Chavezism to the rescue

We haven't heard much in the past couple of days about Mr. Obama's plan to bill BP for the wages lost by the 25,000 oil-rig workers that he (the president) threw out of work with his moratorium on offshore drilling. Perhaps Joe Biden pointed out the chances of that holding up in court? Anyhow, Mr. Obama has gone to Plan B:

WASHINGTON — President Obama for the first time will address the nation about the ongoing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday night and outline his plans to legally force BP executives to create an escrow account reserving billions of dollars to compensate businesses and individuals if the company does not do so on its own, a senior administration official said on Sunday.

“The president will use his legal authority to compel them,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman. Mr. Gibbs did not elaborate on the legal basis for such a move but said that White House lawyers have been researching the matter for days.

I quote at some length because the New York Times story has been subtly altered overnight, to make the president's move slightly less unnerving.

First Mr. Obama wanted BP to suspend its dividend. Failing that, he wanted to bill the company billions of dollars to pay the consequences of a wrong-headed presidential decision. Now he plans "to legally force" the company to set up an escrow account.

Really, this is the sort of tinpot posturing one would expect from Hugo Chavez, who is currently running Venezuela's economy into the ditch. In the first place, BP is a private corporation (and a British corporation at that), not the plaything of the American president. In the second place, only BP has the expertise to stop the oil pouring out of that hole in the ocean floor. How much of BP's considerable talent is focused this morning on stopping the blowout in the Gulf, and how much on coping with the blowout from Washington? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford