Folks, there is nothing like a disaster to bring the corporate shoeshine boys into the light of day and that has certainly been the case with our Governor Haley Barbour and his sidekick Lite Gov Phil Bryant. In this installment of Boss Hogg is in it for himself, Barbour comes out against his own people and those similarly situated on the Gulf Coast in favor a huge multi national corporation that has polluted the Gulf of Mexico to the verge of extinction. It has become clear the majority of voters here in Mississippi voted against their own welfare and best interests by elevating these two BP waterboys to the pinnacle of State Government. Let’s begin with a WTOK report (H/T Yallpolitics) where Barbour says the escrow is a bad idea and he uses logic that Captain Queeg would certainly appreciate to explain why:
Gov. Haley Barbour said Wednesday he believes making BP put money in an escrow account makes it less likely for victims to be paid.
“We expect them to pay. But if you take $10 to $20 billion out of their operational funds and make them give it to the government in an escrow account, how are they going to generate the revenue to pay what the people of Mississippi are rightfully owed?” asked Barbour.
Worth noting is the $20 billion is to be paid over 4 years in $5 billion dollar installments. To the extent it will reduce any amount BPs pays in litigation I don’t see Barbour’s point, especially since the victims of this disaster will be the beneficiaries of the escrow. Is he saying that paying the innocent victims of this mess is a bad idea or should we just let BP decide when to compensate the victims at a time when it benefits them the most?
Boss Hogg wasn’t done carrying water for BP on this subject though as he spoke with AP reporter Emily Wagster Pettus as well:
Mississippi’s governor said Wednesday he’s not sure the federal government should have made BP put $20 billion into escrow to compensate victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill because the company needs it to drill more wells and make money so it can pay up.
I guarantee if BP had offered Boss Hogg’s kin folk big fat no-bid contracts he’d be singing a different tune. Ol’ Haley didn’t make the list the Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington’s list of the nations most ethically challenged governors for nothing. Continue reading “Boss Hogg comes out against the BP escrow. Phil Bryant still in hiding after previously beclowning himself.”