BP compensation money to be "slush fund?"

[Travis]

So Limbaugh and a congressman from Texas have both characterized the BP $20 billion compensation fund as a "slush fund."


Um....what?

Seriously where does that idea even come from?

It was also characterized as a "shakedown."

Right..........BP is the victim in this.

 

[dudalb]

The GOP wants to make political hay out of the Oil Spill, but their own very cozy relationship with the Oil Industry make this difficult, so they are resorting to crap like this.
But the Barton tirade backfired, and everybody else in the GOP is rushing to condemn Barton.

 

[eeyore1954]

A slush fund no but I don't trust the government to administer it properly.
In the haste to pay out quickly I suspect the fraud will be high. Maybe it will not be administered by the government?

 

[leftysergeant]

Maybe it will not be administered by the government?

I haven't had time to sit down and read the newspaper yet, but the word I have heard on the radio is that it will be administered by the same person who has handled the 9/11 families' benefits fund.

 

[thaiboxerken]

3rd, independant party will handle the distribution of funds. BP's CEO agreed that this is not a slush fund, and that he was not shaken down.

 

[leftysergeant]

Norman Goldman is addressing this issue on his radio show today. He compared it to posting bond pending charges on a felony. Works for me.

 

[theprestige]

BP's CEO agreed that this is not a slush fund, and that he was not shaken down.

Right, because businessmen never say things out of political expedience. You must be a huge fan of the Supreme Court ruling that corporations can engage in political speech.

 

[thaiboxerken]

Right, because businessmen never say things out of political expedience. You must be a huge fan of the Supreme Court ruling that corporations can engage in political speech.

And Texas Congressmen never make hyperbole out of a situation.

 

[bynmdsue]

Norman Goldman is addressing this issue on his radio show today. He compared it to posting bond pending charges on a felony. Works for me.

So there was a legal process involved?

 

[leftysergeant]

So there was a legal process involved?

There probably would have been if the oil maggots hadn't complied. They are subject to criminal action, if, as the five idiots on the SCOTUS seem to think, the corporation is a person. Happens a lot when a corporation is caught dirty. This is just a little more high-profile than some.

 

[Travis]

I wonder what critics of this action think should have happened instead.

 

[leftysergeant]

I wonder what critics of this action think should have happened instead.

Probably to trust BP to pay up in a reasonable time frame.

(And maybe buy a toll bridge on the east coast.)

 

[eeyore1954]

I wonder what critics of this action think should have happened instead.

The same thing that normally happens in a case like this. Is this an unprecedented move and request?

 

[eeyore1954]

Originally Posted by bynmdsue
So there was a legal process involved?

There probably would have been if the oil maggots hadn't complied. They are subject to criminal action, if, as the five idiots on the SCOTUS seem to think, the corporation is a person. Happens a lot when a corporation is caught dirty. This is just a little more high-profile than some.

If what I believe you are saying was true then it would be a shake down. Pay up or face charges.
But You can be pretty sure placing the money in a fund will have no bearing on what if any criminal charges are eventually brought

 

[leftysergeant]

At this point, a shakedown is hardly a crime. Thre only alternative was to round up the whole executive suite and suspend trading in BP stock on the exchange and attach their holdings.

It will come out a lot cheaper even for BP when the last criminal charges are filed.

 

[Puppycow]

Barton apologizes for his apology

WASHINGTON — Representative Joe L. Barton had to be truly sorry by the time he apologized for his apology on Thursday.

In the four hours between his televised apology to BP — for what he called a $20 billion “shakedown” by President Obama for loss claims in the gulf oil spill — and his apology for that apology, Mr. Barton, a Republican from Texas, had been pummeled in the blogosphere, assailed by Democratic Party operatives and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and, in the blow that landed, threatened by Republican leaders with being yanked from the party’s top seat on the powerful House energy committee.

By day’s end, the Barton sideshow had become the main show in Congress, eclipsing the much-anticipated grilling of BP’s chief executive, Tony Hayward, by members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

ETA:

Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, and Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the Republican whip, summoned Mr. Barton and he “was told to apologize, immediately, or he would lose his spot, immediately,” a senior aide said. “We’ll see what happens going forward.”

 

[Travis]

Yeah, I didn't think the Republican leadership would allow this to stand.

 

[MattusMaximus]

The same thing that normally happens in a case like this. Is this an unprecedented move and request?

And what exactly would that be?

 

[Malerin]

If what I believe you are saying was true then it would be a shake down. Pay up or face charges.
But You can be pretty sure placing the money in a fund will have no bearing on what if any criminal charges are eventually brought

How is that different than a typical plea bargain? Fess up or face a jury trial.

How is it different than an out-of-court settlement to avoid litigation entirely?

 

[MattusMaximus]

Yeah, I didn't think the Republican leadership would allow this to stand.

The funny thing is I read somewhere that other Republicans had been making similar comments to Barton (i.e. use of the "shakedown" language) prior to him sticking his foot in his mouth so publicly...

Ah, here's the link:

It isn't just Barton. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) called the $20 billion escrow account a "redistribution of wealth fund." Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga) accused the Obama administration of "Chicago-style shakedown politics."

And the GOP is spinning over-time due to this colossal screw up, because it highlights their party's all-too-cozy ties with the oil industry. Definitely not a good week for the Republicans, and you can bet your bottom dollar this is going to come up in the midterms.