Rep Joe Barton R- Big Oil says he is Ashamed of Whitehouse Shakedown of BP

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Guys the bottom line is Barton is a hero now in his home district, and every time the White House or the DNC, or the other libs call on him to resign, he's further sealing the deal on being re-elected for as many terms as he chooses to serve.

No one thinks he'll lose reelection.  However he is thisclose to losing his ranking member status on his committee.  Cantor & Boehner have explicitly told him thus. 

Personally, I won't be upset by it if he's tossed.  Frankly, I think it's gonna take more than this to lose it.  That is an extreme punishment but the threat of it might be good enough.

I'm not condoning what he said, I'm just saying while he may pay a price with his colleagues, he's sealed the deal at home for a long time to come..

[Smash255]

Guys the bottom line is Barton is a hero now in his home district, and every time the White House or the DNC, or the other libs call on him to resign, he's further sealing the deal on being re-elected for as many terms as he chooses to serve.

Well its not like he was going anywhere anyway, he is in a Cook R+15 district.  You need to be Bill Sali or wake up with a dead boy to lose a district like that.

What I am surprised about actually is the Republican House Study memo (a conservative house group which make up about 2/3 of the house GOP) which used the skakedown term as well from the day prior to Baton's outburst and that is swept under te rug.

[opebo]

Keep up the good fight cynic, you're 100% on the money calling out this scumbag we have as president.

Jeeze, man.  Even if he is a scumbag he's only beating up on even worse scumbags, and only doing so after an enormous majority of the public clearly wants him to beat up on the scumbag multinational.

[??????????]

Keep up the good fight cynic, you're 100% on the money calling out this scumbag we have as president.

Jeeze, man.  Even if he is a scumbag he's only beating up on even worse scumbags, and only doing so after an enormous majority of the public clearly wants him to beat up on the scumbag multinational.

The majority of the public depend more on what he provides then what our president provides.

[Joe Republic]

Biden responds to Barton.  Some very well-said points, believe it or not.

[Sam Spade]

Joe Barton is an idiot.  Always has been.

As anyone with a brain could figure out, the $20 billion escrow fund is going to be used as a means to limit BP's liability, not to enhance their punishment.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704256304575321072301455004.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews

Republicans, as usual, are so stupid that they can't figure out Obama wants to benefit BP and draw them closer to the government by doing this, not "shake them down."

[Torie]

What gave you the idea that the 20 billion was a cap Sam?  Mostly this fund is window dressing, since it is unlikely that BP will go bankrupt irrespective, so it is not needed as a security device. What I don't understand is how the mediator/arbitrator can cut off claimants from the court for claims (or is it his award amount?) under 500K (which is my understanding), without enabling legislation. Obama is not yet an absolute monarch yet is he? 

It is also my understanding the government dropped its ludicrous demands that BP pay the economic cost of stopping offshore drilling, and to restore the wetlands to some desired state that was better than it was prior to the blowout. Obama was just demagoging on that one, since surely he knew that no legal theory would ever support such a source of "damages." 

[Sam Spade]

What gave you the idea that the 20 billion was a cap Sam?  Mostly this fund is window dressing, since it is unlikely that BP will go bankrupt irrespective, so it is not needed as a security device. What I don't understand is how the mediator/arbitrator can cut off claimants from the court for claims (or is it his award amount?) under 500K (which is my understanding), without enabling legislation. Obama is not yet an absolute monarch yet is he? 

The last sentence of the article says what this fund is meant to do - give large lump sums in exchange for said receivers of money signing waivers as to their right to pursue future litigation.  They're particularly interested in those persons who have the 'gimme' type of cases.  Whether that type of agreement holds up in court is another matter entirely.

I can guarantee you that BP will go bankrupt without this scheme in place - sooner rather than later.  Which is why the administration is helping them here - I wouldn't be surprised to see other help being made or offered.  Of course, if they do go bankrupt, the game plan will be for the feds to 'fence in' this money from the other creditors and any potential litigants and funnel the money towards federal government problems.

FYI, I would still bet against them making it through considering what the bond and CDS markets are saying.  Also, don't forget that BP has a lot of corporate debt to roll over in the next couple of years, much moreso than they should (which is why the above is a real problem).

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Of course.  The problem for BP is the mass tort claims and the potential of having its permits taken away, not that silliness.

[cinyc]

Sam -

What evidence do you have that BP will go bankrupt?  The damages are what they are - and I honestly doubt they will be permanent, given the location of the spill.

[Lunar]

Joe Barton is an idiot.  Always has been.

As anyone with a brain could figure out, the $20 billion escrow fund is going to be used as a means to limit BP's liability, not to enhance their punishment.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704256304575321072301455004.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews

Republicans, as usual, are so stupid that they can't figure out Obama wants to benefit BP and draw them closer to the government by doing this, not "shake them down."

I remember reading that same article when it came out, and being like, Gee, Feinberg's agreement he's making people sign to get immediate relief, sounds like an awful good deal for BP.  And, for anyone that's living paycheck-to-paycheck, it'll be a hard deal to turn down, if explicitly offered [I'm not sure how a fisherman or oyster shucker down there gets Feinberg's #, exactly].

I see I wasn't the only one.

Question for the legal types: Could this Escrow fund, despite the strings attached, also limit people's ability to sue BP over harms caused by short-term loss of income (Simple, but probably unrealistic example: "I couldn't afford my medication anymore, and I got sick, shooting my medical bills way higher than the initial loss of income")?