US

So Where Are Those BP Oil Spill Payments Going? Local Gov’ts Get Millions for iPads, Concerts, & Cars

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the year since the Gulf oil spill, officials along the coast have gone on a spending spree with BP money, dropping tens of millions of dollars on gadgets, vehicles and gear – much of which had little to do with the cleanup, an Associated Press investigation shows.

The oil giant opened its checkbook while the crisis was still unfolding last spring and poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Gulf Coast communities with few strings attached.

So Where Are Those BP Oil Spill Payments Going? Local Govts Get Millions for iPads, Concerts, & Cars

In sleepy Ocean Springs, Miss., reserve police officers got Tasers. The sewer department in nearby Gulfport bought a $300,000 vacuum truck that never sucked up a drop of oil. Biloxi, Miss., bought a dozen SUVS. A parish president in Louisiana got herself a top-of-the-line iPad, her spokesman a $3,100 laptop. And a county in Florida spent $560,000 on rock concerts to promote its oil-free beaches.

In every case, communities said the new, more powerful equipment was needed to deal at least indirectly with the spill.

In many cases, though, the connection between the spill and the expenditures was remote, and lots of money wound up in cities and towns little touched by the goo that washed up on shore, the AP found in records requested from more than 150 communities and dozens of interviews.

Florida’s tourism agency sent chunks of a $32 million BP grant as far away as Miami-Dade and Broward counties on the state’s east coast, which never saw oil from the disaster.

So Where Are Those BP Oil Spill Payments Going? Local Govts Get Millions for iPads, Concerts, & Cars

Some officials also lavished campaign donors and others with lucrative contracts. A Florida county commissioner’s girlfriend, for instance, opened up a public relations firm a few weeks after the spill and soon landed more than $14,000 of the tiny county’s $236,000 cut of BP cash for a month’s work.

The April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and spawned the nation’s worst offshore oil spill. As BP spent months trying to cap the well and contain the spill, cities and towns along the coast from Louisiana to Florida worried about the toll on their economies – primarily tourism and the fishing industry – as well as the environmental impact.

All told, BP PLC says it has paid state and local governments more than $754 million as of March 31, and has reimbursed the federal government for another $694 million.

So Where Are Those BP Oil Spill Payments Going? Local Govts Get Millions for iPads, Concerts, & Cars

BP set few conditions on how states could use the money, stating only that it should go to mitigate the effects of the spill. The contracts require states to provide the company with at least an annual report on how the money has been used, BP spokeswoman Hejdi Feick said. But it’s unclear what consequences, if any, the states could face if they didn’t comply.

Some of the money BP doled out to states and municipalities hasn’t been spent yet, but the AP’s review accounts for more than $550 million of it. More than $400 million went toward clear needs like corralling the oil, propping up tourism and covering overtime.

Much of the remaining chunk consists of equally justifiable expenses, but it‘s also riddled with millions of dollars’ worth of contracts and purchases with no clear connection to the spill, the AP found.

William Walker, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, said it’s clear now that communities bought more equipment than they wound up needing. But he doesn‘t regret handing out BP’s money freely.

“At the time we were making these decisions, there were millions of gallons of oil going into the Gulf of Mexico with no clear idea when it would stop,” Walker said. “We didn’t wait. We tried to get (grant money) into circulation as quickly as possible. We didn’t have any extra time. We needed to move when we moved.”

—

When oil from the ruptured Macondo well began to lap at Louisiana’s marshes, BP deployed an army of workers to sop it up and hired contractors who specialize in disaster cleanup.

Even with BP and the federal government taking the lead, many communities weren’t content to rely on equipment they had before the spill.

Lafourche (luh-FOOSH’) Parish President Charlotte Randolph billed BP for an iPad, saying she needed it in addition to her parish-paid Blackberry to communicate with staff and other officials during the crisis. But she didn’t buy the iPad until Aug. 26, a month and a half after the well was capped and several weeks after the federal government said much of the oil had been skimmed, burned off, dispersed or dissolved.

“Just because it wasn‘t streaming from the well any longer doesn’t mean it wasn’t approaching our shore,” Randolph told the AP. “My work is very important. Perhaps one day you could follow me somewhere and learn what my work involves. I must be in contact at all times.”

Lafourche Parish spokesman Brennan Matherne, who bought a new Dell laptop and accessories for $3,165, said working on the spill had worn out the computer he got just a year earlier for $2,700.

