The Dauphin's Jest

Ned admits to an affection for the Henrys: Henry IV, parts 1 and 2; Henry V, and yes, even that stepchild, Henry VI, in three parts. But today he would like to quote from Henry V. The Dauphin of France, in a contemptuous gesture, has sent King Henry a 'gift' of tennis balls in answer to Henry's claim to the throne of France. Henry goes into a carefully-controlled but furious tirade, and he closes it this way: 'Get you hence in peace, and tell the Dauphin, his jest will savour but of shallow wit, when thousands weep more than did laugh at it.'
Ned fears that's gong to the the long-term impact of Obama's demonization of BP. Here's one snippet: Bloomberg news is reporting a bit of rather old news, that state pension plans took a $1.4 billion bath from the falling price of BP stock. But this is just a part of the story. BP was paying 84 cents a share quarterly until Obama browbeat the company into canceling it for 2010. How much will that cost pension plans in addition to the $1.4 billion? A $1.4 billion loss implies that state pension plans in total owned about 50 million shares of BP, since the shares are down about $30. (Do the math.)
Let's assume the plans had 50 million shares. How much is the loss of dividends going to cost them? About $40 million a quarter. For the year, a cool $120 million. Now, to those who are piously scorning these pension plan members, saying they should have "done due diligence" and nonsense like that, Ned replies scornfully that most members really don't know the holdings of their plans, and couldn't do anything about it if they did. BTW, the same thing is true for individuals, since voting in corporate business is "one share, one vote." But let that pass.
Ned's point is that if BP had been allowed to continue paying those dividends, hundreds of thousands of state employees, who did nothing wrong, would have pension plans that are markedly healthier than today. And BP could have continued to pay for damages in the GOM. But for short-term political gain, Obama chose to demonize BP, materially contributing to its stock price crash.

"His jest will savour but of shallow wit, when thousands weep, more than did laugh at it."