The BP Oil Leak - Who's to Blame and How Is It To Be Stopped?

The finger pointing has been intense since the oilbecame more technologically advanced in being able
started spewing out of the floor of the Gulf theseto drill at deeper parts of the sea, but made no
past several weeks. The Republicans are blamingadvances in safety and troubleshooting in cases like
Obama, Obama is blaming BP, and it goes on and onwhat is happening now.
(for purely political motivations of course).Essentially a fair point by Ms. Maddow, however, she
First I'd like to say the blame is squarely on the oilpurposefully or inadvertently omits the fact that it
company. It was and is their responsibility, period.was pressure from environmental groups and the
How is Obama to blame, really? Why do people thinkpower of the federal government that has forced BP
the President of the United States is all powerful, liketo drill much farther from the shores.
he can go into a phone booth and come out with aSo the oil company engineers, who are really the
cape and superpowers? He has no answer, he is onlyexperts here, can't seem to get a grasp on the
the president.situation. I have a suggestion.
What about other parts of the government? WhoI suggest BP put out a substantial financial incentive
has the expertise, the Army Corp of Engineers? Ito any individual or company who can produce a
laugh. They have proven their failure in the past.working solution. The world is loaded with brilliant
What about the EPA? Again I laugh.scientists and engineers who with the appropriate
It is also interesting how this is being compared toincentive, may drop whatever important work they
the failures of the federal government with Katrina.are doing to focus their genius on this issue.
Apples and Oranges. In this case there is nothing theI cannot guarantee that a solution would be reached
federal government can do, except of coursebut what is the alternative? Besides BP could possibly
judicating this situation in the courts, where it belongs.save a fortune in legal fees the quicker its resolved.
With Katrina there were obvious failures with all levelsIn the 1980s, I always believed this would have been
of government- local, state and federal.the appropriate course of action that President
So stop thinking the President can fix anything, notReagan should have taken for producing his "star
just this mess but health care, the economy or anywars" missile defense system. Instead of wasting
other pressing domestic issue. He could however putumpteen billions on contracts with companies that
an end to all our overseas intervention andaccomplished nothing, he should of put up a fixed
occupation in a second. Hope you are reading Mr.dollar amount and award it to the company that
Obama.could come up with a proven "working" system. We
MSNBC talk show host, Rachel Maddow did anjust wasted so much money doing it the
interesting piece demonstrating that in 1979, almost in"government way".
the exact same spot, we had an oil leak that wentWell it's just my suggestion for BP. It would likely stir
on for 9 months!up the creative juices of those with the know-how.
The same methodologies to stop the leak then areWhat we have right now is just a lot of finger
the same methods used today, with negligiblepointing that's not helping one fisherman or pelican.
success. As Ms. Maddow points out, the oil companies