Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Seeking to Limit Liability

For some reason, the Obama administration is attacking Transocean (NYSE:RIG) for trying to limit its liability from the aftermath of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

Transocean is saying they're only liable for $27 million, actually citing an 1851 law.

I'll leave the legal discussion for others. What troubles me is that the Democrats and Obama are outraged that Transocean is even attempting to seek limited liability.

It's like they're being judged for a crime there is no proof they had a part in (yet), and because it's on national television and making the Obama administration look bad, that's more of a crime than the actual crime itself. otherwise why would they be furious over their legal rights?

This is an old legal, bullying tactic used by law enforcement and authorities in order to intimidate those being accused.

How many times has someone in legal authority said something like this: If you've got nothing to hide you'll... fill in the blank. That's an old but highly effective tool, and that's what's being used in this case.

How dare Transocean use their legal rights to battle this thing. Just cave in. Accept your punishment. That's what many of the Democrats and Obama are pushing for.

Read this quote from Democratic Senator Ron Wyden to see what I mean: "For a company that said it did nothing wrong, this company is working pretty hard to insulate itself from being held responsible for an accident involving its own drill rig and crew."

See the tactic I just described? Just because you say you've done nothing wrong doesn't mean you surrender your rights and allow someone to change the rules in the middle of the game. If I were BP (NYSE:BP), I would have waited before saying they'll pay for all legitimate claims against them. No one knows what caused the accident yet, and just because a company had a stake in the operations doesn't mean they're liable for anything at all.

This is why you hear very little about the tragic loss of human life from the ordeal, but rather the outrage that the ocean has some oil floating around in it. That's the ultimate sin in the eyes of an radical environmentalist, and the Democrats are playing to that crowd and don't like it that these companies aren't just caving in to the pressure. They shouldn't. And they have the absolute right not to.

Another Democratic idiot made a big deal about the possibility that they couldn't watch the attempt at plugging the oil leak on TV. Oh, that's a priority.

Transocean has every right to seek to limit liability in something that is far from conclusive on what has caused it in the first place. Once the evidence is in, then the process can go forward without the hysteria and attempt to demonize these companies for making a mistake.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

So what ? The question to ask yourself is this:

Is the public bashing creating a buying oportunity ?