show the difference between the Republican and Democrat Party than the issue of compensation to those Americans affected by BP's oil spill.
In Congress, the GOP twice blocked the Democrats attempts to raise the $75 million cap that was established 20 years ago. The GOP sided with Big Oil protecting their interests and said screw you little people in Gulf.
How long would $75 million dollars last, considering the damage done by the worst oil spill in America's history. My guess would be that the $75 million would already be used up considering the number of families that have been affected by this oil disaster.
After the $75 million was used up...then what?
Congress would have to vote to use taxpayer funds to help out those working class folks, which means the GOP might vote NO again...
So which political party has the working class folk interests in mind?...NOT THE GOP!
This is just another example of how the GOP steps on the working class people of this country. Let us not forget, the GOP did not want "American car companies" to be bailed out...the GOP said "screw you" American workers!
The Dems and Obama = $20,000,000,000.00 ..for those working class folks along the Gulf.
The GOP = $75,000,000 and a SCREW YOU, for the working class folks along the Gulf.
I'm putting this in this thread since it's about the President's speech on the oil spill, but I have to say something. Whether you love or hate the President, is anyone else insulted by this?
(CNN) -- President Obama's speech on the gulf oil disaster may have gone over the heads of many in his audience, according to an analysis of the 18-minute talk released Wednesday.
Tuesday night's speech from the Oval Office of the White House was written to a 9.8 grade level, said Paul J.J. Payack, president of Global Language Monitor. The Austin, Texas-based company analyzes and catalogues trends in word usage and word choice and their impact on culture.
Though the president used slightly less than four sentences per paragraph, his 19.8 words per sentence "added some difficulty for his target audience," Payack said.
He singled out this sentence from Obama as unfortunate: "That is why just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation's best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge -- a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and our nation's secretary of energy."
"A little less professorial, less academic and more ordinary," Payack recommended. "That's the type of phraseology that makes you (appear) aloof and out of touch."
The monitor's chief word analyst found these three sentences insensitive: "Already, this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced. And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it is not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes or days. The millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years."
"You shouldn't be saying that in Katrina land," said Payack, referring to the 2005 hurricane that devastated the Gulf Coast. "New Orleans lost a third of its population; it's still recovering."
But he praised Obama's phrase "oil began spewing" as active and graphic.
At a micro level, the average word in the speech contained 4.5 letters, a bit longer than is typical for the former constitutional law professor, Payack said.
Obama's nearly 10th-grade-level rating was the highest of any of his major speeches and well above the Grade 7.4 of his 2008 "Yes, we can" victory speech, which many consider his best effort, Payack said.
"The scores indicate that this was not Obama at his best, especially when attempting to make an emotional connection to the American people," he added.
Putting aside whether you agreed with everything in the speech or it made you sick, I have to say I think this is utterly ridiculous. Hopefully this is just one guy's opinion on the matter and doesn't reflect the overall sentiment. But I'll be damned if our leaders have to talk at a 7th grade level just to be understood. That's insulting and embarrassing, IMO.
Living here on the Gulf Coast, and working for a company with another location in Mississippi on the Gulf cost I can tell you of the people I personally know that are being affected just want BP to stop the oil and clean up the spill. So far none have said they want anything from BP in monetary compensation.
Most are very prideful people who built their businesses themselves or are longtime family businesses. Not a whole not of national corps in this mess. These people work hard, believe in what they do and take pride in their work, and truly believe they will get through this fine. It's tough on them as the money is not rolling in, but they have all been through similar situations in the past.
The people of the Gulf Coast only want this messed cleaned up, we don't want hand-outs.
We don't have to agree with each other, to respect each others opinion.
Quote: Living here on the Gulf Coast, and working for a company with another location in Mississippi on the Gulf cost I can tell you of the people I personally know that are being affected just want BP to stop the oil and clean up the spill. So far none have said they want anything from BP in monetary compensation.
Most are very prideful people who built their businesses themselves or are longtime family businesses. Not a whole not of national corps in this mess. These people work hard, believe in what they do and take pride in their work, and truly believe they will get through this fine. It's tough on them as the money is not rolling in, but they have all been through similar situations in the past.
The people of the Gulf Coast only want this messed cleaned up, we don't want hand-outs.