Biloxi, home to a strip of casinos overlooking the Mississippi Sound, bought 14 sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, two boats, two dump trucks and a backhoe loader with its $1.4 million share of BP grant money.

Mayor A.J. Holloway, who drove a city-owned 2006 GMC Yukon before the spill, now has one of the vehicles the city purchased with the BP grant – a black 2011 Chevy Tahoe 1500 LT that cost more than $35,000. The city’s public works director and chief engineer also are driving SUVs bought with BP money.

Holloway declined to answer questions about his new vehicle. City spokesman Vincent Creel said the mayor has used it to travel to “countless meetings” about the spill and to gauge the city’s response with his own eyes.

“The mayor also uses the vehicle in the normal course of his duties, just as other BP equipment is used in the course of day-to-day business,” Creel wrote in an email.

Walker, the state official, said he didn‘t know about the mayor’s use of the vehicle but doesn’t object.

Some Mississippi communities took a conservative approach in using their share of the money. Bay St. Louis received $382,461 to buy safety vests, street barricades, radios and other gear, but decided against buying a vacuum truck or other expensive equipment. City Clerk David Kolf said local officials trusted BP’s word it would handle all the cleanup, so they didn’t see a need to buy a “bunch of new toys.”

“They had a lot of heavy equipment already staged here,” he said. “We don’t have the training. We don’t have the personnel.”

—

Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama each got an initial $25 million from BP, followed by the array of payments for tourism marketing, seafood monitoring and cleanup programs.

More than $300,000 of BP money went to Kenny Loggins, the Doobie Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd for a pair of rock shows to promote the state’s oil-free beaches; BP shelled out another $260,000 in concert-related costs.

In Alabama, the state Emergency Management Agency distributed $30 million to local governments without rejecting a single request.

Mississippi gave money to 14 counties and cities along the coast, which was dotted with tar balls but never saw the heavy bands of oil that choked south Louisiana’s marshlands. In early August, after the well was capped and the oil threat seemed to abate, the state instructed counties and cities to stop spending BP’s money without prior approval from state officials.

“We were trying to make the change from protection to restoration and recovery, and that’s where we are now,” Walker said.

Louisiana doled out its initial $25 million to state agencies, including $10 million for the attorney general’s office to devise its legal case against BP and the companies involved in the spill. State agencies spent nearly $9 million more on equipment, including boats, air monitoring units, mobile radios and life vests.

Local government leaders in Louisiana were left to lodge their requests for money directly with BP. Gov. Bobby Jindal’s top budget adviser, Paul Rainwater, said the state‘s deal with BP specified that the money Louisiana got wasn’t meant to replace anything that was supposed to go to the parishes.

Blue-collar Plaquemines Parish, which has absorbed some of the spill’s worst environmental damage, has received slightly more than $1 million in BP money, of which $998,405 went to cover oil-related overtime and other payroll expenses.

“I didn’t run up bills. I treated their money like I treated our own,” said Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, an outspoken critic of BP and the federal government’s response to the spill. “Maybe down the road I’ll look and say we should have stockpiled.”

—

When BP was heavily under attack from the top down for its response to the rapidly growing environmental disaster, the company started throwing huge sums of money at the problems it had in the water and on land. Cutting checks to governments along the coast addressed both issues, even if it meant waiting until later to figure out details like how officials would have to account for the cash.

“We recognized the importance of getting funding to the states, parishes and counties quickly, and therefore provided advance funding to help kick start their emergency response,” Feick, the BP spokeswoman, said in an email.

The payments to governments gave BP the kind of good PR it desperately needed, said Daniel Keeney, president of a Dallas-based public relations firm. By giving money to communities and allowing them to spend it largely as they saw fit, BP also put a buffer between itself and any questionable spending.

“Whether the funds could be perceived as being wasted or not really reflects on the organization accepting the money rather than BP,” Keeney said.

Louis Skrmetta, one of the tens of thousands of business owners and individuals still waiting to get a share of a $20 billion claims fund established by BP, finds the state and local governments’ spending galling, even if it‘s almost all BP’s money.

Skrmetta runs a three-boat fleet that has a contract with the National Park Service to ferry day trippers to Ship Island, a recreation area about 10 miles offshore from Gulfport, Miss. He can’t understand why BP paid so much to governments while businesses were suffering.

