I think the Gulf states should pass emergency legislation requiring BP retailers to buy back the spilled oil; from anyone who shows up with it!

And then we could tie the owners in chairs and throw them into rivers and see if they float! BP doesn't own the retailers..they are innocent small business owners.

Pete, you seem to have an enless supply of bad ideas.... Where do they come from? Do you think them up yourself?

BP has gone on record they will pay all legitimate claims for the clean-up. Is the goal therefore to drive them into insolvency? Punish the company for the accident?

Maybe this is the time for the debate .....
If the company is to blame, is the punishment meant to hurt the millions of stockholders (both here in the US and in the UK)? After all, 1 out of every 6 dollars that is paid out ion Britain as a pension comes from BP.

More oral flatus from the Harkonnens.

Sparky seems to be quite active today. The boobs on Faux Yabahoo News must have been really bouncing this morning.

Maybe you should step away from the keyboard...

It doesn't mean the retailers would necessarily get stuck with the tab. They might even pick up a few bucks.

Small aluminum recyclers have shops all over the country; presumably they make a profit or they wouldn't stay in business. Soda bottles used to be made of glass and payed a 2 cent return deposit. Supermarkets regularly bought them back in quantity.

This oil belongs to BP, there is nothing inherently wrong in asking them to pay to have it returned to them.

I love my Harken blocks

C'mon Andrew I'm serious. This is actually a pretty good idea if you stop and think about it.

BP could set up a collection center on an oiled beach and pay people for whatever oil they collected. That would be a lot more productive than all the "I'm sorry" ads they're running.

Let's say a fisherman goes to his favorite spot, finds it oiled, spends his time to clean it up. He then has to do something with the oil. It makes sense he should be able to take it to BP and get paid for his effort.

Pete:

Be careful - you're actually advocating a free market idea. Paying someone an agreed-upon rate for transfer of a good or service.

If BP is going to be forced into cleaning up the oil spill - which btw, the Federal Government is supposed to do - then what you suggest wouldn't be such a bad idea. Lord knows it would help "motivate" some of the Obama-economy-unemployed to take up a side job for the next few months.

But I have a feeling that this is going to happen anyways. People will be employed to help clean up the spill. What you're proposing is simply encouraging faster cleanup by paying the clean up workers based on how much they collect.

If you didn't present your idea with the intrinsic hatred and disdain for all things-private enterprise Pete, you might find more support.

Especially compared to the Ronstanians.

Okay comedian, wait 'til this crap starts washing up on your beach.

Pete

Gotta love free enterprise

Your right ,pete.
My humor just made 1,000s more gallons of oil spew into "your" gulf.Get a grip.
If only they had drilled in Alaska ,this deepwater stuff would be unnecessary.
So how do you propose the "fisherman" collect all this recyclable oil? Here's a chance for an actual good idea. Redeem yourself, but be careful.Or here's a better idea, Why don't you get your whining butt from in front of the computer and go do it yourself?

Tawd

One more Harkonnen on the ignore list.

When's the last time you saw an aluminum can on the side of the road?

Thank God. You're not worthy of my posts.

Welcome to the club Todd.

so here is my problem with this idea (not that i am opposed to new ideas)

1. this oil is toxic. we don't need untrained people not in hazmat gear handling it (yes i understand we are all going to be exposed) but this would just lead to more lawsuits

2. BP is already not paying claims (i saw a fisherman say bp has only paid him $2500 of his $75k claim and bp is telling him they will only pay his lost profits, not his lost revunes)

3. bp is already going to go broke/chap 11/ default/whatever the correct term is etc from this... they are not going to be able to pay everyone

4. it took 20+ years for exxon to start to pay out

1. do you put on your hazmat suite to pump gasoline? I can't see that scooping up oiled beach sand with a shovel and dropping it in a bucket is any more hazardous.

2. If you oblige the retailer to accept it, the claim is paid ont he spot. There are any number of ways for the retailer to get paid. My favorite would be to exchange the oil for gasoline and oblige BP to accept the oil as partial payment for gasoline deliveries. The margin is a profit for the retailer and buys him some good will.

3. I don't believe BP will go broke. In any case the spilled oil is recyclable so they will be able to recover some of their expense by refining the recovered oil.

4. If Exxon was able to slide for twenty years we should make damn sure BP doesn't get away with the same crap!