Bingo!
All this rhetoric about "escrow funds" and "capping" BP's financial obligation needs to take a back seat to capping the $%^#$ well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These idiots who are trying to determine BP's "maximum" obligation need to get their heads out of their butts and focus on stopping the spew.
There will be/is plenty of mess to clean up and plenty of dollars to be spent. No one on the planet can make a reasonable estimate at this time as to the damage that has been done.
In classic Obama fashion, the focus is on how much money must be spent. Fix the problem...don't use a disaster to push your agenda...show some leadership ...get the mitigation dollars flowing...worry about the "$$$ cap" later.
Quote: The people of the Gulf Coast only want this messed cleaned up, we don't want hand-outs.
flor...SO SAYS YOU...
...a hand out?
Florida...who elected you to speak for all the people of the Gulf Coast?
So you know a few radical Rwers along the Gulf, who are not damaged in any way by the BP oil spill...and you and they speak for everyone along the Gulf...right!
Millions of jobs, people, livelihoods will be lost or damaged as a result of BPs oil disaster...and it will take years, maybe decades, to clean up the mess from BP's oil spill.
Florida...and your party, the GOP, only wanted to allow $75 million in claims...
The Dems and Obama = $20,000,000,000.00 ..for those working class folks along the Gulf.
The GOP = $75,000,000 and a SCREW YOU, for the working class folks along the Gulf.
Some voters mis-identified political positions of candidates.
The entire Obama campaign was a simplistic platform that gave zero detail, but stayed 100% on its simple and steady "Hope and Change" message.
10th grade? That may be too hard for some poeople.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama wrested a $20 billion compensation guarantee and an apology to the nation from British oil giant BP Wednesday, announcing the company would set up a major claims fund for shrimpers, restaurateurs and others whose lives and livelihoods are being wrecked by the oil flooding into the Gulf of Mexico.
Applause broke out during a community meeting in Orange Beach, Ala., on the news.
"We asked for that two weeks ago and they laughed at us," Mayor Tony Kennon said. "Thank you, President Obama, for taking a bunch of rednecks' suggestion and making it happen."
Obama had said he would "make BP pay," and the company's chairman said after four hours of intense White House negotiations that BP was ready.
The unending oil spill saga had yielded almost no good news before this. Creation of the fund — to be run by an administrator with a proven track record — is the first big success Obama has been able to give to Gulf residents and the nation in the eight weeks since the explosion, a period during which the spill has taken ever more of the public's attention, threatening anything else the president hoped to focus on or accomplish.
Huge as the $20 billion seems, both Obama and London-based BP PLC said it was by no means a cap.
Non-negotiable
The deal also adhered to what Obama had said was his non-negotiable demand: that the fund and the claims process be administered independently from BP. It won't be a government fund, either, but will be led by the administration's "pay czar," Kenneth Feinberg, better known as the man who oversaw the $7 billion government fund for families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The April 20 explosion of an offshore oil rig killed 11 workers and sent millions of gallons of crude spewing into the water from the broken well a mile below the ocean's surface — as much as 118 million gallons so far and still flowing. More wildlife, beaches and marshlands are fouled every day, jeopardizing not just the region's fragile ecology but a prized Gulf way of life that is built on fishing and tourism.
On Wednesday, BP began burning oil siphoned from the ruptured well as part of its plans to more than triple the amount of crude it can stop from reaching the sea by the end of the month, the company said. It's the first time this particular burner has been deployed in the Gulf.
Though the company hopes to install equipment soon to capture as much as 90 percent of the escaping oil, the leak is expected to continue at least until relief wells are finished in August.
The use of the BP escrow fund is intended to avoid a repeat of the painful aftermath of 1989 Exxon Valdez oil disaster in Alaska, when the fight over money dragged out in courts over roughly two decades.
"What this is about is accountability," said Obama in brief remarks in the State Dining Room after a four-hour, on-again, off-again White House negotiation session with BP executives. "For the small-business owners, for the fishermen, for the shrimpers, this is not just a matter of dollars and cents. ... A lot of these folks don't have a cushion."
'Small people' — oops On the driveway outside, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg apologized for "this tragic accident that should never have happened."
We care about the small people," he said.
