The existing $75 million cap on damages for offshore drilling companies is a bailout

quote:

Originally posted by AlabamaSon:
Big Oil Money To GOP

The GOP is spreading manure again. When you look at the bottom line the previous administration cut environmental departments to a minimum. MMS was deep in crookedness. And the GOP has been blocking Obama's appointees.

President Obama needs to act, no doubt. But at least make sure you have the facts.

I suspect that if Obama doesn't act in the next two days he will suffer the consequences. So be it. In the end we the taxpayers are suffering for letting a British oil company buy Amoco and get a large foothold in the USA. But then again, look what Reagan allowed happen to Citgo. It went to Venezuala.

quote:

Originally posted by mad American:
AlabamaSon, spoken like a true head up your A@@# America hating liberal. The facts are that both parties failed us. While the press is busy giving lip service to obama's backside liberals are raping the country.

quote:

Originally posted by elinterventor01:

quote:

Originally posted by AlabamaSon:
Big Oil Money To GOP

The GOP is spreading manure again. When you look at the bottom line the previous administration cut environmental departments to a minimum. MMS was deep in crookedness. And the GOP has been blocking Obama's appointees.

President Obama needs to act, no doubt. But at least make sure you have the facts.

I suspect that if Obama doesn't act in the next two days he will suffer the consequences. So be it. In the end we the taxpayers are suffering for letting a British oil company buy Amoco and get a large foothold in the USA. But then again, look what Reagan allowed happen to Citgo. It went to Venezuala.

The Minerals Management Service problems were discovered by a Bush IG. If Bush, is to be blamed for 9/11 after 8 months in office. Obama may be blamed for cleaning out a known problem after 16 months in office. Dems, quite hiding behind "its Bush's fault." You just sound like crybabies. Oops! I forgot, that's the Dems default operating mode.

quote:

Originally posted by Nobluedog:
Let B.P. pay for the damages not the tax payer!!

quote:

But then again, look what Reagan allowed happen to Citgo. It went to Venezuala.

quote:

1982-1983: Demise of Cities Service and Birth of Citgo Petroleum Corporation

In 1982, T. Boone Pickens, founder of Mesa Petroleum, offered to buy Cities Service Company. Citgo responded by offering to buy Mesa, which was the first use of what became known as the "Pac-Man" take-over defense; i.e., a counter-tender offer initiated by a takeover target. Cities Service also threatened to dissolve itself by incremental sales rather than being taken over by Mesa, stating that it believed that the pieces would sell for more than Pickens was offering for the whole. Cities Service Company located what they thought would be a "white knight" to give them a better deal and entered into a merger agreement with Gulf Oil Corporation. Late in the Summer of 1982, Gulf Oil terminated the merger agreement claiming that Cities Service's reserve estimates were over-stated. Over fifteen years of litigation resulted. (For a more detailed discussion of the Cities Service vs. Gulf Oil litigation, see the topic of "Demise" under the entry for Gulf Oil.) Ironically, two years later, Gulf Oil itself would collapse as a result of a Pickens initiated takeover attempt; something that might not have happened if Gulf Oil had incurred the debt necessary to conclude the Cities Service deal.

In the chaos that ensued after Gulf Oil's termination of its deal, Cities Service eventually entered into a merger agreement with, and was acquired by, Occidental Petroleum Corporation - a deal that was closed in the Fall of 1982. That same year, Cities Service Company transferred all of the assets of its Refining, Marketing and Transportation division (which comprised its refining and retail petroleum business) into the newly formed Citgo Petroleum Corporation subsidiary, to ease the divestiture of the division, which Occidental had no interest in retaining. Pursuant to an agreement entered into in 1982, Citgo and the Citgo and Cities Service brands were sold by Occidental in 1983 to Southland Corporation, original owners of the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores; 50% of Citgo was then sold to Petróleos de Venezuela in 1986, and the remainder in 1990, resulting in the current ownership structure.[4]

quote:

Originally posted by seeweed:

quote:

Originally posted by Nobluedog:
Let B.P. pay for the damages not the tax payer!!

