The White House just released a letter from oil spill czar Thad Allen to the chairman of BP inviting him and other appropriate company officials to a meeting at the White House next Wednesday with the President.
I’m not sure what Obama meeting directly with BP officials is supposed to accomplish, but at least we won’t have to keep hearing about Obama’s failure to meet with them and how that’s a huge mistake.
I think I might be honored if I was credited with inventing the word for serially sexually questing women. Language Log looks at the possibilities.
From a staffer on the Hill …
Senators Menendez, Nelson & Lautenberg introduced legislation on May 13 to lift the cap on economic damages from $75M to $10B.
At the urging of Senator Reid, they’ve since modified that to remove the cap altogether.
Arizona’s Treasurer says the state’s prisons are too good for illegals convicted of crimes in his state, proposes vast ‘tent cities’.
Greg Sargent followed up with John Boehner’s spokesman Michael Steel who gave Greg the same non-responsive quote they’ve been giving other reporters. Greg pressed though on the distinction between “clean up” and “damages” noted here. And Steele replied that now Boehner is willing to say no government money for damages either, which is new. Pressed further by Greg, Steel said: “No taxpayer money for cleanup or damages — period. BP pays. If the current law doesn’t guarantee that, we are happy to work in a bipartisan way on reasonable new legislation.”
But there’s already legislation out there to raise the cap and it’s being opposed by congressional Republicans. So is Boehner really coming out in favor of raising the cap?
It seems like Rep Boehner’s office is in the process of punking most of the other reporters up on the Hill by passing around a bamboozle quote that dodges the main issue at stake. To understand, you’ve got to understand the basic issue involved: the difference between the different kinds of liability involved. Read More
Okay, it seems like we know what Boehner meant. It seems he thinks BP should be on the line for everything. But only up to $75 million once the oil itself if cleaned up.
Basically, the position is that BP should pay for removing the oil from the places that it went. But if the oil broke your stuff or put you out of business or whatever, BP’s liability for that should stay capped at $75 million.
As I mentioned below, Rep. Boehner’s office is trying to walk back his suggestion that taxpayers should help foot the bill for the Gulf clean up. His spokesman says he misunderstood the question and believes “BP is responsible for the cost of the cleanup.”
But this started with comments from Tom Donohue, head of the US Chamber of Commerce who said he doesn’t think the government should force BP, a member of the Chamber, to foot the whole bill. Boehner was asked whether he agreed and said he did. When our reporter pressed Boehner’s spokesman on whether he was saying he disagreed with Donohue’s position, he wouldn’t bite, but just stuck with his statement.
Now the spokesman is calling Beutler a “numbnut” and claiming he mumbled. So Boehner couldn’t hear him.
Rep. Boehner’s office is trying to walk back the leader’s comments about taxpayers’ needing to help pay for the BP spill clean up. Boehner’s office says Boehner didn’t under the question. But our reporter was pretty clear. Read More
In an interview with TPM, Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) alleges that Alvin Greene is not alone and that a total of three candidates, all African American, were planted in three separate federal elections in South Carolina: Greene in the Senate and two in U.S. House races. Like Greene, one of the other candidates Clyburn fingers also won the Democratic nomination. Christina Bellantoni reports.