MATTHEW HINTON \/ THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Dolphins swim in oil sheen near East Grand Terre Island Sunday June 20, 2010.<\/p>\n
The BP oil disaster might be the start of a political war within the United States.\u00a0 Never before in my lifetime do I recall a group of politicians being so against something that would protect and assist regular working Americans and eventually humans everywhere.\u00a0 Some Republican members of Congress seem to have chained themselves together in solidarity to support the oil industry and oppose efforts by President Obama to clean up the Gulf, make sure oil spills don’t happen again, and hold BP financially responsible for their own Oil Volcano under the sea. \u00a0 There seems to be no rhyme or reason to this opposition other than purely political.\u00a0 Is that how this minority group of politicians want to go down in history — as being in opposition to preserving and protecting the U.S. mainland from an onslaught of oil from a foreign oil company?<\/p>\n
That is not the path most Americans would choose.\u00a0 British Petroleum is not a popular corporation in the United States anymore, and neither is the coal industry, or most of the oil industry, as they are correctly seen as incredibly greedy and driven by nothing but profits.\u00a0 But certain members of Congress seem completely unaware of this public perception and continue to defend these corporate fossil fuel interests over those of the American people.\u00a0 It’s astounding.<\/p>\n
The people in the Gulf region of the United States are hurting very badly right now.\u00a0 Right-wing politicians want to remedy BP’s crime by forcing those people, whose businesses have been destroyed by oil, to go through a long, expensive court battle to get their rightful compensation from the corporation that destroyed their lives.\u00a0 Instead, Obama, mindful that distribution of damages and wages, etc., were not being distributed in a timely manner, set up an escrow account that BP willingly put $20 billion dollars into for those damaged by their oil.\u00a0 Why would anyone have a problem with that?\u00a0 Oh, but they do.\u00a0 See Representative Michele Bachmann (C for Crazy — MN) as she complains about the “pot of money” Obama has created, in her mind, to dole out as he pleases. She makes it sound like his personal bank account.\u00a0 Obviously, there are some delusions going around about this escrow account.\u00a0 The following is from Think Progress:\u00a0 It’s full of links, but you don’t have to follow them all to get the gist of the story.<\/p>\n
THE GULF COAST VS. BIG OIL:<\/p>\n
The Obama administration, concerned that BP may try to avoid giving full, prompt compensation to all the people its oil disaster hurt, negotiated a $20 billion escrow fund that the company will set up to compensate Gulf Coast residents. Yet instead of supporting the administration’s efforts to hold BP accountable, Barton, the top Republican on the Energy Committee,\u00a0apologized to Hayward during the CEO’s testimony, saying, “I’m ashamed [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MATTHEW HINTON \/ THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Dolphins swim in oil sheen near East Grand Terre Island Sunday June 20, 2010. The BP oil disaster might be the start of a political war within the United States.\u00a0 Never before in my lifetime … Continue reading