BP Collects Billions in U.S. Government Contracts http://cryptogon.com/?p=15715

Daniel Gross of Slate poses the question: How do we punish BP?The options he suggests – boycotting BP products, charging for the cleanup, even nationalizing the company – are less than satisfying.Here’s another possibility: How about barring BP from the federal trough?According to USASpending.gov, BP has received more than $9 billion in defense contracts since 2000.

Contracts with Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Commerce and other federal agencies total additional millions.Pro Publica reports that the Environmental Protection Agency is considering a ban on BP getting government contracts:Over the past 10 years, BP has paid tens of millions of dollars in fines and been implicated in four separate instances of criminal misconduct that could have prompted this far more serious action.