Hi,
I learned something tonight which I found very interesting. After the Valdez incident Exxon lobbied congress to pass a bill providing a limit of liability on oil companies in the event of a spill or disaster providing for cleanup. The congress passed a bill limiting the liability of oil companies to $75 million, the balance was to be paid by the US taxpayers.
In return for that liability limit, the government was given the right to tell the oil companies where to drill. BP asked to drill in 500 feet of water off the gulf coast and the State of Louisiana approved their request. Instead the federal government told them they had to drill in 5,000 feet of water, something that had not been done before. In other words the US government declined their request to drill in 500 feet and required them to drill in 5,000 feet.
Now the next question that came up was this. Would the stockholders and management of BP allowed them to drill in 5,000 feet of water had they not known there is a law on the books limiting their liability at $75 million? The consensus was probably not, had there been a potential liability of $20 billion they probably would have not approved the project within BP.
While the administration is quick to point the finger at BP and bully them into setting up a $20 billion slush fund for the government to use to pay claims, they are not without their share of responsibility in this mess. At the same time the reality of who will get paid claims and who will not will rest with the government. They broke the law with the bankrupt GM and Chrysler and gave the company to the unions, Lord knows how this slush fund will be paid out. Why do I suspect that already the government is pouring through records of Louisiana businesses to see who has contributed to the democrat party and the republican party? I can see claims from commercial fisherman being doled out according to their political affiliation as opposed to the legitimacy of their claims.
I saw this on Fox news where there were expert lawyers giving the history behind the law and how it came to pass. It was the democrat pundit, who normally runs cover for the administration that brought it to light that basically the $20 billion will be come a slush fund and is likely going to be used as much for political purposes as it will for legitimate claims. I was quite surprised to hear it from him because normally he does not speak out against the current administration.
regards,
5412
