Parent company, end of story.

Except when the conglomerates increase
higher gas prices.
Then, obviously, we will pay.

Or choose something else.

You suggest that the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company is less than beneficent? I'm shocked, shocked!

Sincerely,

Mohammad Mosaddegh, deposed.

The reason Obama does not freeze the assets of BP? Obama is OWNED by BP! I cite for evidence campaign contributions from BP to the Obama campaign.

If it makes folks feel better to come down hard on BP that's fine, I guess. But the people who put the whole system in place -- the insatiable demand for oil, the private sector economy that is driven exclusively by current earnings, and the political system that runs on corporate money so that serious government oversight or control is a pipe dream? We are those people.

Calling this disaster a "oil spill" would be like calling the Twin Tower terrorist attack a "Building Fire"

Geez Alan, why not just quote Pogo from Earth Day 1970 - "We have met the enemy and he is us"

The problem I see with this is that somewhere along the way you and I have lost our power and ability to affect change. At first we lost our ability to have an impact on the national level. And in the last 30 years we've lost it on the local level (IMO due to the cozy relationship between pols and developer weasels).

And pray tell until we develop alternative energy (which Carter might have done had he had a second term) how the hell do we quit our dependency on oil? My guess is that only when global reserves are dangerously low will the energy interests (with big economic clout) that be finally afford us any change.

It's hard not to think that their bean counters and lawyers are also busy moving assets around so that the victims of their negligence are never compensated. -- That's the only thing that we can count on British Petroleum for. Maybe we shold revoke their U.S. corporate charter.
http://www.poclad.org/

If you freeze their assets how do they fix the mess?

I am all for BP losing all their money, but after they stop the leak, not before.

I agree with LucsAdvo; this horrible situation is made even more horrible by the fact that BP seems to be more powerful than either the state or federal government, and they're dancing to the tune of a corporation.

Unfortunately, the federal government has to rely on BP - the people who made this mess are the only ones with the expertise to possibly clean it up - but BP has also blocked officials on the Gulf Coast from protecting their own waterways. And the attempted media blackout is downright unconstitutional; did you know you can't fly a private plane over the coast of Louisiana now at an altitude of less than 3000 feet? We are under a "temporary flight restriction" for reasons the government will not explain.

BP is indeed out of control, and freezing their American assets seems about the only thing that could get its attention. That, or violence against its chief executives, which is not something I could ever condone, but I've been surprised at the number of average, non-anarchist people who have been wondering when the first despairing fisherman is going to take a poke, or a shot, at the BP popinjays who have ruined his life.

I have long wondered just how much of BP is owned by the House of Windsor,that is the Queen and her crew).

As I recall BP has had a long term relationship with Kuwait Oil, aka Q8 Oil, which is probably why we bailed out Kuwait when Saddam attacked during Daddy Bush's administration.

somewhere along the way you and I have lost our power and ability to effect change.

As long as we believe that to be true, it surely is.

BP is not behaving like the Catholic church, at least so far. The Catholic church has never taken full responsibility for the child molestations committed by its priests, and it even took elaborate measures to protect the priests. BP has said repeatedly that it recognizes it is responsible for this oil spill disaster and will clean it up. Let's give them a chance. Since the stakes are high here for the entire oil exploration industry, BP just might be compelled to do the right thing.

I wouldn't stop there. The U.S. told BP to stop spraying Corexit 9500 dispersant, because it's actually more toxic than the oil itself. BP refused!!

If I were president I would declare a state of emergency, send a couple of destroyers into the gulf and tell BP that if they sent up one more damn plane full of Corexit, it would be shot down!

Seriously, the Navy should be in the Gulf right now and the Coast Guard should be taking orders from the Navy, not BP.

Probably a good thing you're not president Jack. Maybe I slept through it, and I know the federal government has definitely taken on considerable new powers over the last few years, but I don't think the president and Congress yet have the right to "freeze the assets" of a particular company. There are laws that decide what BP's liability for this mess are, and courts to adjudicate the claims, and I hope that people will be made whole for this catastrophe by the responsible parties, including BP, through legal proceedings. By the way, assuming you want the gusher stopped, at least by the look of things, BP is our only option at this point. President Obama can't even change the oil in his car, let along "plug the hole."

