The January 2009 two step or Hot Potato for Adults

I was thinking about how DOE might handle the Quintana fine.

The first step was to hold hearings in Congress saying that LANS was bad.
The second step was to propose a fine of $3,000,000 to UC to say that UC was bad (and to gain free publicity implying that DOE was cracking down on LANL).
The third step was for NNSA to give a press release saying that underfunding to LANL and the 11th amendment of the Constitution are not sufficient reasons for UC to be held harmless in the Quintana affair.

Here are today's predictions of the next steps.

4. DOE spends not more than $4,000,000 between now and January 2009 with the stated goal of getting money from UC and LANS. DOE pays UC and LANS, per contract, for their side of this battle. No decision about the fine is made until we have a new president. Every one gets to deny responsibility for the result ("Didn't happen on my watch" "That previous administration was gutless" Blah, blah, blah). Political costs are small to all parties.

A related thought - If UC and LANS are worth fining $3,300,000 for one incident at LANL what is in store for their efforts at LLNL? Does this calculus change with a Democratic president?

Please comment.

This one was originally posted on 17 July 2007