AP: Gulf spill fund gets flood of last-minute claims

[Generic Other]

<snip>

Kenneth Feinberg said about 450,000 emergency claims were filed by Tuesday's deadline. Of those, about 30,000 were filed Monday or later. "That is about four times what I thought there would be," he said.

Many will likely be denied, he said, because they lack documentation. He estimated about 325,000 claims had no or "woefully inadequate" documentation. About 1,000 claims are suspected of being fraudulent.

"A fisherman will apply and say: 'I lost $30,000 during the spill because I couldn't fish, pay me' and he attaches his fishing license with no further documentation," he said.

In the next phase of the claims process, people and businesses will be able to ask for a lump sum payment, so long as they agree not to sue BP PLC or other companies involved in the spill.

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http://topnews360.tmcnet.com/topics/associated-press/articles/2010/11/27/121195-gulf-spill-fund-gets-flood-last-minute-claims.htm

2 billion paid out of the 20 billion set aside. Looks to me like people will not be getting paid.

[bluestateguy]

1. Socialism! Stop socialism!

I wonder how many small government Southern conservatives are lining up at the teat to get money.

Any small government conservative who is eligible should be true to their principles and not file a claim. They can file a lawsuit instead, and maybe 5-10 years later they'll get a little something.

You see, if it hadn't been for that fund that the White House set up, the only recourse for these people would have been protracted lawsuits in the courts.

[Generic Other]

2. My thinking is that if you aren't getting anything

it doesn't matter much whether it is now or later. This is about ordinary people whose lives have been impacted.

This is not about politicians. And if it is, cheating people appears to be a bipartisan activity and BP is throwing the party.

[spin]

3. Isn't BP supposed to be paying for the fund?

If so, why is it Socialism?

If Obama would have taken over the American holdings of BP and then passed out money, I could see your point. To me what we have today looks like regulated Capitalism.