“I didn’t think there was much logic in it,” Skrmetta said. “Now, looking back in retrospect, it was a way to win over politicians, a way to win over the media.”

In February, BP asked Louisiana parishes that received up to $1 million in advance payments in May for a detailed summary of how that money has been spent. Parishes were warned they must exhaust the advance money before they can make any new claims.

Some parishes, however, have banked that money and already billed BP for expenses on top of it. Terrebonne Parish says it hasn’t spent any of its $1 million advance, yet BP has paid it an additional $927,842, mostly for contractors and payroll costs.

Parish President Michel Claudet said he isn’t concerned that BP will try to recover unspent advance money.

“The agreement from the beginning was that it was nonrefundable,” he said.

—

The oil spill drove away tourists and sapped tax revenues, but it was a boon for private contractors and consultants. Governments have spent more than $19 million of BP’s money to hire contractors, according to the AP’s review.

The Louisiana attorney general’s office has spent $4 million and counting of BP’s money to hire outside lawyers and accountants to help piece together litigation against the company. Five of the seven law firms hired and their attorneys have poured more than $80,000 total into Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s campaign coffers in recent years.

Amber Davis, who lives with Gulf County, Fla., Commissioner Bill Williams, incorporated Statecraft LLC less than a month after oil began streaming into the Gulf. Three months later, Statecraft won a monthlong, $14,468 contract to perform public information and government liaison work for the county of about 15,000 people.

Davis, who has worked in marketing and community relations, said she had planned to form her company before the spill. She also had volunteered for the county’s emergency operations center for three months before she was given the contract.

“There is a perception of a conflict of interest in just about anything that anybody does,” Davis said. “I guess my statement to that was that I volunteered anywhere from 15 to 18 hours a day for three months and never received a penny.”

Williams said he consulted the county attorney and an ethics commission, and neither saw a problem with awarding the contract to Davis.

Gulf County awarded an identical one-month, $14,468 contract – this one for monitoring beach pollution – to Florida Eco Services, a company founded days after the rig explosion by Patrick Farrell, whose wife is on the board of the local Chamber of Commerce. Farrell says he has a background in managing and maintaining properties, as well as beach restoration.

County Attorney Jeremy Novak, who also is an attorney for Florida Eco Services, said it was a matter of giving business to locals rather than out-of-state contractors.

“It sounds like a bias, and it is, but I’m glad people in Gulf County got work and actually had the ability to feed their families,” Novak said. “I don’t see it as profiteering. I see it as obviously doing what you can because what you‘re doing for a living isn’t available to you.”

—

Local authorities could have taken even fuller advantage of BP’s largesse had the company or state officials not nixed some requests that had no clear connection to the oil. Police in D’Iberville, Miss., for instance, were denied a $245,000 mobile command unit, a $140,000 hazardous materials vehicle and a $19,000 Harley-Davidson.

“If we had to establish barricades, they thought it would be more maneuverable,” City Manager Michael Janus said of the motorcycle. “It was a bit of a reach, obviously.”

Although BP footed the bill for other pricey acquisitions, some officials concede they may have to use taxpayer money to maintain them.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries spent $5 million for 22 boats and the accompanying trawls, nets and hauling vehicles.

“Nobody asked me for a space shuttle or anything,” said Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham.

BP money will cover the costs of maintaining the vessels, leasing dock space and buying fuel for at least three years, he said. Whether taxpayers will be forced to pick up these costs after that hasn’t been decided.

“They don’t run for free,” Barham said.

—

Schneider reported from Orlando, Fla. Deslatte reported from Baton Rouge, La. AP videojournalist Jason Bronis in Gulfport, Miss., and Associated Press writers Holbrook Mohr in Jackson, Miss., Brian Skoloff in Ocean Springs, Miss., and Harry Weber and Troy Thibodeaux in New Orleans contributed to this report.

Comments (80)

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  • psst
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:33am

    I live in NoO about 30 mi NE of NO.
    I know a little restaurant that was not affected by the oil spill in now way, no shape, no how.
    It received 10K for the owner and the waitresses each got 5K. They had submitted a claim that the Oil spill affected the business of the restaurant.
    BP got royally screwed, some supposedly fishermen got large payoff. Even though they bought their boat and went into bidniz “After” the spill. that story was in the local papers.

