Obama MMS director steps down

[GoodWitch58]

no, the elected officials have allowed the lobbyists (most of whom used to be an elected official) to write the regulations and the policies for the corporations. It is the elected officials who "look the other way" when they have incompetents in positions of authority.

It is the lack of integrity and principles in our elected officials that allows the people to get screwed over by the powerful CEOs of the banking, oil, insurance, drug industries...

and it is the apathy of the people who allow these kind of people to be elected and re-elected....the government is not some wild and crazy thing that is out to get us all--the government is you and me!

It is the lack of vision of elected officials who are more concerned with the next election than they are with doing what's right that lets them believe BP and all the others when they say they have developed "safe technology for drilling' and " spills aren't caused by drilling", ad nauseum...

but, it is the fisherman, and the boat captain, and the waitress, and the rental agent, and the housecleaner who ultimately pay the price with the losss of their job--their home and sometimes their life.

We can sit around and blame "the government" as though it was some demon on high waiting to do us in all we want...unless people decide to hold those elected officials accountable; and unless people work to elect good, principled leaders, then, all we need to do is look in a mirror -- we are all responsible.

 

[30ashopper]

no, the elected officials have allowed the lobbyists (most of whom used to be an elected official) to write the regulations and the policies for the corporations. It is the elected officials who "look the other way" when they have incompetents in positions of authority.

It is the lack of integrity and principles in our elected officials that allow the people to get screwed over by the powerful CEOs of the banking, oil, insurance, drug industries...

and it is the apathy of the people who allow these kind of people to be elected and re-elected....the government is not some wild and crazy thing that is out to get us all--the government is you and me!

It is the lack of vision of elected officials who are more concerned with the next election than they are with doing what's right that lets them believe BP and all the others when they say they have developed "safe technology for drilling' and " spills aren't caused by drilling", ad nauseum...

but, it is the fisherman, and the boat captain, and the waitress, and the rental agent, and the housecleaner who ultimately pay the price with the losss of their job--their home and sometimes their life.

We can sit around and blame "the government" as though it was some demon on high waiting to do us in all we want...unless people decide to hold those elected officials accountable; and unless people work to elect good, principled leaders, then, all we need to do is look in a mirror -- we are all responsible.

Corporations and governments are one in the same - they are organizations run by people, governed by elected officials, motivated by a quest for influence and control. It is the accumulation of power that corrupts. The more power an entity has, the more corruption you'll get.

IMHO, the only real way to limit corruption and the influence it has on our lives is to limit this power. You can't fix things by taking control out of one hand and placing it in the other.

 

[GoodWitch58]

Trusting the Scorpion: BP, the Legacy of Republican Hypocrisy and Democratic Cowardice | CommonDreams.org

Here's the grim reality: the oil spill is merely a symptom of a much deeper problem, one that is our fault, because for the last 30 years we've been trusting the scorpion.

 

[Bob]

Corporations and governments are one in the same - they are organizations run by people, governed by elected officials, motivated by a quest for influence and control. It is the accumulation of power that corrupts. The more power an entity has, the more corruption you'll get.

IMHO, the only real way to limit corruption and the influence it has on our lives is to limit this control. You can't fix things by taking control out of one set of hands and placing it another.

you're evolving...come over to the dark side

 

[GoodWitch58]

Smith College: Smith Tradition

There will come times in life and career ahead when you have to choose between integrity and more short-term temptations. You will be the press secretary who is asked to lie to the press; you will be the regulator asked to approve the drilling with the Mickey Mouse safety plan; you will be the artist commissioned to make what you suspect is propaganda; the engineer pressed to use the cheaper, unsafe welds; the job applicant asked to cross the picket line; the research scientist expected to round to the nearest publishable conclusion; the spouse tempted to cheat; the physician tempted to schill; the staff sergeant asked to keep quiet; the politician confronted with the focus group that proves how well appeals to racism poll in your district; the pundit offered the talking point; the procurement officer offered the kickback.

In the short term it's always crystal clear what advances you further, what makes you famous, what gets you your boss' job, what gets you elected, what gets you rich.

In the end, though, blood will out.

History has a way of not remembering that some of those Iraq War press secretaries had real talent in the White House press room; or that BP and Trans-Ocean had a real talent for drilling down to find oil deeper than anyone else.

When given the choice between fame and glory, take glory. Glory has a way of sneaking up on fame and stealing its lunch money later anyway.

Rachel Maddow's speech to the 2010 Smith College Graduating Class.

 

[Lake View Too]

you're evolving...come over to the dark side

speaking of the dark side, there's something familiar about your new avatar... but I can't quite put my finger on it...:shock:

 

[scooterbug44]

Sounds like there was a heaping mess of trouble in that MMS office.

It was totally ridiculous - they were more corrupt and out of control than most. Salazar was supposed to be cleaning the place up a bit as it was a hotbed of hookers, lobbyists, payoffs, $$ trips and gifts, drugs, and no oversight or accountability.

And the revolving door of employment between the agency and the companies they were supposed to be regulating did not help.

I think there need to be more changes made and an all inclusive rule that there is at least a 5 year time period where someone who works for the government cannot work for the company/industry they were regulating and vice versa.

Same for the FDA and elected officials becoming lobbyists etc.