That comment wasn't as well-received as the promise of compensation.
"We're not small people," said Justin Taffinder of New Orleans. "We're human beings. They're no greater than us. We don't bow down to them."
Added Terry Hanners, who has a small construction company in Gulf Shores, Ala.: "These BP people I've met are good folks. I've got a good rapport with them. But BP does not care about us. They are so far above us. We are the nickel-and-dime folks of this world."
By evening Svanberg was apologizing again. "I spoke clumsily this afternoon, and for that, I am very sorry," he said in a statement. "What I was trying to say — that BP understands how deeply this affects the lives of people who live along the Gulf and depend on it for their livelihood — will best be conveyed not by any words but by the work we do to put things right for the families and businesses who've been hurt."
Back to the Hill The apologetic talk was expected to continue Thursday when company CEO Tony Hayward will face sharp questions from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
In prepared testimony obtained by The Associated Press, Hayward expressed contrition for the spill and its effects and said he was "personally devastated" by "these tragic events." He pledged, "We will not rest until the well is under control, and we will meet all our obligations to clean up the spill and address its environmental and economic impacts."
In creating a victims' compensation fund, BP will use noncore U.S. assets as security for its $20 billion obligation. Chief Financial Officer Byron Grote stopped short of calling it a lien, but he said the assets will be used as security.
If BP had to borrow money in the future to pay any of its obligations, that might prove difficult because rising investor concerns could raise the company's borrowing costs. As of the end of March, BP reported only $6.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents. Grote said the amount has not changed "materially" since then.
Svanberg announced the company would not pay dividends to shareholders for the rest of the year, including one scheduled for June 21 totaling about $2.6 billion. The company will make initial payments into the escrow fund of $3 billion this summer and $2 billion in the fall, followed by $1.25 billion per quarter until the $20 billion figure is reached.
Pushing for a strong BP Aware that a healthy BP is in everyone's interest, Obama gave a plug for what he called "a strong and viable company" — a day after he had accused it of recklessness. The viability of the compensation fund could be on shaky ground if BP eventually were forced to file for bankruptcy as some fear.
BP shares gyrated as the events unfolded. They rose more than 5 percent to $33 after Obama's words of support. But they slipped back as investors digested the full extent of BP's commitments, ending the day with a gain of 45 cents to close at $31.85 per share.
The company's potential liabilities, including cleanup costs, victims' compensation and civil fines, are breathtaking to consider — stretching far beyond the $20 billion fund.
For example, civil penalties can be levied under a variety of environmental protection laws, including fines of up to $1,100 for each barrel of oil spilled. That alone could translate to as much as $3 billion. If BP were found to have committed gross negligence or willful misconduct, the civil fine could be up to $4,300 per barrel, approaching $12 billion.
So far, 66,000 claims have been filed, $81 million awarded and 26,000 checks cut, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen.
The $20 billion escrow fund can be used to pay all claims, including environmental damages and state and local response costs, with the exception of fines and penalties.
Resolving one particularly thorny dispute between BP and the government, the company also agreed to establish a separate $100 million fund to support oil rig workers idled by Obama's post-spill six-month moratorium on new deep-sea oil drilling. The administration also was to ask Congress for special unemployment insurance for the workers.
There has been little love lost between Obama and BP recently, with the president's rhetoric becoming increasingly sharp. In yet another jab at BP, the deal was made public by Obama aides even while the much-anticipated White House confrontation was under way.
The showdown opened with an apology from Svanberg and a recitation from Obama of the ills he has seen on his visits to the Gulf. The two sides broke up several times to talk privately or for Obama's aides to go consult with him, as the president stayed for the first 20 minutes but only ducked in and out after that. At one point, Obama and Svanberg spent 25 minutes alone in the Oval Office.
Afterward, the two men had respectful words for each other, with the chairman seeming to praise what he called the president's evident frustration on behalf of Gulf residents.
Feinberg ran the government compensation program for 2001 attacks for nearly three years, deciding how much families should get based largely on how much income the victims would have earned in a lifetime.
As Obama's "pay czar," he sets compensation limits for executives at banks and other companies getting the most aid from the $700 Wall Street bailout fund, with the aim of keeping runaway bonuses and salaries in check for those seen as most at fault for the economic meltdown.