    Report Post »  
  • Goldmember
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:11am

    Evil oil companies? How about disgusting pigs in government. All of the turmoil in the US over race, bigetry, hate crimes is based on POWER and who controls the money in government. This country is sunk if we do not stand up and take this country back via voting these people out of office, all of them. Install term limits and cut their pay to reasonable levels plus cut their benefit packages. If I were in charge I would start with auditing every government agency and privatize all we can. If our federal budget is 2.8 trillion chances are the waist is 1/2 of that number.

    Report Post » Goldmember  
  • guitarfixer
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:58am

    Questions… is anyone investigating which political party the “recipients” belong to? Did the AP already do that homework but is not reporting the results? Would be interesting to know…

    Report Post »  
  • buckhead patriot
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:54am

    I would like to commend the AP on the thoroughness of this article. My goodness, they left no stone unturned in exposing the corruption and misuse of funds etc etc etc. Now, let’s finally start using those investigative skills to go after: ACORN, SEIU, Planned Parenthood, Stephen Lerner, Richard Trumpka, Barney Frank, Frankin Rains, Freddie/Fannie, Cass Sunstein, Susan Power, the other Czars, Tony Rezco, Frances Fox Piven, the stimulus money…OBAMA’s missing and mysterious past!!!!! OH, the list goes on and on……Come on AP, we know you can do it! That is, IF you want to!

    Report Post »  
  • Iowa_man
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:49am

    Um, I live here in Iowa and for having to endure all the tripe coming from the folks on the Gulf coast, I need a new Ipad, laptop, SUV with all the extras and ….. NOT! The gulf states have a ready reserve of cash on hand from BP. What was it? a 20 billion slush fund? I say use it to build more refineries and distribution systems to REDUCE the cost of fuel.
    Obama and those who think like him are the problem. Bring on 2012 and lets have some change we can believe in! Bye Bye Obama….

    Report Post »  
  • dadsrootbeer
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:47am

    And our government is going to manage our healthcare. And do it well? Ha, ha, ha.

    Report Post » dadsrootbeer  
  • GulfCoastGirl
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:46am

    As a resident of Mobile, Alabama, I can tell you this is exactly what local fisherman and business owners screamed and shouted they did not want! They knew if monies were given to the local government that it would not be used appropriately. The fisherman of Bayou La Batre have not been compensated enough and they still suffer the consequences of BP and greedy politicians! I know people who have been hurt financially because of the spill and it makes me sick to see the local and state governments getting any money before the local business owners and fisherman! Thank God for regular folks who have helped and pitched in to help the gulf coast fishing and tourist industry make a comeback, if it was left up to the politicians we would never make a recovery!

    Report Post »  
  • LukeAppling
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:33am

    These are the tactics of “community organizers” pay people to riot, threaten someone, hold meetings, promise to resolve the problem by buying off those who scream the loudest, have Obama and Salazar give a speech praising their performance, measure the results and find it is all a scam-typical community organzer tactics and typical Obama result.
    Look at the stimulus programs they were done the same way with the same result. Cash for clunkers, green jobs, oil drilling, elect new people then riot when they want to resolve the debt, Libya, …. everything Obama touches turns out the same all failures yet he gives a speech and claims victory when will you see through him? I already have.

    Report Post »  
  • streetrodder
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:29am

    The first mistake was putting the Obama era government in charge. These crooks belong in jail.

    Report Post »  
  • FSM_47
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:20am

    The gulf coast has never been known for honest politicians. It seems when a suppressed group takes political control their first action is to rapidly up the sleaze and crookedness factors.

    Report Post » FSM_47  
  • Ampleforth
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:16am

    This is typical, and I hope that no one is surprised at this. Yes, government officials are going to pile up the goodies for themselves and their municipalities when there is free money from a corporation. I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes, and it is shameless. It’s similar to the tobacco settlement money. Tobacco companies paid out millions of dollars because individuals were harmed by their products. The money went to the states, and the states — at least my home state — distributed the money to government agencies. Here, Kentucky, the state pushed millions into the University of Kentucky to study alternative crops for tobacco farmers. Their solution was for farmers to start raising freshwater shrimp. Counties and municipalities purchased new equipment, and we had a little czar-like man who distributed the money to government officials who were terminally loyal to the governor. It was shameful.

    It’s a typical Democrat solution to a crisis. Businesses suffer but they distribute the money to government. Of course, governments know best how to spend the money and those evil, corrupt businessmen might pocket some of it for their own benefit.

