President Obama, speaking from Louisiana today, criticized BP for spending big money on television advertising and shareholder dividends, suggesting the company was prioritizing its own interests over those of Gulf residents.
“I don’t have a problem with BP fulfilling its legal obligations,” Obama said. “What I don’t want to hear is when they’re spending that kind of money on their shareholders and spending that kind of money on TV advertising that they’re nickel and diming fishermen or small businesses here in the Gulf who are having a hard time.”
The President said that government officials were making sure that claims were processed correctly, and “that BP is not lawyering up, essentially, when it comes to these claims.”
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