Beyond Punitive
Adam Freedman ·
Jun 14, 2010 at 8:28am
Let's see: Obama wants BP to slash its dividend, fire its CEO, set up a $20 billion clean up fund, and pick up the tab for workers displaced by the Administration's drilling moratorium. Oh, and there's a criminal investigation.
Is there a precedent for handing a company a death sentence to score political points? Unfortunately, yes: the Bush Justice Department's shameful prosecution of Arthur Andersen (utlimately overturned by SCOTUS).
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Jun '10
Re: Beyond Punitive
Unfortunately the Bush administration set more than one precedent which Obama is using in egregious fashion...Medicare Part D and TARP to name two more.
May '10
Re: Beyond Punitive
At least BP is getting their money's worth on their campaign contributions to Mr. Obama. Lots of attention between golf games.
May '10
Re: Beyond Punitive
cdor, if Mr. Obama had handled his healthcare program like Part D and managed TARP the way Mr. Bush did, we would all, other than Ayn Rand, have been perfectly happy. In fact if Medicare parts A and B were anything like Part D, we would be in far better shape than we are. Part D is a model of the right way to effect a bad idea.
Re: Beyond Punitive
NIcely put. Not exactly a campaign slogan ("Vote for us! We do stupid things really well!") but it's the right distinction.
I remember that sinking feeling I had, back during the 2000 campaign, when Bush and Gore both competed to see who could come up with the best-sounding new Medicare entitlement.
May '10
Re: Beyond Punitive
Rob, remember that Keith Hennessy explained this- they just barely blocked a pure Medicare drug add-on in the late 1990's when he was in the Senate, and the program effected was specifically a blocking mechanism to prevent a worse ticking-political-time-bomb outcome. They first tried to reform all of Medicare.
May '10
Re: Beyond Punitive
Is there a precedent for handing a company a death sentence to score political points?
General Motors?
Re: Beyond Punitive
Remarkably prescient of President Obama to return the Churchill bust to the British government early in his term. It saves them having to ask for it back.
May '10
Re: Beyond Punitive
Although those are the highest profile cases, there is a long list of companies that have been regulated out of existence. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of where real jobs actually come from.
May '10
Re: Beyond Punitive
Trace Urdan: Although those are the highest profile cases, there is a long list of companies that have been regulated out of existence. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of where real jobs actually come from. · Jun 14 at 1:40pm
Exactly. Either that or the goal is to only have government jobs .
But this is what you get when no one in the admi nistration ever worked in the private sector. It is sort of obvious what new requirements and qualifications need to be added for holding public office. Constitutional amendment time.