    This was corrupt the second the Obama administration extorted $20 billion from BP. I have no love for BP, but the administration rang the dinner bell and slopped the troughs for government officials when they wrenched the arms of BP executives.

    The same has been done with Homeland Security grants. I have first hand knowledge of these money pits. I was working with a very small (6th class), very rurual city a few years ago. On my first visit, they had a decrepit old ladder truck in one of the bays of their fire department. During a later visit, I walked through their fire station and discovered a $500,000 fire engine that had replaced the old one. Knowing the town’s budget and having an idea of how much fire engines cost, I asked about how they paid for or were paying for it. The mayor explained to me that it was the result of a homeland security grant.

    Sheesh! This is how statist want it to work. You can poll a thousand elected Democrats at all levels of government, and 75% of them will tell you that they don’t really see anything wrong with the distribution of the BP money. They’ll practice the most convoluded sophistry to justify the expenditures in these counties, parishes, and municipalities.

    The ultimate truth about the BP money is that it financed Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign in parts of the South. It would be interesting to see how much of the money was used in Baton Rouge, Jackson, Montgomery, and Tallahassee. You can probably throw in state capitals like Atlanta, Columbia, Nashville, and Frankfort into that, too.

    If at any point people thought that the BP money would be used wisely, then they’re a bunch of danged fools.

    Report Post »  
    • KITA
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:27pm

      Hmm… had it been the town’s own money – I’m sure they would have been more selective in their fire engines. This article drives me crazy. Where is the responsibilty people ? I really don’t think they see the big picture and just being played as puppets.

      Report Post »  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:08am

    Never let a good crisis go to waste.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
  • Bluenose177
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:49am

    redistribution of wealth at work folks

    imagine what they could do if they got their own way with the US government?

    Report Post » Bluenose177  
  • American-first
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:27am

    Where is Obama and why is he not watching over this? I hope BP sues the crap out of these robbers!

    Report Post » American-first  
  • TheBeesKnowSoros
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:26am

    I am reminded of the women in Detroit who were waiting to get their money from ‘Obama’s stash’ (ie the stimulus money), but had no idea where it was coming from, nor did they care.
    Mo’ money, mo’ money!

    Report Post » TheBeesKnowSoros  
  • jedi.kep
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:21am

    The best reason for electing people with morality and character. Unbelievable.

    Report Post » jedi.kep  
    • dmforman
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:13am

      I hope this opens people’s eyes, but I fear that it will be forgotten by the time elections come around again.

      Report Post »  
  • WHITE LOTUS2x
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:11am

    Sad to say, but where there is money to be made there are also crooks and crooks to be. Lotus.

    Report Post »  
  • Darla_K
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:06am

    This is terrible. The real people that were damaged by this spill should be getting this money. If there is money left over it should be put into a special fund if there should ever be another disaster. Who is in charge of doing claims and how do they not see where all the money is going? Someone is not doing their job.

    Report Post » Darla_K  
  • heavyduty
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:46am

    That’s why I said from the very beginning of the oil spill. Let the states clean up their own mess. It‘s all Obambi’s fault for blocking cleanup efforts in the first place. Notice how all the media never blames Obambi for any of it. When he was out playing golf and taking vacations while the oil was coming on shore. Wouldn’t it be nice if the the politicians that are caught get to go to jail just like the thieves that get caught. But you never hear of the politicians going to jail. So much for being equal in this country.

    Report Post »  
  • ZAP
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:46am

    Everyone will answer to Christ

    Report Post » ZAP  
  • BlueStrat
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:36am

    Is anyone surprised? Give politicians money and it will be wasted, diverted, misrepresented, and outright stolen. The larger the size of government, the more this happens, the more money that gets “lost”, and the harder it is to police.

    This is a simple problem of scale which the Founders well understood.

    Government simply does not scale-up well because it is composed of imperfect people. The more people, power, and money in a government, the more that human failings become the defining features of that government as a whole.

    Report Post »  
  • martnee777
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:31am

    Did anyone not see the corruption coming?

