Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Rand Paul: Obama's criticism of BP 'un-American'

SecretMethod70 · 05-21-2010, 10:41 AM

*facepalm*

God, Rand Paul is such a fucking joke.

The true free market approach in this circumstance is something I totally support: absolutely no caps whatsoever on what BP and other companies must pay to clean up their mess. This is one example where a true free market could potentially due its job: actually paying for damages would have a serious impact on the bottom line of BP and related companies. It'd go a long way toward ensuring other companies don't make these same "mistakes," because it would be understood that such a disaster would likely mean the end of the company. That is how the libertarian free market is supposed to work: you take risks, and you accept the costs if things don't go as planned. I have a very good friend who is a free marketer to the extreme - thinks everything, including air and water, should be privatized. BP should be very happy that his vision isn't reality, because it would be even easier to demand damages from them if that were the case. Even so, just because the environment is part of the public trust doesn't mean the government - acting on behalf of the public - should not be able to demand reimbursement for all damages. That's not even counting all the people who have lost their livelihood from the mistakes these companies have made.

Dunedan: The companies are saying they will pay for the cleanup while conveniently working to ensure those costs are not representative of reality. They know full well that there is a phony legislative cap on the costs they can be required to pay, and they're already working very hard to limit the damages they have to pay out to the many, many individual lawsuits that are being brought against them from families of the dead and people who have had their livelihood (such as fishing) destroyed by this disaster.

05-21-2010, 10:41 AM	#3 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	facepalm God, Rand Paul is such a fucking joke. The true free market approach in this circumstance is something I totally support: absolutely no caps whatsoever on what BP and other companies must pay to clean up their mess. This is one example where a true free market could potentially due its job: actually paying for damages would have a serious impact on the bottom line of BP and related companies. It'd go a long way toward ensuring other companies don't make these same "mistakes," because it would be understood that such a disaster would likely mean the end of the company. That is how the libertarian free market is supposed to work: you take risks, and you accept the costs if things don't go as planned. I have a very good friend who is a free marketer to the extreme - thinks everything, including air and water, should be privatized. BP should be very happy that his vision isn't reality, because it would be even easier to demand damages from them if that were the case. Even so, just because the environment is part of the public trust doesn't mean the government - acting on behalf of the public - should not be able to demand reimbursement for all damages. That's not even counting all the people who have lost their livelihood from the mistakes these companies have made. Dunedan: The companies are saying they will pay for the cleanup while conveniently working to ensure those costs are not representative of reality. They know full well that there is a phony legislative cap on the costs they can be required to pay, and they're already working very hard to limit the damages they have to pay out to the many, many individual lawsuits that are being brought against them from families of the dead and people who have had their livelihood (such as fishing) destroyed by this disaster. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling