From Denny: BP lost another nine percent of their stock value today. "Awwwww... how cares?" is the response from the Gulf Coast and here in Louisiana.
Higher levels of oil gushing in the Gulf
Scientists upped the amount of oil gushing in to the Gulf. They are figuring it at 2.5 million gallons a day as opposed to the recently revised estimate of 1.7 million gallons a day. That seemed evident to me from the new video after the top cap failed and the oil was rushing faster, along with the acknowledgment that there were underwater oil plumes from several leaks on the ocean floor.
Yesterday, BP also made a mention in passing on CNN about maybe it was 80,000 barrels a day spewing, trying to soft pedal the news that would come out today. People in this Gulf Coast region are furious at the lying and the abysmally slow and ineffective clean up. Clean up should have been the main priority from the beginning while the government and the oil industry were trying to figure out how to shut off the broken well.
American Ninja
Meanwhile, on another war front is a lone ranger kind of guy out trying to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He was taken into custody today, along with a sword, night vision goggles, a gun, a dagger and Christian literature. He's been in Pakistan seven times now trying to find bin Laden. Like a whole country of fellow Americans, Gary Brooks Faulkner, a California construction worker, was frustrated at the terrorism from bin Laden's group and wanted to do something about it.
Faulkner, age 52, was in the mountain border province of Chitral which borders Afghanistan. It's next door to a Taliban stronghold believed to harbor bin Laden and Faulkner has already visited this area three times now. There is a $50 million bounty on bin Laden's head.
Bloody Sunday closure and apology
On yet another long time war front between Ireland and Britain about Bloody Sunday some 38 years ago, the new Brit PM actually apologized to the families of the teenagers killed that day. A new report, that took 12 years to finalize, found the teenagers not guilty. After all, they were shot in the back by police who lost their heads as the kids were not armed. At least the families and an entire nation got some closure today. Now if Britain would get as real as this for the Gulf Coast residents and this BP mess instead of lying and cheating us.
Poll against Obama's handling of oil disaster
And President Obama has a war of his own here in America with this Gulf Coast disaster. The polls are running against him and his poor, slow, disorganized response to the disaster. This poll cited is 52 percent angry with the President about his handling of the reponse. Other polls are as high as 71 percent angry and dissatisfied. Obama's political handlers better get real and start addressing the job of proper governing if they want to continue to remain comfortable collecting their pay checks. At the rate they have mishandled this crisis their boss is going to be out of office, if not at the ballot box then by impeachment or an actual grassroots coup.
Why they have not employed the super tankers to come in to the Gulf and handle this gargantuan mess is beyond me, other than BP is too cheap to pay for it, dragging their heels on paying out claims until they can slink off unnoticed. BP doesn't understand the Louisiana mentality. They will hunt BP down and wring the last dollar out of them if it takes ten life times. Yes, Southerners are that tenacious.
And what is BP's disapproval rating by Americans about this oil spill? A stunning 83 percent are furious with BP's poor handling of the clean up, the lying to the public and the government and bad handling of claims. Frankly, I'm surprised it's that low.
BP's true worth and claims capability
The good news, according to the Business sections online, is that BP has deep pockets for making this right. The real question is whether they will squirm out of their responsibilities. They generate tens of billions of dollars in cash regularly and they are sitting on some serious vast oil reserves worldwide like a rainy day bank account. Over the past five years, BP has generated a $100 million profit. Last year their profit was $16.8 billion.
Right now, according to Goldman-Sachs estimates of a worst case scenario, BP is currently looking at paying out up to $75 billion. BP claims, and I am seriously suspect of this figure, they claim they have already paid out $1.5 billion in claims. On what? They offered no itemization and expect us to take their word for it.
Credit card reforms from Federal Reserve
Another war front is that of the American consumer attempting to keep their heads above water with job cutbacks, hours cutbacks, job loss and a chaotic economy. Some good news on the credit card front for consumers. The Federal Reserve adopted new rules today about late payment charges and other penalty fees. Late payment fees could not exceed $25. Penalty fees are not to be higher than the dollar amount associated with the customer's violation. The Fed also barred "inactivity" fees when customers don't use the accounts to make new purchases. The Fed also prohibited multiple penalty fees on a single late payment.
BP faces huge tab, has deep pockets
Scientists up estimate of leaking Gulf oil
Poll: Majority disapprove of spill response - AP poll found 52 percent unhappy with Obama's handling of disaster
Opinion: How oil spills like BP's can reshape politics, from the Amazon to America - Like oil pollution in Ecuador and California years ago, the BP Gulf catastrophe could – and should – lead to profound political change across America.
Gary Brooks Faulkner: 'American ninja' hunting Osama bin Laden
Cameron apologizes for 'Bloody Sunday' in 1972 - U.K. leader says he's 'deeply sorry' for death of 13 protesters in N. Ireland
Setbacks cloud U.S. plans to leave Afghanistan - 'There's not much sign of the turnaround that people were hoping for'
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
