James Carville lauds President Obama for getting BP to pony up $20 billion for oil spill cleanup:
It looks as if President Obama applied a little old- school Chicago persuasion to the oil executives, because BP’s chairman not only agreed to the full $20 billion that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu asked for, he also pledged to suspend quarterly dividends immediately.
I suspect Carville is right, but I don’t share his joy. I’m not going to shed a tear for BP, a company I’ve despised for years, but I’m very disturbed to see the continued Russification of our economy. While our economy ought to be (and largely has been) managed by free markets and the rule of law, we’re increasingly seeing coercion and back-room political deals take their place.
We saw it when banks were forced to participate in TARP, when Chrysler’s creditors were forced to accept a plan that moved unions to the head of the line, and when medical device manufacturers got the shaft in Obamacare for not paying enough protection money.
So I think Joe Barton was right (despite his retraction) in all his points except for the apology to BP. The apology is due to all of us, not to BP.
(Via Instapundit.) (Previous post.)
UPDATE: The Economist calls him Vladimir Obama. Ouch.
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