How the other side perceives the 20BB commitment from BP

[Old and In the Way]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2536733/posts

An earlier thread got locked here for using a naughty word, but the BP apologists at FR would rather bash Obama and Democrats for holding a corporation accountable for the worst environmental disaster this country has ever experienced. They really are wired differently than normal people. They (for the most part) have parroted Rush/Sean's talking points quite well...a few who realize the stupidity of Barton's remarks are greeted as if they've deposited a turd in the KoolAid punch bowl.

Apparently, they're all Constitutional scholars, and can't find any clauses in the document that allow a Democratic President to address BP oil spills. We should let the free markets be free to litigate this mess forever.

[AmericaIsGreat]

1. And look at all the comments

Those people are scum. I wish terrible, terrible things on all of them.

[sandnsea]

2. Check out Heritage for some real psychosis

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/17/morning-bell-an-offer-bp-couldnt-refuse/

So making sure there is money for the people harmed is a terrible thing because then the shareholders, the people who are ALSO supposed to suffer loss, will go to the back of the line when the company goes bankrupt, which is also supposed just another part of the free market equation.

So according to these numbnuts, pay the shareholder first and fuck everybody else when BP declares bankruptcy and then it's, woohoo, on to the next money sucking party.

[Parche]

3. Those fukin idiots

this is not a 'penalty' it is a fund for helping the people affected

they are thinking it is a penalty levied by Obama....what a bunch of fukin idiots...:hi:

[cry baby]

4. i always regret going to that site. I am on a small site w/ bp apologists...

and they are saying the same thing. They are going so far as making up possible dialogues between Obama and BP execs. They have convinced themselves that those conversations are REAL!!

I wonder what color the sky is in their world.

[RagAss]

5. There is no sky in their world. Just a dirt floor.

[BeFree]

8. Just tell them...

...Obama made BP pay so that it can be known BP cares about them.

Otherwise, there is no evidence BP cares for the small people.

[wyldwolf]

6. This is how I just addressed this issue to someone

SOMEONE: The apology specifically addressed the President and our government trying to usurp the powers that it is afforded in making the demands of BP that it did.

WYLDWOLF: Except the President and our government DID NOT usurp the powers afforded it.

SOMEONE: It absolutely has. Nowhere does it say that our government has the power to make the demands that they have, especially of a private entity that is not based on US soil.

WYLDWOLF: For us to have this discussion we have to recognize several key facts:

1. Our laws are not limited to just our citizens. They extend to anyone and any entity operating within the United States. BP is subject to our laws when operating within the US.

2. The primary role of the US Supreme Court is interpreting the Constitution. This role extends to determining what laws passed by the US Congress are constitutional. You and I, nor Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh, have that power. Further, all laws put for a vote in the United States Congress go through a series of hypothetical 'tests' to determine their Constitutionality, which is why very few federal laws are challenged successfully in the US Supreme Court.

3. Section 1005 of the Oil Pollution Act passed by Congress in 1990 requires 'responsible parties' in oil spills to establish a process for 'the payment or settlement of claims.'

There is the law deemed constitutional that allows our government to make demands of a privately owned oil company. They either comply or are sued and cease to do business in our country.

Besides, our government has not made any demands aside from the laws currently on our books. BP has volunteered to do this. They certainly knew the consequences of not volunteering.

No news source has reported the US government demanded a $20 billion dollar escrow account but rather they've reported it was a 'voluntary gesture' on BP's part.

But I hope conservatives keep pushing your line of reasoning. See you in November.

[Cresent City Kid]

7. "Shakedown" is the new "death tax"

The republicans are disciplined on staying on message, down to the words they use. I wish it was only a conspiracy theory, but they actually get together and decide the terms they will use.

[Poboy]

9. There is one poster there who is trying to talk sense to them

but they will not hear of it. I'll tell you how this plays in Louisiana. Republicans and independents here are saying this isn't far enough.
there were Exxon Valdez victims down here last few weeks telling us how they got screwed. So when Rush or other right wing propagandists spout this bullshit, they are attacking their usual supporters.
I hope they keep up this attack, they look like total corporate tools.