re: #8 Walter L. Newton

That’s what I’m wondering… if that’s not close enough to break them, then it’s too little.

Well, I don’t see how “breaking them” helps anyone or anything. Forcing the company into bankruptcy guarantees that creditors - and claimants - will see, at best, pennies on the dollar. BP has, I believe, lost over half its market capitalization over the last couple of months, and deliberate attempts by the government to drive it to ruin will yank the rug out from under whatever support remains.

And the company itself isn’t at fault. If anyone is, that would be the people running the company. If any of the many investigations proposed or already underway turn up deliberate wrongdoing, that’s where punishment should be directed. Dismantling the company itself out of spite and malice serves no purpose, and adds the company’s hundred thousand or so employees to the list of those harmed.