The only problem I have with forcing BP to fork over $20 billion to cover damages done to the Gulf Area is the hypocrisy of it all.

Why didn’t the government force Enron, Goldman Sachs, and other financial firms to fork over billions to pay for the meltdown of the economy which they caused and to make whole the millions of people who were hurt by their fraudulent actions? People are still losing their jobs and homes as a result of the actions taken by these firms.

I do feel we are establishing a precedent which might be used in the future to force all businesses to pay for full damages they cause to people.

In most cases when the average person is hurt by a firm he/she ends up paying. Just look at all the shoddy construction as an example of an area where the consumer ends up losing. When a contractor started a project for me and failed to get a permit as I instructed, I ended up paying to clean up the mess and the state, in spite of my complaint and proof, did absolutely nothing. Their attitude was it is my problem.

The government by deciding who to help in matters like this is basically picking winners and losers. This same government refuses to compensate Black farmers in the South for damages they suffered when the Department of Agriculture discriminated against them when providing loans in spite of a court ruling in the favor of the farmers.

How do you explain this?

George Whitaker, Bellevue