    Report Post » martnee777  
    • kaydeebeau
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:08am

      Well when we have a nation who doesn’t know (or practice) the 10 Commandments…Thou shalt not steal….thou shalt not lie (bear false witness) Thou shalt not covetAnd then the biggie – Thou shalt have no other gods before me….the love (worship) of money is the root of all evil

      Report Post » kaydeebeau  
  • Marcobob69
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:28am

    I can sum all of this up just by saying one word that has become synonymous with the human race in the 21st century; that word is G-R-E-E-D! Like a moth to a candle, nothing draws the worst out of people like a money give-away! Most of these people had little or nothing to do with the oil spill, but look who ends up with the money! And, how many people that really WERE affected by the oil spill got NOTHING out of that big pot of gold, er I mean money??? I’ll bet a bunch. Goes back to the person in charge of doling it out, doesn’t it? Corruption runs rampant in ALL government-controlled activities, this government only knows how to WASTE money, not CREATE money!

    Report Post »  
    • Cemoto78
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:00am

      I was thinking the same thing. Wasn’t the LAWYER appointed to be the person in charge of processing the claims a special appointment of the re-distributor in chief? Yes he was and even he was leery of all the false claims he was getting right from the start. As soon as BP announced they were setting up a special fund to pay for any damages the Superdome was emptied and the line was formed.

      Report Post » Cemoto78  
    • GIDEON612
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:41am

      You are right and the occupant of the WH also said that this appointee was impartial/independent.

      Report Post » GIDEON612  
  • Danola
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:23am

    A BP claims adjuster told me that 80% of the claims are fraudulent. And that people who did not lose their businesses were being paid 50K+.

    Report Post »  
    • wildjoker5
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:35am

      I live in ATL GA, I think my home got hit with some Oil, I want, i want, i want, gimme gimme gimme.

      Report Post »  
  • kickagrandma
    Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:20am

    uH, HELLOOOOO….Is anybody with a soul home?????

    Apparently not.

    And, we wonder why we are failing???

    GOD WILL NOT put up with this, y’all.

    Report Post »  
    • Leadthemtothelight
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:32am

      What do you expect? We have become a nation lacking integrity. After all we have rights! Right?

      Report Post » Leadthemtothelight  
    • lovenfl3
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:39am

      And yet all we will continue to hear about are the “evil” oil companies. These people will go out of their way to “justify” their irresponsible behavior. I love the iPad excuse, that was the best one.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68uzsXdMLS4

      Report Post » lovenfl3  
    • Cemoto78
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:41am

      “Some officials also lavished campaign donors and others with lucrative contracts.”
      There really is no end to corruption in this morally bankrupt society. But, what the heck it’s “Big Oil” after all, they are the reason for all the ills in this world, according to Nancy Pelosi.

      Report Post » Cemoto78  
    • GIDEON612
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:54am

      What would we expect out of the liberal government.

      Luke 11:45-47 (King James Version)
      45Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.
      46And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
      47Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

      We see this type of thing happen many times a day and people run to the sorcerers or doctors, shrinks and such.

      In Ephesians 6: 10-20 Paul describes what is wrong with our government and society at large.

      10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
      11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
      12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
      13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
      14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
      15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

      This is describing the ladder of which the unseen world operates in. All too many people recognize angels but not demons. Every level of power one is elevated to is another class of demons and their strength level as well. This society rejects God and runs to man for help, and help will never come.No one that I ever knew of was ever healed by man of these such so called psychiatric problems.

      I have been delivered, Praise God

      For further information on this topic http://hardcorechristianity.com/ is a very good site on this.

      Report Post » GIDEON612  
    • Cobra Blue
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:00am

      Business as usual. Nuff said. Will it ever stop?…not as long as we sit around talking about it. And the beat goes on and on and on…..

      Report Post »  
    • tobywil2
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:06am

      OIL DRILLING IN THE GULF
      A moratorium on drilling in the East and Gulf reduces the world’s available oil supplies. This, of course, will result in an increase in the value of oil reserves. Since BP has trillions of dollars of oil reserves, who do you think benefits from this moratorium. The gain in value of BP’s reserves will be much, much greater than the cost of paying for the damages. Especially since most of those damages were distributed to Mr. Obama’s political cronies.
      Perhaps the new Congress should investigate the BP oil spill to determine if the conspiracy existed. http://commonsense21c.com/

      Report Post » tobywil2  
    • grandmaof5
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:16am

      Honestly, this really makes one wonder if there are new definitions to the words “honesty” and “integrity” and they haven’t hit the dictionary yet. Maybe they ought to be just the simple words of, ME and MY and I. “I want, MY needs, give it to ME. There ought to be consequences to these abusive actions – people need to be held accountable and public servants need to be held to an even higher standard. I feel like we are living in a cesspool.

