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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/06/29/gulf.oil.disaster/t1main.oily.jpg caption="Vice President Joe Biden is expected to visit the Gulf area on Tuesday, the 71st day of the disaster, to assess efforts to stop the massive oil spill."]
As storm strengthens in Gulf, Biden set to review cleanup effort
(CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden is expected to visit the Gulf Coast Tuesday to assess efforts to stop the massive oil spill.
Biden is expected to visit the command centers in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Florida panhandle, the White House said.
His visit will be on the 71st day of the spill that President Obama has called the nation's worst environmental disaster.
BP said it is on track to reach its August deadline of getting a relief well down to the area where the oil is leaking in the Gulf of Mexico.
The relief well has reached a depth of 16,770 feet, but engineers plan to drill an additional 900 feet vertically before cutting in sideways, said Kent Wells, BP senior vice president of exploration and production.
Meanwhile, efforts continue to increase the containment of leaking oil. The next step is to bring in a third rig called the Helix Producer at the well, which would increase the containment by 20,000 to 25,000 more barrels per day, Wells said.
But powerful Tropical Storm Alex could derail the effort.
The storm is expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it churned in the Gulf of Mexico, but was heading away from the oil spill area, the National Hurricane Center said Monday. Read more
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At least I'm not lost!
Extremists have the same right to kill Americans – as Americans have the same right to kill anybody else. Americans made most extremists.
Because you get a bill from one address means to you that's where the company is headquartered at?.... Come on you possibly can't be that simple-minded, now can you?
Chetry the largest shark device was the movie "JAWS" which opened up the wholesale slaughtering of sharks world wide! Check it Chetry!
Dan from Indiana ... sorry that you are a sheep also.... move along now ... time for you to go graze.
I'm sure the Wall Street Reforms will be an ongoing project. The really good news is we're finally going to have a foundation in place which is relevant to the times we live in. It's a start. The rest is up to us. We have a responsibility, one to another, to remain vigilant and act in accordance with our findings to keep the ongoing reforms current.
Melon, I never stated that Arab/Muslim countries don't have legitimate claims against the US! (btw: all Arabs aren't Muslims & all Muslims aren't Arabs). However, this doesn't give the extremists a right to kill American civilians.
And I have never supported any US foreign policy blindly. It doesn't matter what party is in charge if the policy goes against my beliefs or morals!!!
Where is Rob Marciano for weather?
Petrobillionaire brothers Charles and David Koch are not only the creators and funders of a web of right-wing think tanks and front groups but also major lobbiers. Koch Industries regularly ranks as the top oil-company donor to congressional campaigns. The Koch boys–plus their family members, PACs, executives, and lobbyists –have already put $868,400 behind their favored candidates in this fall's congressional races.
And Koch Industries deploys a permanent team of influence peddlers to press its agenda on Capitol Hill and in federal agencies. In the past three years alone, Koch spent more than $37 million on lobbying, including $12,340,000 last year. Its 2009 force was made up of 5 in-house lobbyists, plus 40 hired guns from 10 K-Street firms.
Koch's lobbying team is headed by Matt Schlapp, who was director of the White House Office of Political Affairs for the Bush-Cheney regime. He replaced Elizabeth Stolpe, who (follow the spinning yo-yo here) went to work for Bush as associate director for environmental protection.
Koch needs such insiders because it is a serial polluter. In 2000, it was indicted for concealing illegal releases of 91 metric tons of cancer-causing benzene from its Texas oil refinery. It faced $352 million in fines, as well as possible jail time for executives.
No sweat, though. Koch put $800,000 into Bush's presidential election that year, and, in 2001, Bush's attorney general, John Ashcroft, put together a deal that dropped 88 of the 97 charges and fined Koch $20 million–pocket change for the $100-billion-a-year corporation.
MeLoN, you must be a very spiteful person, demeaning most everyone that writes on this blog including the U.S. government and it's armed forces along with those who have faith in Jesus as savior and Lord! If you dislike the American way so much why don't you run for office and make changes in policy? But I doubt that you would get very much backing seeing most of the stuff you write about is bull crap!
All i want to know is where did all the money go, i mean we all gave tons of money not to even say what our goverment has paid out Where did it all go i want someone to tell me. i mean the money we all went out and got for all those poor people in New Orleans I just do not understand were it all went if so much has not been done
July 4th weekend the1.2 million unemployed that lost their unemployment insurance will be getting eviction letters from their apartment mangers because Congress could not help the unemployed in the United States. However Congress was able to bail out Banks, AIG, Auto Companies Greece ect... The poor in the United States that want jobs Oh wait their our no jobs Now Back to the great come back of Wall Street
Pauly.. you silly silly boy you.
Melon, please name credit card co's that are headquartered in DE!!! I send my payments, when I have a balance, to Des Moines, IA & Salt Lake City, UT!!!! The bills come from Salt Lake City, UT & Irving, TX!!!
