BP can do whatever the hell they want to do. After all, who is going to stop them?

[Subdivisions]

BP Does Not Pay 500 Fishermen and Gives no Explanation

...

Over five hundred fisherman stretching from Lake Charles to Moss Point, Mississippi were very unhappy yesterday, as BP did not send them their promised payment for work they have done. They were supposed to receive checks from BP, but did not.

Wednesday night, their lawyer wanted answers.

Jeffrey Briet represents more than 500 fishermen, and he said the payment system he set up with BP required his clients to be paid every 30 days. Now that process has suddenly changed without warning, Briet said.

...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4457366


So, BP does what it wants to do. I mean, who is going to stop them? The President? The Congress (they're on vacation)? The NLRB? The lawyers? The prosecutors? The judges?

WHO IS GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?

[Big Blue Marble]

1. It is becoming more clear every day.

Our governmental system is broken. It is not protecting us, only the corporations. All the institutions, the agencies that were set
in place to serve us have been co-opted by those that serve the the corporations. Nothing has demonstrated this more than
this oil catastrophe.

[Subdivisions]

3. Some very brave people once did what they had to do break free

of their corrupt and oppressive government. Unfortunately, today the people aren't nearly brave enough.

Hence this vision of our future.

[cliffordu]

13. This is exactly right.

I get the feeling nothing short of violent revolution would change any of it.

And as long as the oil and the Ipods keep flowing, that ain't going to happen.

[felinetta]

21. BP probably hopes the gov't gets more involved cos then BP could just tell

the gov't it is now their responsibility. BP would for sure be
off the hook and the taxpayers would surely be paying for this
BP mess.

[lob1]

2. I think we're going to end up hating BP a lot more

before this is all over. And I'm afraid, for letting BP get away with it, we're going to hate our own government a lot more, too.

[inna]

5. I have the same feeling. nt

[walldude]

4. K&R.. watch and see

all this talk about "20 billion" will turn out to be bullshit. BP isn't going to pay shit without being forced to. Good post Sub...

[Subdivisions]

7. Thanks walldude. And you're right. BP is going to have to be FORCED to pay.

Can you imagine how long and complicated they can make it?

And they WILL get away with it.

[Mimosa]

16. The government's distance from this depresses me

These are real hardworking people with families. They had incomes. They could eat the wonderful seafood. There is a whole lifestyle which is being obliterated.

[Subdivisions]

19. It's simple: They (and we) are expendable. Like cockroaches. n/t

[gateley]

17. I heard Mike Papantonino say that we don't HAVE the $20 billion. If they went

bankrupt this afternoon, we would have zero. It was merely a PR gesture. When we have the money in hand, that will be a different story.

[lob1]

20. You're right, the 20 billion isn't guaranteed. I'll bet

every penny I have that BP will try to weasel out of paying any of it.

[Hydra]

6. Yup

No leash on the corporations- the leash is on the small people. More specifically, the left.

The window dressing is disappearing fast, isn't it?

[Subdivisions]

9. 'The window dressing is disappearing fast, isn't it?'

That's because it can. We have been systematically conditioned to stand down and let ourselves, and our Gulf of Mexico (among others), be dry-fucked.

Now they can just dry-fuck us in the public square and on the world stage. After all, what are we going to do about it? Answer: NOTHING.

[Hydra]

11. Quite correct

I believe the Bush Administration was a test to see how far we could be pushed before the riots started.

No riots. Full speed ahead!

[Subdivisions]

12. Exactly. Full speed ahead. n/t

[Mimosa]

15. Great line. Sad but true. n/t

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BeFree]

10. Florida Panhandle counties

Have spent, they say, several million dollars on oil pollution prevention and haven't gotten a dime from BP.

Good question for govt: WHO IS GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?

[katandmoon]

14. No one. Look what happened with the Exxon Valdez. We're screwed. K&R for your post.

[njalbertini]

18. How to stop them:

Please check out www.electexperts.webs.com We are a nonpartisan movement to get experts in fields of scientific study that are relevant to governance elected to representative offices. We believe that most problems facing this country are empirical in nature and can be solved by using the scientific method. Other issues that are more moral or cultural such as the so called "hot button issues" could be contracted such that elected representatives vote in line with constituent populations. Please join our movement to provide this country with measurable reality based solutions to its problems.

[GeorgeGist]

22. Obama put them in Charge.

[blindpig]

23. The capitalists bastards have the whip hand and the government

is complacent. A fine illustration of the superiority of the economic over the political in a Capitalist society.