Showing Their Cards
by digby
You can always count on the Old Denier to step into the breach:
Republican Senator James Inhofe has stepped up to the plate yet again for big oil, pledging a Republican filibuster against legislation offered by New Jersey’s Robert Menendez that would completely lift the $75 million liability cap currently protecting big oil companies from claims of economic damage from oil spills. Sam Stein describes the Menendez proposal:
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is set to introduce on Tuesday afternoon a bill that would fully eliminate any cap on the amount of economic damages that oil companies would have to pay for spills they’ve caused. The New Jersey Democrat is revising an earlier version of legislation he introduced which would have raised the cap from $75 million dollars in liability to $10 billion. Now, the cap will be effectively unlimited, an aide said.
Inhofe says Republicans oppose unlimited caps because it would limit the ability of oil companies to drill for oil.
Really? Are they down to their last hundred billion?
This vote will be worth watching. It will tell the tale of whether or not the congress is feeling any heat from the people. And if they aren’t, and it goes down, it could have an electrifying effect. It’s hard to believe that the US Government will vote to let a foreign oil company off the hook for this horror show, but would it surprise you? Me neither. I suspect they will come to regret it though.
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