Yesterday Hot Air posted an article that had originally been posted at The Optimistic Conservative's Blog by J. E. Dyer. The article deals with the $20 billion escrow fund that BP has set up to compensate those people adversely impacted by the Gulf oil spill.
Mr. Dyer points out that the escrow fund is an exercise in executive power outside the rule of law. An appointee of President Obama will be in charge of dispensing these funds. The article points out that the six-month shutdown of drilling in the Gulf is not the result of BP's actions, but of President Obama's actions. He points out that a judge in a federal court might not hold BP totally responsible for the loss of employment caused by that shutdown--the shutdown was ordered by President Obama--it was not endorsed or ordered by the experts he consulted. In fact, the President has had to apologize to the experts he claimed supported the shutdown--the experts have publicly stated that they did not support the shutdown. When the President appoints someone to administer the relief fund, he will not have to bother with the risk of judges and courts that decide issues the wrong way.
The article points out that up until now, there was a $75 million or so cap on damages a corporation would be required to pay after a drilling accident such as the Gulf oil spill. That amount was established by Congress (after much lobbying by and partying with oil company lobbyists). Keeping that amount low lowered insurance payments for the oil companys and kept their business in the United States.
The article concludes:
"Darn good thing Congress spared us all that, huh? With BP's liability capped by federal law, we're left with Obama and his $20 billion slush fund to address the job and property losses. And hey, the good news is, with BP's shareholders and investors - many of them Americans - to shake down, Obama doesn't have to let this crisis go to waste! He can shut down businesses and jobs for his own political reasons, having nothing to do with the oil rig explosion, and make BP pay off the people he's hurting!
"On such a thread hang our civil rights in Obama's America."
The $20 billion fund was extortion. I am hoping that more people will be willing to admit that as we move forward.
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