Three times the Dems have put on the floor of the Senate a resolution to lift the 75 million cap and make it hundreds of millions. Three times it was blocked by Republicans, once by the Senator from Alaska, twice by the Senator from Oklahoma who gave the "excuse" for blocking unanimous consent was that the extremely high cap would discourage mom and pop oil companies from drilling . In other words, if small oil companies make a mess , the Republican senator thinks it is the responsibility of us, the American taxpayer, to clean up their mess.
Just think a while on that logic and tell me who is really FOR the American people and who is for taxpayer support of the oil companies. Just think for a change !

quote:

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is set to introduce on Tuesday afternoon a bill that would fully eliminate any cap on the amount of economic damages that oil companies would have to pay for spills they've caused.The New Jersey Democrat is revising an earlier version of legislation he introduced which would have raised the cap from $75 million dollars in liability to $10 billion. Now, the cap will be effectively unlimited, an aide said.

.........................................................................................................

Speaking soon after Inhofe at a hastily convened press conference, Menendez maintained that the GOP was blocking attempts to stand up “to Big Oil” and assist the taxpayer with clean up and recovery from the current spill in the Gulf.

The GOP has put out a counterproposal that attaches a number to the punitive damages that an oil company would have to pay in the aftermath of a spill. That number is equal to a year’s worth of profits or $150 million (whichever is bigger). Menendez rejected the plan yesterday, mentioning that some companies – including one currently involved in the Gulf disaster, actually didn’t earn money this past year. A $10 billion liability, they argue, may be randomly set. But it is definitely better and more concrete compared to liabilities based on profit margins.

On the floor this morning, Inhofe pushed another common Republican complaint with Menendez’s method. Raising the liability too high, he maintained, would make it prohibitively expensive for smaller oil companies to operate offshore.

quote:

Originally posted by b50m:

quote:

But then again, look what Reagan allowed happen to Citgo. It went to Venezuala.

I don't see how Reagan figured into that. T. Boone Pickens does though. His name sound familiar?

quote:

1982-1983: Demise of Cities Service and Birth of Citgo Petroleum Corporation

In 1982, T. Boone Pickens, founder of Mesa Petroleum, offered to buy Cities Service Company. Citgo responded by offering to buy Mesa, which was the first use of what became known as the "Pac-Man" take-over defense; i.e., a counter-tender offer initiated by a takeover target. Cities Service also threatened to dissolve itself by incremental sales rather than being taken over by Mesa, stating that it believed that the pieces would sell for more than Pickens was offering for the whole. Cities Service Company located what they thought would be a "white knight" to give them a better deal and entered into a merger agreement with Gulf Oil Corporation. Late in the Summer of 1982, Gulf Oil terminated the merger agreement claiming that Cities Service's reserve estimates were over-stated. Over fifteen years of litigation resulted. (For a more detailed discussion of the Cities Service vs. Gulf Oil litigation, see the topic of "Demise" under the entry for Gulf Oil.) Ironically, two years later, Gulf Oil itself would collapse as a result of a Pickens initiated takeover attempt; something that might not have happened if Gulf Oil had incurred the debt necessary to conclude the Cities Service deal.

In the chaos that ensued after Gulf Oil's termination of its deal, Cities Service eventually entered into a merger agreement with, and was acquired by, Occidental Petroleum Corporation - a deal that was closed in the Fall of 1982. That same year, Cities Service Company transferred all of the assets of its Refining, Marketing and Transportation division (which comprised its refining and retail petroleum business) into the newly formed Citgo Petroleum Corporation subsidiary, to ease the divestiture of the division, which Occidental had no interest in retaining. Pursuant to an agreement entered into in 1982, Citgo and the Citgo and Cities Service brands were sold by Occidental in 1983 to Southland Corporation, original owners of the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores; 50% of Citgo was then sold to Petróleos de Venezuela in 1986, and the remainder in 1990, resulting in the current ownership structure.[4]

quote:

Originally posted by seeweed:

quote:

Originally posted by Nobluedog:
Let B.P. pay for the damages not the tax payer!!

