Posted on 06/15/2010 8:59:29 PM PDT by Qbert
(CNSNews.com) - In his first-ever address from the Oval Office on Tuesday night, President Barack Obama said he was going to inform the chairman of BP that he must surrender the companys money to an independent party that will distribute it to people and businesses determined to have been harmed by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The presidents declaration raises a serious constitutional question about his authority: Where does the president get the lawful power to order any private-sector companyBP or any otherthat it must surrender its money? Should not courts and normal legal proceedings determine who is responsible, who has been harmed, and who owes what to whom in regards to the Gulf oil spill? Leaving aside BP's relative popularity or lack of it today, if President Obama, on his own initiative, can tell a corporation to surrender its money because he has determined its culpability in an oil spill, under what other circumstances can Obama or any future American president tell a corporation or a private citizen to surrender money?
What rights do the stockholders in BP have to due process of law to protect their property? The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution says: "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Does Obama think he can inform persons and corporations to surrender or exchange their property without due process of law?
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
Head of BP must be laughing. “OK, I’ll give you 20 billion tomorrow. And by the way, I’ll shut down all operations to plug the hole, Daddy!”
Last I heard, laws originated in the Legislative Branch
but maybe that’s changed now?
BP will just put the money in Obama’s Stash, see, and then he’ll use it to pay for gas for peoples cars, and mortgages, and free beer and ice cream cones for everyone!
Revelation 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
lol...its called make up law as he goes...then lie cheat and steal.
Yeah, that was the first thing to pop into my pointy head when he said he was going to “direct” BP to set up a fund, not within its control.
I have the US Constitution & Amendments on my Kindle. I’d laugh if Hayward does, too, so when the Kenyan makes his demand, Hayward can produce it and say, “Sure Mr. President. You’re a world-famous Constitutional scholar, so this is a no-brainer. Just point to where it says in here you can make me.”
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Only if BP acquiesces. I don't think that's a done deal, after the entire world saw how he treated Chrysler's and GM's bond holders.
I seem to recall hearing something like this on a dark night between street lamps on the south side of Chicago. I think the mugger used a few more “forceful/colorful” expletives, and had a gun but the gist was pretty much the same...
“Mugger in Chief” comes to mind...
Obama and BP are so in bed, they don’t mind being thrown under the bus.
The ends justify the means...
BP was a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a lobby dedicated to passing a cap-and-trade bill. As the nations largest producer of natural gas, BP saw many ways to profit from climate legislation, notably by persuading Congress to provide subsidies to coal-fired power plants that switched to gas.
BP signed off on Kerrys Senate climate bill...
BP has lobbied for and profited from subsidies for biofuels and solar energy...
The U.S. Export-Import Bank, a federal agency, is currently financing a BP solar energy project in Argentina.
Ex-Im has also put up taxpayer cash to finance construction of the 1,094-mile Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline carrying oil from the Caspian Sea to Ceyhan, Turkeyagain, profiting BP.
Lobbying records also show BP lobbying on Obamas stimulus bill
Paper-hanging son of a btch.
I love General Patton
“Last I heard, laws originated in the Legislative Branch”
You are Correct. He decides what should be Illegal ( Legislative Branch)
Then Judges them Guilty and renders a Verdict. (Judicial Branch)
It’s a Separation of Powers Violation.
Chris Chriti the present day Patton along with Jan Brewer, Sharron Angle, and Michele Bachmann.
Bill O’Reily said it was ok.
We just need to give Alvin Greene a chance too. /s
The teleprompter told him to say it, ((Bush’s fault!)/Sarc
This guy doesn’t have a clue!
Unfortunately, since the start of this administration, no one has had the balls to do it. Which says a lot about western business nowadays.
We saw it in Venezuela. At the beginning, had anyone stood up and called Hugo's bluff, he would've had to stop.
We saw it in pre-WWII Germany, too.
Someone has to be a big enough ‘jack@$$’ to publicly call Obama’s bluff in a completely humiliating manner. Which would egg Obama on, forcing him into a situation where he'd try to do something he can't... and then get beat down for it.
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