Thursday, June 10, 2010

Check Your Wallet

Where are the Tea Party Patriots when you need them? Check your wallet, check your checkbook, check your checking account. Depending on the time of day the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) think the federal government should help pay for the spill, along with BP. Don't believe me?

First Boehner says this:

"I think the people responsible in the oil spill--BP and the federal government--should take full responsibility for what's happening there,"

And the Chamber is quoted thusly:

Boehner's statement followed comments last Friday by US Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue who said he opposes efforts to stick BP, a member of the Chamber, with the bill. "It is generally not the practice of this country to change the laws after the game," he said. "Everybody is going to contribute to this clean up. We are all going to have to do it. 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."

Later, Boehner's spokesman emailed out the following:

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel emails to say "Boehner made a general statement about who is responsible for the spill, and the federal government oversight was clearly lacking, but he has said repeatedly that BP is responsible for the cost of the cleanup."

Well yes, his AM statement refers to BP but he did say the federal government needs to chip in too. Did he not mean to include them?

You do know where the feds get their money from, right? And you are ready to do your part, right? And you agree that this is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars, right?

I wonder where the Tea Party Patriots would stand on this issue. Someone go check in with them and see what they have to say.

1 comment:

The North Coast said...

Does this Republican cretin Boehmer not realize that the "government" is supported by all of us?

Unfortunately, the taxpayers will end up footing a considerable percentage of the bill for this no matter what. BP, which is already the recipient of a respectable chunk of government subsidies, will not have the money to pay for the cleanup.

We are already subsidizing the oil companies, unfortunately. BP receives about $30B in direct and indirect subsidies.

What if we stopped subsidizing the oil and gas industry all together? That would mean a steep hike in gasoline prices, which would go a long way to cutting consumption.

Again, we have been forced to subsidize Parking Lot Nation with our taxes, in the form of subsidies for auto use and auto dependent industries, and for securing our oil supply by military action, for 65 years at least.

No more- instead of demanding subsidies for sustainable industries, lets STOP subsidizing the unsustainable- something I have NEVER heard the Republicans, those fake free-marketers who have a very different understanding of the term "free market" than I do, suggest.