BW - "Republicans Put Taxpayers ‘On Hook’ for Oil Damage, Obama Says"

[TomCADem]

This is just another reminder of the differences between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans have proposed subsidizing BP for its losses while opposing lifting the caps on damages suits to protect mom and pop offshore oil drillers. I did not know there was such a thing.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-19/republicans-put-taxpayers-on-hook-for-oil-damage-obama-says.html

May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Republicans threaten to leave taxpayers “on the hook” for damages from the BP Plc spill in the Gulf of Mexico by blocking legislation to raise the liability limit, President Barack Obama said.

“This maneuver threatens to leave taxpayers, rather than the oil companies, on the hook for future disasters like the BP oil spill,” Obama said yesterday in a statement. “I urge the Senate Republicans to stop playing special-interest politics and join in a bipartisan effort to protect taxpayers and demand accountability from the oil companies.”

A Democratic bid to pass a bill raising liability to $10 billion from $75 million was blocked yesterday by Republican Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma. Inhofe said a higher limit would make it impossible for independent producers to drill in the Gulf, where they account for 63 percent of natural-gas production and 36 percent of oil pumped from wells.

“Big Oil would love to have these caps there so they can shut out all the independents,” Inhofe said.

[tsuki]

1. How many independent producers are lined up to drill in the Gulf?

[TomCADem]

2. Senator Menendez (D) Responded Nicely To This Point

If a company is dissuaded from drilling by the increased damages cap, then perhaps they should not be drilling. Period. Otherwise, we are once again socializing losses and privitizing profits. Senator Inhofe's (R) opposition is complete BS.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Did Senator Menendez actually use the phrase "socializing losses and privatizing profits?" I hope so

[TomCADem]

7. Yup, In An NPR Interview Here

Here you go:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126890154

SIEGEL: Senator Menendez, I'd just like you to respond to what the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, said yesterday about this when he was asked about it on "Meet the Press." He said: The danger, of course - Im quoting now, "is if you raise the cap too high there will be no competition in the Gulf, and you will leave all the business to big guys, like BP."

Senator MENENDEZ: Well, you know, at some point there are a lot of smaller companies than BP, but they're not mom and pop companies as we would think of a mom and pop store on Main Street. Several of these independent operators are, you know, $40 billion in net worth. And lastly, the question begs the issue as a public policy, just because we want smaller operators to be able to operate, if they create the same risk would we simply say that the liability should now become that of the public and of all of the Gulf State residents, and of the federal government, because they're smaller?

I think you have to think about what is not just the upside, but you have to think of the downside. And you can't privatize profit but then collectivize risk.

[mediaman007]

3. So I guess that corporations do need government regulation.

They want it both ways. Government to cover the losses and protect corporate profit!

Time for the Teabaggers to stand up and be counted. The Libertarians will probably let the corporations walk away because nothing in the market would make the corporations clean up the mess.

So I guess the market doesn't respond to something like this.

[Historic NY]

5. so once they expend 75 million they're done & the taxpayer is on the hook..nicely done GOP.

[Petrushka]

6. K & R

:kick:

[Skittles]

8. just more repuke privatized profit / socialized risk bullshit

Obama needs to shout this from the rooftops