BP has taken the brunt of criticism about the oil spill because it was leasing and operating the Deepwater Horizon rig that sunk. It also is a majority owner of the undersea well.
But several others companies involved in the failed oil may well be required to chip in as well. Swiss-based Transocean Ltd. owned a majority interest in the rig. Anadarko Petroleum, based in The Woodlands, Texas, has a 25 percent non-operating interest in the well.
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The Dems and Obama = $20,000,000,000.00 ..for those working class folks along the Gulf.
The GOP = $75,000,000 and a SCREW YOU, for the working class folks along the Gulf.
Quote: the $7 billion government fund for families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The victims of the 9-11 attacks .... which killed thousands ..... and left a gigantic hole in the middle of New York ..... and caused thousands more people to be out of work for years .......
They got $7 billion.
This oil spill .... which is a one season tragedy .... well, the victims of this get $20 billion?
Pardon me if I see a slight discrepency here.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Quote: The Dems and Obama = $20,000,000,000.00 ..for those working class folks along the Gulf.
The GOP = $75,000,000 and a SCREW YOU, for the working class folks along the Gulf.
So mac why has Obama made the unilateral decision to shut down oil well rigs that have been inspected and are in fine shape.. thus putting thousands of gulf people out of work? They don't want to be out of work, if the rigs are inspected safe they want to go to work, but Obama won't let them. Why is he doing that to the working class people?
And just out of curiosity, when the stories start coming out about the graft and misappropriation of this $20 billion and how it's being used and how it's not getting to the people that need it most (and rest assured that those stories will come out)... what will you say then?
So you know a few radical Rwers along the Gulf, who are not damaged in any way by the BP oil spill...and you and they speak for everyone along the Gulf...right!
So what exactly is a "radical Rwer" to you? Just wondering what your definition is, cause you seem to enjoy using that term.
How should the people of the Gulf coast, affected by the BP oil disaster be compensated?
There is no better way to show the difference between the Republican and Democrat Party than the issue of compensation to those Americans affected by BP's oil spill.
In Congress, the GOP twice blocked the Democrats attempts to raise the $75 million cap that was established 20 years ago. The GOP sided with Big Oil protecting their interests and said screw you little people in Gulf.
How long would $75 million dollars last, considering the damage done by the worst oil spill in America's history. My guess would be that the $75 million would already be used up considering the number of families that have been affected by this oil disaster.
After the $75 million was used up...then what?
Congress would have to vote to use taxpayer funds to help out those working class folks, which means the GOP might vote NO again...
So which political party has the working class folk interests in mind?...NOT THE GOP!
This is just another example of how the GOP steps on the working class people of this country. Let us not forget, the GOP did not want "American car companies" to be bailed out...the GOP said "screw you" American workers!
The Dems and Obama = $20,000,000,000.00 ..for those working class folks along the Gulf.
The GOP = $75,000,000 and a SCREW YOU, for the working class folks along the Gulf.
If you had any clue whatsoever, you'd know that the so called "cap" was nullified the moment it was provable that negligence was involved. This means that no matter what sort of PR stunt the president staged as far as getting a fund created, BP was going to be on the hook for everything no matter what... just as they should be.
NOT A SINGLE CENT should come from the government coffers!
Now, if you pull your head out of your butt and read the article I posted, NOWHERE does it dispute the setting up of the fund... it merely points out all of the holes in the plan as it stands.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
I still want to know who the government inspector was who passed the drill site in question just 3 weeks prior to the explosion.
Like it or not, the government did play a part in this.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
I am sure many top engineers and geologists are on the matter.
I just don't think they can stop it. When you start hearing crazy proposals like trying to fuse it by detonating a small nuclear device from competent minded people, you know you have a problem.
My feeling is until they can tap 4-5 more wells in to that reserve to more or less dry it up, this thing might leak as is for 7-8 years.
The Gulf may become a dead body of water for the next 25 years.
I wonder how large an area on the ocean floor is leaking?? Fifty feet, just the well head.....50 yards...??
I don't understand why a large cone type device couldn't be placed over the entire area....the pressures down there are doing to settle the thing pretty good. Have enough vent tubes connect to hose to be able to handle the volume of oil so it doesn't fill the vessel and start settle to the floor.
