By now, we all know BP has been painfully tightfisted about helping to rebuild the lives and livelihoods ruined in last year's oil spill. They agreed to pay $20 billion in damages but have only squeezed out $6 billion so far. But what do you expect them to do? They need that money to spend on lobbying and litigation!
The anniversary of the spill brought two fun announcements from the company about their priorities. First, they've already spent $2 billion this year lobbying the government — including nagging them to end the offshore drilling moratorium, speed up the permitting process, and limit the company's liability for Gulf cleanup. Hey, people's JOBS are being RUINED here! Important people, the kind who work for BP!
Second, they're going after the real killers: They've sued rig owner (and towering a-hole in its own right) Transocean for $40 billion, and tossed smaller lawsuits at device manufacturer Cameron International and cement contractor Halliburton (a towering a-hole in … hey, we're seeing a pattern here!). It's not clear what BP is thinking here, besides "moneymoneymoneyyumyumyum." Are we supposed to see them as the injured party? (The company just wants its life back!) Is this the legal equivalent of waving your arms and going "HEY look over there it's HALLIBURTON!" until everyone just forgets that you drenched the Gulf coast in tar balls? What?