11 people died. There should be some significant prison time involved here for some folks in suits.

Jack, we shouldn't be worried. We've got the World Court and United Nations to make sure everyone is compensated.

If I were President, a lot of things would go wrong very quickly. Many meetings would be shortened or canceled. The State of the Union speech would be 3 words: "Are you kidding?"

But this type of problem? I'd jump all over this: "Hello, this is the President. I want a submarine, 20 oil tankers, some drift nets, a fast speedboat and some trained dolphins. We're going to surround this b*stard with everything we've got. Oh, get me a jet ski with the Presidential Seal right on it. I'm going to the Gulf of Mexico."
Chief of Staff: "But we have 11 hours of meetings tomorrow."
"Cancel them. And if you can't cancel them, you go, but don't do anything 'til I get back. Now get the helicopter on the White House lawn in 10 minutes. And put in some cages in case I have to rescue some pelicans. See ya in a few weeks."

"See ya in a few weeks."
===

But, you'd miss your golf games. Don't you know that after you became President, you would automatically forget everything important except trying to get your golf score down into the 80s?

Within 7 years all 2 billion gallons of oil in that reservoir will have leaked out, perhaps sooner if the reservoir collapses. This problem will take care of itself.

I don't think the president and
Congress yet have the right to "freeze the assets" of a particular company

It might take new legislation, but in this case, I don't think it would be unconstitutional. Right now the U.S. government has become a major creditor, and any fraud against a creditor should be preventable by injunction. You just know the BP boys are moving shells around fast right now.

Ah, the oil rackets: homicide, catastrophic regional pollution, and massive long-term natural resource damage as freedom of expression by corporate personnes....

Irony of it all: "During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html

Irony of it all: "During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years."

Makes you wonder: how much did they know?

This whole thing just screams eco-terrorism to me.

The timing couldn't be more coincidental.

PR firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner "helped BP plan and evaluate its successful re-branding campaign, focusing the company's branding on energy solutions, including the development of solar and other renewable energy sources."

The firm's Stanley Greenberg is married to Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. There was something of a flap last year when it was pointed out that White house Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had been living in the couple's Capitol Hill townhouse and resulting in a lot of questions about whether or not this arrangement violated congressional ethical guidelines.

Further, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee paid Greenberg's firm some $500,000 in 2006 and 2008 while Emanuel was living with Greenberg, and Emanuel was even in charge of the DCCC during the 2006 election cycle.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Top-PR-firm-for-BP-tied-to-White-House-Chief-of-Staff-Rahm-Emanuel-95223369.html#ixzz0pSSDDArK

This whole thing just screams eco-terrorism to me.
The timing couldn't be more coincidental.

If anybody can figure out this comment, please post an interpretation.

I don't know if Obama can legally freeze the assets of BP, but I'm sure BP has other oil and gas leases on U.S. property that could be terminated if it doesn't get the Gulf disaster fixed.

This whole thing just screams eco-terrorism to me.

Of course it's eco-terrorism. ALL offshore drilling is eco-terrorism.

Didn't we freeze Iran's U.S. assets after they seized the hostages in 1979?

Seems like a possible legal precedent....

"The reason Obama does not freeze the assets of BP? Obama is OWNED by BP! I cite for evidence campaign contributions from BP to the Obama campaign"

"During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years."

Before any of you start pulling out your checkbooks because you think you can "buy" yourself an American President for $77,000, you should stop to consider that Obama raised almost $400,000,000 (that's $400 million) in has presidential run.

I doubt that he feels that he's especially indebted to BP--or to the oil industry in general, for that matter, which contributed far more to his opponent

Richard: Then why did Obama accept ANY money from a "problem" contributor? How many political candidates accept ANY money from people like Larry Flynt?

Rush Limbaugh makes a big deal of the fact that last election Wall street gave more to Democrats than to Republicans. If the Republicans were so "squeaky clean" then why did they accept ANY money from Wall street?

The issue here is who owns whom, not to what degree.