      Report Post »  
    • watchtheotherhand
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:05am

      Big business/Big government + Big money = CORRUPTION/GREED

      I think I studied mathematical laws in grade school and I remember this being the first constant we lQQked at !!!!!!

      Report Post » SLEAZYHIPPOs ILLEGITIMATE OFFSPRING  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:07am

      If anyone expected a responsible use of this (extorted) money you were only deluding yourselves. You have to remember, this is the same government that has insisted it can spend money it doesn’t have to generate wide spread economic prosperity!

      The same government that believes America has too much money and government needs to confiscate and redistribute it according to its own subjective criteria.

      This ain‘t your daddy’s America any more.

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
    • Beckofile
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:44am

      So when you spend someone elses money you don’t care how? Sounds like the way government works??

      Report Post » Beckofile  
    • gofigureinternational
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:46am

      Reminds me of the huge amounts wasted of the 2 billion awarded for the Katrina clean-up. Little to no accounting for fraudulent under the table deals.

      Report Post »  
    • pajamash
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:15am

      “communities said the new, more powerful equipment was needed to deal at least indirectly with the spill.”
      ________________________________________________________________________________

      Apparently VERY indirectly. Like, not related at all kinda indirectly.

      Report Post »  
    • jds7171
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:14pm

      This nation is really going down the drain. You can’t trust anyone anymore. It seems the only way you can do business is if you are corrupt with the government.

      Report Post »  
    • avenger
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 1:57pm

      wow..another surprise …..what the hell did you expect from the government….

      Report Post »  
    • pajamash
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 6:14pm

      “Lafourche Parish spokesman Brennan Matherne, who bought a new Dell laptop and accessories for $3,165, said working on the spill had worn out the computer he got just a year earlier for $2,700.”
      _______________________________________
      Interesting! I use my laptop 8 hours a day. 5 days a week. I have had it for two and a half years. It runs ok but not great. My company won’t lease/buy me a new computer. And when I do get a new one, I guarantee you it won’t cost over $3000.

      Report Post »  
    • pajamash
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 6:17pm

      “City Clerk David Kolf said local officials trusted BP’s word it would handle all the cleanup, so they didn’t see a need to buy a “bunch of new toys.”
      ______________________________________________

      Kudos to the Bay St. Louis folks!!!!!! Way to be responsible adults!!!!!!!!!! Can we move these folks to the Federal level?!

      Report Post »  
    • pajamash
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 6:22pm

      “I didn’t run up bills. I treated their money like I treated our own,” said Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser…”
      ____________________________________________________________________________

      Jindal / Nungesser in 2012. God it is nice to see some responsible people! As opposed to these clowns that saw this as an opportunity to spend eve more freely than normal.

      Report Post »  
    • pajamash
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 6:29pm

      Some parishes, however, have banked that money and already billed BP for expenses on top of it. Terrebonne Parish says it hasn’t spent any of its $1 million advance, yet BP has paid it an additional $927,842, mostly for contractors and payroll costs.

      Parish President Michel Claudet said he isn’t concerned that BP will try to recover unspent advance money.

      “The agreement from the beginning was that it was nonrefundable,” he said.
      _________________________________________________________________________

      New there you go! That is more like what my expectation is for government employees Mr. Claudet. “I’m not afraid to spend YOUR money! Just try and get it back. I dare you. I double dare you. And I triple dog dare you!!!”

      Report Post »  
    • pajamash
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 6:33pm

      “Five of the seven law firms hired and their attorneys have poured more than $80,000 total into Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s campaign coffers in recent years.”
      _______________________________________________________________________________

      Nice! “You scratch my back and I will work to get you re-elected”.

      Report Post »  
    • pajamash
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 6:35pm

      “I guess my statement to that was that I volunteered anywhere from 15 to 18 hours a day for three months and never received a penny.”
      _______________________________________________________________________________

      Ms. Davis, you “volunteered” that time. You can’t cash it in for brownie points now that your hand was caught in the cookie jar.

      Report Post »  
    • jhaydeng
      Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:30pm

      Excellent oversight! Where is that moron responsible for keeping track of the money? What a train wreck!

      Report Post »  
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