Chain of Blame for the Blow Out

[Jack Flash]

Gulf spill company hands out safety bonuses

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/ameri ... 64760.html

Despite gulf residents lack of compensation

!!! 20 years ago ABC, CBS, and NBC would have been all over this story.
Now the only way we find out about this stuff is through Der Spiegel Al Jazeera, BBC or Russia Today - Why is that ?

[cerina]

I couldn't believe it when I read that a few days ago. It's bad enough that they have the gall to pay out bonuses at all but for their safety record?? Try telling the thousands of people who were affected by the spill that Transocean have a good safety record.

[Jack Flash]

This event had gone off my radar until I got an e-mail from a friend yesterday.

It seems that people who are unhappy that their livelihood has been disrupted by the BP oil spill, are being intimidated into keeping their mouths shut.


http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/fe ... 50299.html

[cerina]

Hell's bells, that's scary stuff.

[Jack Flash]

A follow up

That BP lobbied lawmakers on the penalties companies faced for spills, as it faced penalties for causing a spill itself, underscores how even the most embattled company often sees Congress as a worthy investment. BP spent $8.43 million in 2011 on efforts to influence legislation. While that total fell far short of the nearly $16 million it spent on lobbying in 2009 -- much of it on working to defeat cap and trade legislation -- it represented a $1 million uptick from 2010 levels. It was also about .0324 percent of the company's $26 billion in profits from last year: a small price to pay to ensure the preferred legislative outcomes for the firestorm it ignited.

“It really is outrageous that after being responsible for the largest oil spill in our nation’s history, BP spent more than $8 million on D.C. lobbyists to try, among other things, to escape any effort to shut off the spigot of taxpayer subsidies,” Menendez told The Huffington Post.

Two years after the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon, BP's lobbying efforts indeed appear to have paid off. The New York Times recently reported that the company has five rigs drilling in the Gulf, "making it one of the most active drillers there." When the Obama administration held an offshore auction last December, granting leases for 20 million acres of federal water, BP successfully bid on 11 available drilling blocks. And while the company recently announced it will pay $7.8 billion to compensate those harmed by the Gulf spill, ProPublica reported "the amount is significantly less than many had expected and does not appear to require BP to spend any money that it had not already agreed to pay."

On all of them and many others, BP lobbied, often employing some of the most prestigious firms on K Street. In 2011, it paid The Duberstein Group $400,000 to lobby the national commission that investigated the spill, as well as to lobby on "issues related to offshore drilling and the Deepwater Horizon accident," according to lobbying disclosure files. BP also retained the firm to help with hearings on the Gulf disaster and to respond to "Executive Branch actions re these issues." BP paid Stuntz, Davis & Staffier $90,000 to help encourage Congress to reverse "President Obamas Offshore Moratorium Act" and advance "provisions to encourage domestic oil production." It paid The Podesta Group -- led by Tony Podesta, brother of Obama transition chief John Podesta -- $320,000 in 2011 to help with hearings on the spill and to push legislation that would restart offshore land leasing.

BP didn't just find itself spending hefty sums on legislation related to the Gulf spill. The company fought efforts to close tax loopholes that it and others in the oil industry enjoy. It paid Covington & Burling LLP $450,000 to help ensure that sanctions being placed on Iran exempted a BP-led natural gas project, according to disclosure reports. It also paid the firm Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock $60,000 in the second quarter of 2011 alone to influence the implementation of new legislation on derivatives.

None of it was illegal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/1 ... 35556.html

tl;dr Yes our politicians can be bought; above article includes a price list.

[cerina]

The finest government money can buy!

[Jack Flash]

Gulf’s dolphins pay heavy price for Deepwater Horizon oil spill
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/31/g ... oil-spill/

[cerina]

That is so sad.

[Jack Flash]

The video on the effects of marine life resulting from the oil spill.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featur ... 60912.html

[cerina]

It sounds as if it is the sea worlds equivalent of the human affects of Chernobyl.

[mugley]

first arrest made for the spill, deleted emails http://finance.yahoo.com/news/feds-1st- ... 48127.html

[Jack Flash]

Guess they couldn't go much farther down the chain of blame - engineering assistant probably wouldn't be plausible

[cerina]