I know something like this will take time to build....but heyy.....it couldn't take that long.
This is still only temporary...you have to be able to shut the thing down in bad weather....
We are in a pinch here....this isn't going to stop until we pump it dry....and that may takes a long, long time.
It's obvious to me we don't have the ability to cap it or that would have been done at this point.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
This isn't going to do anywhere near that kind of damage IMHO.
For one thing, this isn't refined oil, but rather pure crude that often leaks into the ocean anyway. (Though, obviously not at these levels) This oil will naturally break down in the ocean. If this was refined oil ..... we'd have major environmental issues for years and years to come.
The relief well is about as close to a sure thing as you get. It takes a while because of the depth, but should shut the leak down almost entirely. The leak site can then be plugged using some of the methods that were already tried but failed because of the high pressure of the leak.
Once the oil leak is shut off, the clean up should be rather rapid. Some of the oil will have already broken down by virtue of exposure to warm waters and sunlight. It's less than 1% per day as far breaking down naturally ..... but a year from now, with good clean up efforts, much of the rest should break down on its own.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Quote: I still want to know who the government inspector was who passed the drill site in question just 3 weeks prior to the explosion.
Like it or not, the government did play a part in this.
Likewise, much has been made of the recovery plan that talks about walruses and has dead guys listed as experts.. fine, BP should be on the hook for submitting a crappy plan. But I've done government construction for 15 years and everything that is submitted is submitted for a reason.. somebody on the governments side is responsible for reading it and approving it.....
As I understand it this same crappy emergency response plan was submitted quite a few times to get quite a few permits.. so either nobody in the government read it.. which is negligence on the governments part or they did read it and approved it as is, which is downright criminal negligence on the governments part...
I really had no problem with the speech.. he said what was happening,, said what they were doing about it at that moment, said what he hoped to accomplish..
Not sure this critical view has much value.. well, to me it doesn't have any.,..
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe." Damanshot
Quote: The people of the Gulf Coast only want this messed cleaned up, we don't want hand-outs.
flor...SO SAYS YOU...
...a hand out?
Florida...who elected you to speak for all the people of the Gulf Coast?
So you know a few radical Rwers along the Gulf, who are not damaged in any way by the BP oil spill...and you and they speak for everyone along the Gulf...right!
Millions of jobs, people, livelihoods will be lost or damaged as a result of BPs oil disaster...and it will take years, maybe decades, to clean up the mess from BP's oil spill.
Florida...and your party, the GOP, only wanted to allow $75 million in claims...
The Dems and Obama = $20,000,000,000.00 ..for those working class folks along the Gulf.
The GOP = $75,000,000 and a SCREW YOU, for the working class folks along the Gulf.
Mac, go stick your head in your ass. How many times do I have to tell you I am not a republican, and as long as you continue to insinuate you know what party I belong to and insist on labeling me as so I will consider it an act of harassment.
Until you speak to people as people, rather than as some enemy party your opinion are nothing but the excrement from a dogs behind.
Your nothing but a troll, you have no useful opinions, you can only post what you get from your favorite website.
Why don't you do us all a favor and quit coming here, we can all read the huffington post without your posts. :middlefingersmiley:
We don't have to agree with each other, to respect each others opinion.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Quote: I still want to know who the government inspector was who passed the drill site in question just 3 weeks prior to the explosion.
Like it or not, the government did play a part in this.
This, right here.
Names, please... then criminal prosecution- top to bottom. It won't help to clean up one drop of oil, but it might give people some sense that accountability still matters in this country. In other words, every single individual who was guilty of negligence (or worse) should get the "15 minutes of fame" they so richly deserve.
I only worked in a refinery for 5 years, but even a lowly hourly worker (read: "small person") like me saw safety inspections every month at various cracking and fractionating units from the front gate to the loading cars. OSHA was there constantly, inspecting first one unit, and then another. Workers used to joke: "So... it's your turn in the barrel this time, eh?" For a rig to have failed so catastrophically, SOMEONE wasn't doing his or her job... or was deeply 'on the take.'
I want answers. Lots of them.
Clemdawg: Coke Drum Operator 1977-80, OM&S (Oil Movement & Storage), 1980-82 ...best job in the plant.