So.. the people in the Gulf should lose their livelihoods... and and just take it?
How very considerate of you.
Russian Spies:
"From Russia with Love"
Forget the Dow Jones Average –whatabout the Doug Jones Average? How are Doug and Deb doing? They measure their economic condition not by what's in their stock portfolio, but by what's in their stockpot. It's not the fluctuation in the price of T-bills that keeps the Joneses awake at night, but the inflation in their electric bills, the stagnation in their wages, and the deflation in the value of their house.
It's a myth that practically every American is personally attached to the Dow Jones rocket. In fact, half of us own no stocks at all, even through a mutual fund. And the majority of those who do own stocks have only miniscule holdings and pay no attention at all to the variations of the daily Dow. Indeed, the richest 1% of Americans own 90% of all stocks and bonds in our country.
Shoots the heck out of your financial reporting and shows who the announcers friends are who they hob-knob with and for!
Sorry Pauly... not all Americans are sheep like you or prefer to stick their heads in the sand and blindly trust what politicians spew at them ( your choice of flavor is Democrat ).
Whatever the "Wall Street Reform" package contains it is not enough to protect the American Public from corrupt politicians, theiving bankers and whatnot.
Once again Pauly... I am sorry that you feel Americans have the "GOD" given right to kill anybody, invade any country, over throw an elected government, assassinate whomever that disagrees with the US foreign policy or that they don't have "GOD" given right to respond as they see fit.
That's not what America should stand for. Simple as.
Those in the Gulf should quit complaining about claims not being paid fast enough by BP. They have already paid out more than $51 million over the $75 million liability cap. The same cap the GOP has blocked from being raised.
More than 6,000 died while waiting to be compensated by Exxon. While many others had to wait for 18 years!!!
Furthermore, every claim needs to be verified. Unfortunately, there were even fraudulent claims filed after 9/11!!!
Good morning, Pauly
I know. I'm an optimistic sort, but I just may be wasting my time with, MeLoN. I DO enjoy your exchanges with him. Your well thought out responses always make my day.
Russian Spies:
And Just when I was Starting to feel Good about Russian-US Relations! "In God we Trust" And then they Commented that ,, "WE ARE USING, "COLD WAR TACTICS" ???
Why does BP not set up offices here in biloxi and let us go to work. So many are without jobs. Hepaco and other contractors that are here are so poorly run you have to stand in line for 3 to 4 hrs trying to get a paper application for them to tell you they decided not to give anymore out. This should not be a contest to get hired the workers are here.and we had work before your mistake. Thanks bp.
Simple typo Pauly.... but that fact remains. The credit card companies are headquartered in DelAware. and all your spewing can't, don't and won't change that.
I am writing this to bring glad tidings for all Americans. We are on the verge of being gifted with the toughest financial reform package in the history of this country. It's long overdue, and there are many in this country who are still suffering because this type of reform was overlooked, put on the shelf, or completely ignored for far too long. Here are some of the highlights of the Financial Reform package:
1) Reform forces credit card and mortgage companies to play by the rules. No more hidden fees or pages of fine print.
2) Families who are hoping to buy a home or pay for college are put on a level playing field with lenders. Reform ensures they'll get the information they need presented clearly and concisely so they can make good decisions. The same goes for small businesses and community banks that play fair and deserve to see their businesses grow.
3) The legislation cracks down on predatory lenders looking to mislead people into taking on irresponsible debt.
4) Wall Street reform establishes an independent agency - the Consumer Financial Protection Agency - with one job: to protect consumers and enforce the new consumer financial protections, which would be the strongest ever enacted.
5) Finally, American taxpayers will never again be asked to bail out the big banks that are "too big to fail." Let's be absolutely clear about this, no matter what our opponents in Congress say.
It isn't hard to remember where we were as a nation two or three scant years ago. The economy was crumbling before our very eyes on the nightly news. Jobs were being lost by the hundreds of thousands each and every month. Banks stopped lending money as credit lines were frozen by the larger lending institutions. Americans lost trillions of dollars in investment and retirement accounts. Unfair lending practices, which led to foreclosures (coincidence?), forced millions of Americans out of their homes. Banks AND insurance companies which were "too big to fail" forced the American taxpayers to bail them out, all while millions of Americans were suffering financial hardships from their unfair practices. Each of us experienced one or more of the hardships described. Yet, millions of Americans are experiencing them anew as the lobbyists pour monies into Washington D.C. to delay, deny, or bury the necessary reforms.
The time to level the playing field has finally arrived. Please contact your elected representatives in, Congress, and make your representatives aware of your desire for the passing of a Financial/Wall Street Reform Bill in Congress. This is an opportunity which Americans, from every walk of life, can be sure their voices will be heard on. The time for our voices to be heard is now.
Thank you.
(MeLoN- this goes for you, too.)
VP Biden is not a multi-millionaire!!! His net worth is less than $150,000.00!!! Again, spewing false info on this blog!!!