Three times the Dems have put on the floor of the Senate a resolution to lift the 75 million cap and make it hundreds of millions. Three times it was blocked by Republicans, once by the Senator from Alaska, twice by the Senator from Oklahoma who gave the "excuse" for blocking unanimous consent was that the extremely high cap would discourage mom and pop oil companies from drilling . In other words, if small oil companies make a mess , the Republican senator thinks it is the responsibility of us, the American taxpayer, to clean up their mess.
Just think a while on that logic and tell me who is really FOR the American people and who is for taxpayer support of the oil companies. Just think for a change !

quote:

Originally posted by AlabamaSon:

quote:

Originally posted by b50m:

quote:

But then again, look what Reagan allowed happen to Citgo. It went to Venezuala.

I don't see how Reagan figured into that. T. Boone Pickens does though. His name sound familiar?

quote:

1982-1983: Demise of Cities Service and Birth of Citgo Petroleum Corporation

In 1982, T. Boone Pickens, founder of Mesa Petroleum, offered to buy Cities Service Company. Citgo responded by offering to buy Mesa, which was the first use of what became known as the "Pac-Man" take-over defense; i.e., a counter-tender offer initiated by a takeover target. Cities Service also threatened to dissolve itself by incremental sales rather than being taken over by Mesa, stating that it believed that the pieces would sell for more than Pickens was offering for the whole. Cities Service Company located what they thought would be a "white knight" to give them a better deal and entered into a merger agreement with Gulf Oil Corporation. Late in the Summer of 1982, Gulf Oil terminated the merger agreement claiming that Cities Service's reserve estimates were over-stated. Over fifteen years of litigation resulted. (For a more detailed discussion of the Cities Service vs. Gulf Oil litigation, see the topic of "Demise" under the entry for Gulf Oil.) Ironically, two years later, Gulf Oil itself would collapse as a result of a Pickens initiated takeover attempt; something that might not have happened if Gulf Oil had incurred the debt necessary to conclude the Cities Service deal.

In the chaos that ensued after Gulf Oil's termination of its deal, Cities Service eventually entered into a merger agreement with, and was acquired by, Occidental Petroleum Corporation - a deal that was closed in the Fall of 1982. That same year, Cities Service Company transferred all of the assets of its Refining, Marketing and Transportation division (which comprised its refining and retail petroleum business) into the newly formed Citgo Petroleum Corporation subsidiary, to ease the divestiture of the division, which Occidental had no interest in retaining. Pursuant to an agreement entered into in 1982, Citgo and the Citgo and Cities Service brands were sold by Occidental in 1983 to Southland Corporation, original owners of the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores; 50% of Citgo was then sold to Petróleos de Venezuela in 1986, and the remainder in 1990, resulting in the current ownership structure.[4]

1. Pickens is concerned only about himself.
2. It happend under Reagan's watch. His regulatory agencies could have stepped in.

I stand by my statement.

quote:

Originally posted by elinterventor01:
1.Pickens is concerned only with himself. So, are many folks, including out present Dear Leader! Next, profound statement!

2 It happened on Reagan's watch. Chavez was not the leader and problem child he is now. If, Reagan had stopped foreign investment in non-strategic corporations, quite possibly foreign investment in US markets would dip precipitously. You must like double unemployment rates about 20 percent.

OTOH, I'm sure you agree Reagan was responsible for the downfall of the Soviet Union and FDR for the US entry in WWII.

quote:

Originally posted by b50m:
Well if you are doing the 'it happened on his watch', Obama gets the recession, the trillions in bailouts, the oil spill, the Iceland volcano, underpants bomber, Fort Hood terrorist, collapse of Greece, etc..........