Modbert
Daydream Believer
- Sep 2, 2008
- 33,178
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The Washington Monthly
So, who's willing to hand over their paycheck to John and his GOP pals to pay for BP's mess? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
BOEHNER WANTS YOU TO PICK UP THE TAB.... Tom Donohue, head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, raised a few eyebrows last week when he addressed the costs of the BP oil spill disaster. While President Obama and congressional Democrats have been emphasizing the need for the oil giant to pay for its own catastrophe, Donohue said he wanted to spread the burden around.
"Everybody is going to contribute to this clean up; we are all going to have to do it," he said. "We are going to have to get the money from the government and from the companies and we will figure out a way to do that."
And when Donohue says "money from the government," that necessarily means money from American taxpayers. When he says "we" are "all" going to have to bear the financial burden, Donohue is suggesting the public and BP split the tab.
In response to a question from TPMDC, House Minority Leader John Boehner backed Tom Donohue, President of the Chamber of Commerce, in saying taxpayers should help pick up the tab.
"I think the people responsible in the oil spill -- BP and the federal government -- should take full responsibility for what's happening there." [...]
The Chamber is extremely influential in Republican politics, so on that level it's not particularly surprising that Boehner has Donohue's back on this one. But the politics of asking the federal government (i.e. taxpayers) to help cover the multi-billion dollar cleanup and rescue efforts are deadly. Look for Democrats to jump all over this one.
So, who's willing to hand over their paycheck to John and his GOP pals to pay for BP's mess? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?