BP are obviously to blame but so is America.

True. The deregulation (and de-facto deregulation by way of not enforcing those regulations that still do exist) of the Reagan Era (which Obama and Co., alas, are slow to overturn) (not that the Repuglicans have ANY right to complain about that!) is coming home to roost in the last 3 years.

And why not? That's laissez-faire capitalism at its best. "The Magic Of The Market" at work.

"The Market" is vastly overrated. "The Market" gave us the global financial meltdown of October 2008. Regulate the shit out of it. Business should work for people. That's why the governments allow corporations to exist. Or should be.

What we are saying is that BP has stated very clearly, right from the start, that its intention is to pay for the lot.

Well, they agreed to pay for all legitimate claims, "legitimate" being a weasel word which one can fully expect to be used to dodge out of claims that any number of observers might think are "legitimate".