BP limited to $75 million liability. Betcha that's still too much for Tony 'Va Fa Fongu' Scalia.

[Octafish]

Good news from Wall Street!



The New York Times reports federal law limits BP's liability to $75 million smackers.

Tax on Oil May Help Pay for Cleanup

By MATTHEW L. WALD
The New York Times
Published: May 1, 2010

WASHINGTON — The federal government has a large rainy day fund on hand to help mitigate the expanding damage on the Gulf Coast, generated by a tax on oil for use in cases like the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Up to $1 billion of the $1.6 billion reserve could be used to compensate for losses from the accident, as much as half of it for what is sometimes a major category of costs: damage to natural resources like fisheries and other wildlife habitats.

Under the law that established the reserve, called the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, the operators of the offshore rig face no more than $75 million in liability for the damages that might be claimed by individuals, companies or the government, although they are responsible for the cost of containing and cleaning up the spill.

The fund was set up by Congress in 1986 but not financed until after the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska in 1989. In exchange for the limits on liability, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 imposed a tax on oil companies, currently 8 cents for every barrel they produce in this country or import.

CONTINUED...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/us/02liability.html

Whew! For a moment there, I thought the rig's owners weren't going to get away with it and the Supreme Court would have to step in and rule that the U.S. taxpayers will have to pick up the tab or sumpin'.

In all seriousness: From 5 bill to 500 mill, Scalia and his crew reduced what Exxon had to pay out for the disaster in Alaska.

Ask Fongu Tony and his hoodlum chums on the Supreme Court who has more pull: The American taxpayer or Global Corporations?



Dat's an easy one: A no-brainer, dat!