First, I must commend you Radical Rwers for acting your age...especially Floridafan who sent me an IM entitled "FU"...
WAY TO GO, YOU LIL RIGHT WINGERS!...
You "boys" are the reason I continue to fight for and support "working class folks"...you definitely reflect the values of the GOP...keep up the good work, boys...
...AND..here is another example of the Radical RW GOP acting like a "lil boy"...
..at least you "boys" are consistent...
Is Joe Barton related to all you boys?...he has to be...
The Dems and Obama = $20,000,000,000.00 ..for those working class folks along the Gulf...
The GOP = $75,000,000 and a SCREW YOU, for the working class folks along the Gulf...
Well mac ... I am tired of reading the same insane and inane crap you post all the time ..... so I think it's time to ignore you.
All you do is repeat tired old liberal rhetoric, and you refuse to answer simple questions. You don't debate ... you recite. It's ridiculous and appalling. I have come to the conclusion that you couldn't put together an original thought if your life depended on it.
Oh ... and did you thank your grandkids for paying your way yet? (Remember to let them know to thank their grandkids too ..... and their grandkids' grandkids .......)
Have a nice life mac. I just wish that I, and so many other hard working people, didn't have to pay for it. However, if you want to go through the rest of your life being a sponge ..... nothing I can do about it.
Remember ... your $2 trillion packages could have just flat out given 40 million people $50,000 each. There are roughly 115 million housholds in America. We could have sent each and every household in America a check for $15,000 each and still not have spent $2 trillion. But the government had to spend, spend, spend ..... and have the government take over businesses ...... and spend, spend spend some more ....... and for this we got a 10% unemployment rate ...... and $2 trillion more in debt ......
But your grandkids, and their grandkids, and their grandkids can pay for it ... so don't give it a second thought. Hell, I doubt that you gave it a first thought. I doubt that you even care.
OK .. let's see .......
Right Wingers! Jobs saved or created! Obama rules! Working class folk!
Now I've read every single thought you have ever posted on these boards. You can post ... dry up and blow away .... or fall off the face of the Earth and I won't give a damn. ... because I won't even notice.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
HEATED DISCUSSIONS First and foremost, respect your fellow board members. Always try and keep in mind that opinions are being presented, opinions that you may or may not necessarily agree with. If you don't agree with someone, you generally have 2 options. One, of course, is to just ignore it and move on. The other would be to say that you disagree, and provide a point/counterpoint to the discussion at hand. Be prepared to back up your viewpoint with stats and/or links. PLEASE do not resort to name-calling, as this does nothing to back up the validity of your point. It's not necessary and is totally out of line for you to call another poster an "idiot" or a "moron", just because they have a different opinion than yours. If it is noted by the board moderators that someone is calling other posters names, and berating others verbally, that person will be "booted" from the message boards and lose their posting privileges indefinitely. Warnings may or may not be given prior to a suspension being handed down.
How does every single one of Mac's post not break this rule? Isn't he constantly name calling?
That's what I've always wondered ... he's constantly name calling, and he's a borderline troll. How the heck does he keep his posting privledges? Then again, I suppose every court needs its Jester.
Quote: First, I must commend you Radical Rwers for acting your age...especially Floridafan who sent me an IM entitled "FU"...
WAY TO GO, YOU LIL RIGHT WINGERS!...
You "boys" are the reason I continue to fight for and support "working class folks"...you definitely reflect the values of the GOP...keep up the good work, boys...
First, just be glad I didn't send you a PM.
Secondly, bud, I AM working class America. I bust my butt. And here anymore, I worry just about every night. I'm not "rich" - my wife works, and we're not "rich".
I AM working class America - and I want to keep most of what I work for. I have an "average" home - no one helps me pay to heat it. My daughter isn't on free lunches at school. We have 1 nice vehicle - a 2006 - and I drive a 1994 Bonneville - 155,200 miles on it.
