Ken, Ken, Ken… Mr. Feinberg? Can I call you Ken? I feel that since I’ve been writing about you so much these past few months that I’ve almost gotten to know you, not in that best friends at summer camp kind of way, but more like a co-worker, a co-worker I don’t care for very much. You know, that person in the office who you … Continue reading It’s (still) the transparency, stupid…
In the past two weeks, Ken Feinberg and the GCCF have made 8100 final payment offers to claimants on the Gulf Coast. So far, only 2.5% of them have been accepted, though claimants have 90 days to decide. That’s about 200 people out of 8100 accepting these offers. Why? Perhaps it might have something to do with the average amount of the offers so far … Continue reading Ken Feinberg sued and so far, turned down
In a word? Climate. I’m not talking about environmental climate change, I’m talking about the political climate, the deregulation climate, the climate that continues to sweep through this country and threatens you, the American citizen at your door with not a polite knock, it’s more akin to home invasion, battering rams that splinter the wood with its force until the whole thing smashes in and … Continue reading What does Wisconsin have to do with the Gulf Coast?
When US District Court Judge Carl Barbier issued his ruling which declared Feinberg and the GCCF were not independent of British Petroleum, but more of a related hybrid entity, he requested all parties involved file briefs for his consideration in making a future ruling on whether the oil claims process follows the law. And the briefs came. And when they came, the sides were revealed. … Continue reading BP, Feinberg and the Federal Government against the Gulf Coast…
When Feinberg first proposed the methodology for interim and final payments he clearly made everyone unhappy. Even BP weighed in with their dislike of his payment system as far too generous, and while their now apparent total disregard for their public relations department can be summarily dismissed, the people who matter here, namely the people injured by this spill, well, they were equally unimpressed. A … Continue reading Feinberg’s revised rules: the good and the bad…
Ken Feinberg believes the Gulf of Mexico will be recovered by 2012. British Petroleum disputes this time-table as being too lengthy. A new study released by the University of Georgia however, reveals Feinberg and BP may both be inhaling far too many fumes from their vanishing oil. At a science conference in Washington Saturday, marine scientist Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia showed the results of … Continue reading Hey Ken? The oil’s still there…
Imagine: You are the neutral arbitrator of a large compensation fund and you are being roundly criticized. The people making damage claims say you are underpaying them, being too slow, denying too many and tell anyone who will listen how you are not neutral, but are working for the company who is paying out the damages. It’s gotten so bad that local and national politicians … Continue reading Bad Cop, Worse Cop…
Back in the first week of January, I wrote a little something about how the reparation money paid to claimants should be tax free. In the hard times across the Gulf Coast, the last thing people need is to budget 25% of their payment to the IRS, especially people receiving the quick payment: 25% of $5000 dollars to an individual or $25,000 dollars to business. Well, … Continue reading Really, Obama? No tax breaks for claimants?
From the Times-Picayune’s David Hammer: “Kenneth Feinberg couldn’t have been clearer: In December, the oil spill claims czar told claimants who had already received emergency payments from him that they could sign away their right to sue, collect one more check within 14 days and be done with the whole process, with “no further review.” But the truth is that some who sought the so-called … Continue reading Guidepost Solutions…thanks David…
As I wrote a few days ago, a new phenomenon is occurring on the Gulf Coast. Some claimants who have applied for the quick pay from the GCCF, an application the GCCF stated would be automatic for people who had received an EAP and would require no further review, have suddenly found their EAP’s under investigation for fraud. Guidepost Solutions, the investigative arm of Ken … Continue reading Being investigated by Guidepost Solutions and the GCCF? The media is listening…
Drake Toulouse: Photography and Words 