From 10:45 a.m. CST and 3:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. CNN needs to have Joe Johns read the news around the World. Give the news a cap from throught out the past 24 hopurs amnd place a chance to guarantee the CNN viewers to be at the level of the Time Magazine weekly issue with an hour and half of his week. This repeat repeat makes one stale.
Whatever happened in the discovery of those human heads on an airplane flight bound from Little Rock to Texas. Is that common and the CNN ignore it because it is for research that benefit the rich? Were they homeless people.
They caught people carving on human cadivers in the basement of the Houston V.A. Hospital a few years ago and they were homeless people.
You fail on the "credit card reform" bit. The "reform" doesn't cap the amount of interest a credit card company can charge a customer. Some wanted the cap at 36% but that was rejected by the politicians. Credit card companies can charge a customer whatever interest they want to. Credit card reform is a myth – much like "health care reform" (which didn't address HEALTH CARE REFORM at all but rather health care INSURANCE reform. Not the same thing.
My God, here I sit listening to CNN talking about the Nathan's July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest, and for 2 hours, not one word about the millions of Americans suffering without any unemployment benefits. Is a hot dog eating contest really news worthy? Shame on you CNN!
Art:
You should realize by now that Melon has no regard for facts. Just spits out hyperbole on this blog every day! Melon doesn't respect the President, the VP, our troops, Christians or much anyone else. Except maybe for the terrorists whose actions Melon states are justified.
Just how does a life long career politician (Biden) that comes from a "working class" background become a multi-millionaire by just being a public servant? How much would he be worth if you excluded the kick backs he received from the credit card companies? How much are his sons carrying on that family tradition?
Melon has criticized many posters for not using spell check. The correct spelling of Biden's home state is Delaware, not Deleware!!! As for the label, Credit Card Joe, it's just another attempt by the right to change history. The bankruptcy bill of '05 was a GOP bill. Not one Republican voted against it, while 25 Dems did.
So, you pretty much feel that the Wall Street Reform package (which includes credit card reform) is some kind of "slight of hand" illusion?? Bit of a stretch, isn't it?
It's gonna happen.
He's had more than enough time to figure out how to scam people.
Why do you think they call him Credit Card Joe? Or why most, if not all, credit card companies are headquartered in Deleware?
Still no reporting on the 1.2 unemployed that lost their unemployment insurance that will not be able to pay there rent. Which means 1.2 million people will be homeless. Please explain how that not news
@ MeLoN
So, how do you think Biden would go about scamming the people of the Gulf today? Do you feel he's had enough time to prepare for the scam, or would it be more like an off the cuff, spur of the moment type of scam?
Of course Obama would leave himself some "wiggle room". I'd be surprised and impressed if Obama pulled the US troops out of Afghanistan before too many more young Americans were killed in a war that can't be won. Campaign promises aren't meant to be kept but only said to get elected.
Obama is such a man of change – with a stay the course attitude.
CNN, Please!!!! Stop giving exposure to worthless "news" like the nut who went to Iran to kill the Taliban leader, or Chris Brown crying etc. etc. ad nauseam. It gives them the exposure they want, insults our intelligence, and demeans your network. There's plenty of newsdworthy reporting to be done. If you are trying to amuse us, or draw in that kind of viewing audience, leave those reports to the other "yellow" channels or the entertainment programs. We turn to you for NEWS.
I thought the term "From Russia with Love" only referred to mail ordered brides. Silly me.
In my opinion Mr.Sqeaky Clean Image himself Chris Brown while in the meantime he was tuning up Rhianna should make you wonder if his crying while performing a song at The BET Awards was nothing more then an act.I think it was.
Russian Spies:
And Just when I was Starting to feel Good about Russian-US Relations! "In God we Trust"
Your guest on the spy piece referred to the Soviets [hopefully accidental]. Maybe that's why they were so successful. The Cold War and the Soviets are old news. We might consider fending off current threats and not those of 20 years ago. It's symtomatic of how the Intel Community is run. It is now the Cold War's foot-soldiers who are in control and they simply cannot give up the romance of a bygone era when spies were heros. C'est la vie James Bond.
Christine Roman's story about return on college costs very interesting. Looking forward to her posting it here as I have many folks to forward it to!
Biden will find a way scam the people down at the Gulf somehow. Biden by far is the most corrupt politician alive today. Bar none.
Joe Biden's visit to the Gulf today makes me smile. God help the command center personnel if they are not doing their jobs. 🙂
The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!
Wait.
They already here.
Never mind.
Good Morning CNN!
Hurricane warning in the Gulf – well why not? What else could go wrong down there? .. oh ... I know .. the idiot known as Joe Biden shows up down there – imagine if THAT happened!
Just once ... I'd love to wake up... and see absolutely no bad news in the morning. Just one day of no bad good news. My kingdom from something other than misery and death.