Is the BP oil spill another exampleof how we DON'T what our economy ran?

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/spring01/hogue/exxon.html Exxon paid the price for its actions in several different ways. The cleanup effort cost the company $2.5 billion alone, and Exxon was forced to pay out $1.1 billion in various settlements.

Laglen, BP has already spent just under a Billion already, and it hasn't done anything at all. You know as well as I do that they can't fund this on their own, and from past history they won't have to. Just look at what Exxon/Mobil did, and you will see that WE will end up paying for this.

Laglen, they lost a lawsuit that should have paid the people effect by this spill $5 Billion. It was then reduced to $2.5 Billion, and then the Supreme (idiots) Court then lowered that down to $507.5 Million. They only made $40 Billion in profits that year, so why not pay for the damage that you caused instead of dragging this through the courts for almost 20 years. Pretty sad isn't it? http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008018035_exxon26m.html

President Obama is a weak president. Why? He doesn't know how to act when a crisis occurs. I'm from Louisiana, and I hope to God that another Hurricane Katrina happens...why? Because we'll be screwed.

Our government said the same thing of Exxon/Mobil, and they waited for an oil friendly president and ran away as fast as they could with guess who to pick up that bill? DB, I try to ignore most of your questions as well, but I have this sickness that makes me try to help the less fortunate. I hope I can find a remedy to this soon, because talking to you usually makes me want to give up on intelligence on here.

Isk, So you are hoping for another crisis for what? To prove you point? Obama would have to totally ignore another Katrina, because that is what happened when Katrina hit. Bush really didn't do much of anything while people were dying, and he admitted he should have done a better job than what he did. So why would you want people in your home state to die just to prove your point?

Net, the US government has already stepped in to help the clean up of this spill, and I am sure they will be forced to do more. History has shown that the oil companies in cases like this talk the talk, but use their lawyers to run once the cameras are gone. There is a supreme court ruling in the Exxon cases that I am sure that BP will use to run away from any lawsuits brought by the businesses, and people who are hurt the most by this. I have heard about the agreement you are speaking of, and I have heard that they bullied their way through the process. I agree that the US shouldn't allow any foreign government to operate in our country without following OUR laws. I agree that part of our state, and federal governments need to be held accountable. But, BP does as well, and there is NO innocent parties in this mess. We need to find other ways to regulate industries, because the good 'ol days of back door deals, and industry leaders running working with regulators has cost our country trillions. When Ken Lay's name is being thrown around as secretary of energy, the world should have known we had a regulation problem. Now it needs to be fixed.

You're right, nobody knows how to fix this and I genuinely believe BP is doing everything it can. I think Obama took a "wait and see" approach before taking any action and that is part of the problem. He didn't understand the magnitude of what was happening. Granted, I don't think it would have been fixed much sooner, but his delay made him look bad and now, rather than being helpful, he's making threats. Potential jail time for a CEO is certainly a motivation to do things right, but not when he doesn't DESERVE to go to jail. I haven't heard one word about him committing any crimes. Obama and Eric Holder haven't stated that he has committed any crimes. They are just threatening to seek criminal charges against him. It makes it sound like they'll just make something up to look tough.

Taskr, I agree that BP is trying everything to try to fix this, but it isn't as simple as some of us think. I agree that Obama didn't understand the magnitude of the spill, but I don't think anyone did, and this is the first time anything like this has ever happened, so no one knows how to fix it. I heard some stories right after this happened about the drilling contract not covering the depth that they were in. I don't know if that has been changed, or if it is common in this industry. There is also a question of the safety of the rig, and if all safety procedures were in place before the accident. What is lost in this whole mess is that people lost their lives in this, and those lawsuits haven't even been filed: YET (and you know there will be). I am sure that law makers will hurry to put laws on the books to stop something like this from happening again, but the only way to stop it is not to drill that deep. And, try putting an oil rig off of the coast of Florida, and see what happens!!

You are correct that the president isn't taking over the situation, but isn't that what some on the right want him to do? Aren't they upset because he isn't doing anything? I agree that they need to find a fix, but no one knows how. They have NEVER had a problem like this, this deep in the ocean. BP has paid just under a Billion so far, and has nothing to show for it. Just think how much this is going to cost just to stop it, not to mention the clean up. Taskr, if you have billions of dollars and I fine you $100 million it doesn't hurt the CEO. But, if you are personally looking at jail time for this, than it is a different story. I personally think that is what we need to, is personally hold CEO's of corporations accountable for their actions. If they break the law in doing business, than they should go to jail like the rest of us do. Not pay a small fine, and go back to business as usual.

"There is no difference between the Wall Street bailout and this current crisis. Why? We aren't giving BP money." NOT YET!!!! Right now this the total that BP has paid out for this is around a billion, and not much has been done. Just think how much this is going to cost when the actually start to clean this up. "I just think that Barack Obama and BP are in it together." Really? I haven't heard that one yet. "Slowly, but surely, our freedoms will be taking away. All it takes is ONE big crisis(oil spill) to ban offshore drilling." Where does it say in the constitution that we have the freedom to drill for oil? I must have missed that amendment last time I looked at the constitution.