That's $20 Billion, with a "B"

It's in a trust fund administered by the guy that did the WTC payouts. Completely unprecedented. I just wonder if it will be any easier getting paid from the government as opposed to BP itself. :w2:

Still no oil yet...:humm: And the beaches are quiet:yeah:

Yeah the government is free to distribute that money as it sees fit, which is BS. I saw on TV the other day, don't know how truthful it is, but BP wanted to drill that well in 500 feet of water and the government wouldn't approve it and forced them to drill in 5000 feet instead.

EXACTLY the problem! In 500ft divers could have capped that well fairly guickly, in 5000ft they have to rely on robots. Anyone play with radio control planes, etc.? Not real accurate.
Plus we don't know, and may never know, what actually caused the explosion. Terrorism? Eco-activists? Accident?
Of course, O-hole rides to the rescue, just about a month too late, and hasn't yet tried to help cap it, spending all his time trying to figure out who to blame, and "who's ass to kick"!!!
Plus he turned down almost all of the other countries offers of help. U.S. and BP accepting few offers of international help, countries say - CNN.com
As usual, the dems have turned this into something they can exploit politically, rather than trying to actually solve the problem.

i heard that the dutch offered a few skimmers but we wouldnt take them because the enviromentalists said that its put oil back into the water... WELL NO SHIT its not going to get 100% of the oil first try but hey SOME gone is better than NONE gone.. i swear the country is getting dumber by the minute...

Most all of the outside help offerers wanted paid. The MMS has been discouraging (with higher lease fees) or denying wells anywhere in sight of land for years. Nothing new there. You can thank the greenies and their lobbysists for that, not necessarily the government. One of the more amusing conspiracy theories has a North Korean mini sub torpedoing the platform. C'mon people. The environmentalists are lucky if they can get a motorboat in front of a whaling ship. How are they going to blow up an oil platform? The cause of the accident is well understood. BOP failed, allowing massive amount of methane out the well, which ignited on the surface, killing 11 and sinking the rig.

There's nothing Obama, the govt. or the milltary can do about it. They don't have the means or the knowledge. Putting pressure on BP is all they can do and I think they are right on target with regard to that.

I agree, but who the environmentalist lobby too, the government, mainly congress. Then the government passes the laws in favor of whoever has the most money to throw at it. Whats funny is how the environmentalists usually end up causing more harm then good to their own cause. This BP disaster is a perfect example....If the well had been drilled in the 500 feet of water, the oil spill would've been stopped fairly quickly.

Makes me wonder if one day I'll be telling my kids, "Yes, once upon a time, America had a beautiful Gulf Coast..."

County worker here, along the Gulf Coast. My $.02

Oil on the beach surface sand, oil buried 6 - 18 inches deep, oil in the bays, oil in the oyster beds, oil in the marsh grass, oil in the marinas, oil ... :s:

Local business owner jailed for cleaning the oil from his dock and surrounding water and shore. He was not an "officially authorized contractor to BP". Thanks Obama Bin Laden. :moon:

This seems to be a forced catastrophy. An intentional disaster.

you have a link to that info? not saying i don't believe, i just want to read more....