Our house needs siding - no help for me from anyone, other than friends. We need a roof - but I won't get any gov't. aid. And I don't want it - but I sure as hell don't want to be paying for other peoples home improvements - which I am. (I happen to know a bit about that subject - no expert, of course. And I'm not talking about home improvement, I'm talking about how the unemployed, the welfare people, the single moms, etc, about how they get their stuff taken care of for next to nothing)
My income has decreased a fair amount due to the economy - yet some how my taxes have not, partly because I'm afraid to expand my business, which means I don't get the tax breaks for equipment, etc., which means other businesses are not getting my business, there by leading to them letting employees go, yet you are tickled to death that the tax cuts will probably be repealed - or not extended. While you think that makes you FOR the working class, what it actually does is make you FOR gov't., and AGAINST the working class, although in your stupor you probably don't realize that, but the rest of us do.
Your opinions make me do 2 things: 1 is laugh, cause they are so inane I can't help myself but laugh, and the second thing is - I worry - I worry that there are more and more people like you that THINK taking from one person to give to another is a good thing.
I know you don't see it - people like you never do. Your only joy is hoping other people wallow in the bottom like you - you have no concern for, nor respect for the people that work to earn a living. You are one that thinks "hey, his house is bigger - and that's not fair, gov't. ought to tax the hell out of him to give to me". That's pathetic. Dragging a person down is no help to anyone - building people up, and making them earn it, helps everyone. Your stances on everything are backwards in regards to "being FOR the working class".
And your hatred of anything you don't like (common sense, for one) is amazing to me.
You remind me of what my wife and I were talking about just today. The company she works for has resumed hiring college kids for the summer. They haven't done that in years. As of today - almost 20% of the kids they hired have been "released". Why? Because they are terrible workers, show up late, ask to leave early, and basically have no, NO work ethic. Their attitude is "I deserve it". That's you, mac.
As I was talking with my wife - SHE even said "I'm glad you were tough on your son - he knows how to work." Now, since you don't have a clue about me or my life - let me just tell you that, for my wife to compliment me in that way - it was meaningful.
I applaud Floridafan's reply to you.
You, mac, and people like you - you are half the problem this country has. Entitlement. Jealousy. Your confiscatory tax stance........I think it would stink to be as hate filled as you are, as anti America as you are, and as lazy as you want others to be in not taking responsibility - relying on the gov't. for everything.
It is quite nice actually. It's like he doesn't even exist.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
To the best of my knowledge I'm not related to Joe Barton... and I can see why you make your typical condescending comments regarding him.. that's what you always do when somebody cites the law or uses facts.. because the law, the constitution, it isn't worth the paper its printed on to the bunch of pandering liberals that are ruining.. sorry, running this country...
you are only concerned with one thing, giving BPs money away.. why? Because it fits about 4 of the agendas that liberals are good at... 1. Giving away money that doesn't belong to them. 2. Giving money to people in an attempt to buy political support. 3. Punishing corporations that make money. and 4. Disregarding the law.
This sets a great precendent for the liberals to follow next time.. no need to sue big tobacco, just call them into the white house and DEMAND that they set up a slush fund to pay people with cancer.. no need for due process, no need to finish the investigation, no need for formalities like that... Ford has a dangerous recall? No need to do any kind of litigation or investigation, just make Ford park a few billion dollars into the care of the government so anybody who is injured can just get a big check...
On a side note - who wants to bet that no matter what, the "independent, third party" responsible for the $20 billion ends up using $5 billion or so for "administering" it - and then comes back and needs more money from BP?
I'm pretty sure Ken Feinberg has already been given the task.. He is the uber-administrator when it comes to giving out money... other peoples money.
He is the pay-czar who gets to tell execs of private companies how much they can make... he had a similar task of giving out money after 9/11... and he dished out the donated cash to bereaved families after the VA Tech shootings...
The only comment I can make about Barton is, I don't get his thinking..
Why the hell should he apologize to BP.. Wasn't it thier well that blew up.. isn't it the oil from that well that is causing all the damage and hasn't it been somewhat proven that there was a lack of control and oversight by BP on that rig......
Why the hell shouldn't BP pick up the tab for this mess.
20 Billion,,, I think that in the end, that's not going to be enough..
Like I said on another thread or maybe it was this one towards the beginning.
We have to make the cost of not doing EVERYTHING humanly possible to avoid these disasters so great that companies won't think twice about spending the extra money to do things better..
JMO
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe." Damanshot
...get the mitigation dollars flowing...worry about the "$$$ cap" later.
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