Photo Credit: Judy Reynolds (@jareyn)
Some good stuff in Da Paper this morning. Political consultant and Very Angry Cajun, James Carville, did an op/ed piece that hits home several good points:
But while it is important to note that the tepid response to this catastrophe is unacceptable, it is also essential that the rest of the country understand that this feeling of neglect has festered amongst South Louisianians for generations. It's just one damned thing after another, so the anger rising out of the Gulf is not new.
No, it's not new at all, and this time, it's affecting a lot more white Republicans than the storm did. That's why you're hearing a lot more outrage--no way the BP disaster can be dismissed as just a bunch of Eebil Coloreds who are stealing big-screen TVs in ankle-deep water.
One of Carville's points is a bit disingenuous, however:
Add that to the fact that we have not seen a single penny of royalties for oil produced more than six miles off our coast. We assume all of the risk, produce seafood and oil and gas, with none of the reward. Yes, $165 billion of royalties have gone to the federal treasury that could go to help repair this pressing issue.
He's spot-on that we don't get royalties for offshore drilling past six miles, but saying we get "none of the reward" is a stretch. If that were so, Piyush and Vitty-cent wouldn't be scrambling to keep the other deep water rigs in the Gulf. Once you get south of New Orleans, into Houma and Morgan City, the oil/gas industry is still alive and kicking, creating jobs directly and indirectly.
What Carville misses in his piece is that there's been a social contract of sorts between SE Louisiana and the industry. It's simple--we let you drill, you take safety precautions so you don't kill us. Sadly, BP cut corners, killed men, and is now destroying the state because they breached that contract.
In a letter-to-the-editor, State Representative Neil Abramson also has a few things to say about BP that make sense. Not wanting to make the mistakes of five years ago, Abramson wants to defend first, sending the bill later:
I never considered running for office until Hurricane Katrina. I could no longer bear to see the slow recovery and people struggling to get the help they deserved. After three years as a state representative, I now chair the newly created Hurricane Recovery Committee, where I am working to push $3 billion in unspent federal relief to the people still working to make this their home.
Now, here we go again. For the last six weeks since this spill began, it has turned my stomach to hear our residents and parish leaders say "if BP would just give us the money" we could stop the oil ourselves from washing ashore and destroying our way of life.
Makes perfect sense to me. Lock down BP assets in the state, yes. Sue the crap out of them, yes. Keep on Vitty-cent and Oily Mary to make sure the feds keep putting up money, definitely. But just like when your kids have a medical problem, or a family member is in jail and needs to be bailed out, you put together the cash for the defense first, then worry about the long-term financial consequences. This nasty funk just spreads and gets worse while we wring our hands and demand someone pay for it. Get the people out there, do what has to be done. Seize private (BP/Halliburton/Transocean) assets if we must, and let those chips fall where they may afterwards.
