20 billion starting to move is a good thing for the people of the gulf coast. Obama deserves a lot

[John Q. Citizen]

of credit for jump starting 3rd party claims processing.

It's a big deal and I hope it succeeds to alleviate the petroleum induced economic pain.

[gateley]

1. Those in the know are pretty much in awe that Obama was able to accomplish

this - they say it's unheard of to get such an agreement. I think BP knows how screwed they are and are willing to do what it takes to save their company, and maybe stay out of jail. They probably know more horrors coming down the pike that we're not aware of yet.

[joshcryer]

5. It is unheard of.

These are companies who leave behind messes and never ever clean them up. It's insane that reparations are being made as quickly as they were. One must wonder what Obama said to these guys. Must have threatened to completely obliterate offshore drilling.

[gateley]

12. At the outset, right after the explosion, he did hint that it was possible that

they might be prohibited from participating in any US activities (and I think there was something about the DOD) and that would be a loss of billions and billions.

[impik]

6. Yep. Never happened before. No president ever took on HUGE oil company like that

[amborin]

8. BP made $17 bill in profit last yr alone; the cleanup will cost $40k per barrel......you do the math

[ClarkUSA]

10. To be factual, BP's 2009 profits = $14B. The $20B cleanup fund has no cap, either.

BP 2009 profits: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/02/bp-profits-fall-2009

President Obama kept his promise to America that BP would bear the full burden for their spill and deserves all the credit for this arrangement. I'm sure Exxon is glad the Valdez disaster took place under oilman Bush I.

[Cha]

13. Wow, only

$14 Billion..and thanks for "factual", Clark.

I wasn't being sarcastic, either, with the amount.

"I'm sure Exxon is glad the Valdez disaster took place under oilman Bush I."

And, taken to the Supreme Court..

"Supreme Court drastically cuts payouts for plaintiffs in Exxon Valdez oil spill"

<snip>

"Hopes of fishermen throughout Washington and Alaska were sunk Wednesday when the Supreme Court slashed the amount of punitive damages that Exxon must pay for the epic Exxon Valdez oil spill nearly two decades ago.

The high court, in a 5-3 decision, found that punitive damages could not be larger than the compensatory damages for actual losses from the spill, which totaled $507.5 million.

The justices rejected the amount — $2.5 billion — that a federal appeals court had granted to be shared by 32,677 plaintiffs who had claimed damages from the worst oil spill in U.S. history, including fishermen, Alaska natives, local businesses and others."

<more>
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008018035_exxon26m.html

:(

[PM Martin]

2. This was shrewd alright.

Had they gone to court, they would be tied up in litigation for years.
Who knows what would happen. To get this guarantee is substational.

[vaberella]

7. If they depended on Congress they wouldn't have gotten anything. n/t

[Cha]

3. Yes, he does..thank you. He did more than

give his speech in the Oval Office ..he had something to back up his commitment those affected by the oil gusher in the Gulf Coast.

[caledesi]

4. Amen! nt

[quaker bill]

9. I have personally celebrated

when I have gotten an environmental violator to surrender $200,000 willingly. Of course the violations I deal with are no where near this large, but none the less, 20 billion is quite a feat. BP must have been made to understand that the final tab will be even larger, probably much larger. If the violator thinks they can get a better deal by litigating, they generally don't hand over the cash. A billion dollars will buy alot of lawyering, decades of lawyering.

[ClarkUSA]

11. Obama also got BP to set aside $500M for the next decade to pay for the small people's healthcare...

... as well as offer $100 million to pay for oil workers' lost wages.

Kudos to President Obama for another historic first.

[discopants]

14. Republicans calling it a slush fund & shakedown will take credit for it...

... when the checks are handed out.