News Roundup for 6/10/10

Major proponent of socialism

-Headline of the day-
"Chamber Of Commerce Says Taxpayers Should Help Pay For BP Spill Cleanup; GOP Leader Agrees, Then Recants."

Man, I hate it when they're complicated, but here goes.

OK, so BP ignored a bunch of safety regulations and busted a lot of laws. They did all this in a brilliant master plan to save a whole bunch of money and increase their profits. It was so brilliant that it might cost the company its continued existence. Meanwhile, states are on the hook for a bunch of lost tax revenue because BP's putting other people out of business. BP could wind up paying for all that -- after all, it's all their fault. But the US Chamber of Commerce has a better idea...

Socialism.

No, really. Just the bad stuff, mind you. The stuff no one wants to deal with, like the massive unemployment, loss of tourism revenue, ongoing restoration of the habitat, things like that. The tiny little Manhattan Project-sized details. Gathering up all the stray oil and selling it should totally be BP's job. Socialize the mess, so the profits can keep coming in and stay private. So Talking Points Memo's Brian Beutler asked the guy running Republican congress, "Do you agree with Tom Donohue of the Chamber that the government and taxpayers should pitch in to clean up the oil spill?"

Bravo! Said House minority leader John Boehner. The best fucking idea he's ever heard! Yay for socialism, yay for big gummint, yay for deficit spending and taxpayers on the hook!

"I think the people responsible in the oil spill -- BP and the federal government -- should take full responsibility for what's happening there," he said. It's at this point that I should remind everyone that "federal government" is basically the same thing as "the taxpayers." This didn't really fly very well, so Boehner clarified.

He meant that BP should be fully responsible for everything, but only up to the $75 million liability cap. All the billions and billions after that should come out of your pocket. Fair's fair.

OK, so that didn't fly either. So he clarified.

What he really meant was that BP should be fully responsible for everything, but only up to the $75 million liability cap. All the billions and billions after that should come out of your pocket. Fair's fair.

Yeah, I'm not really seeing the difference either, but there ya go. Seriously, this has been going on all day. Boehner's been trying to plug the damn hole he punched through what remains of his credibility since all that stupid spilled out into the media environment. At one point a Boehner spokesperson called Beutler a "numbnut," which is always helpful and constructive. Thankfully, we've got Josh Marshall to clear Boehner's position up for us.

"BP doesn't pay," he reports. "So either the Gulf Coast collapses or the taxpayers bail everyone out." As far as that whole "recants" part goes, I'm not seeing it. He's pretending to recant.

That's today's Republican Party, looking out for you -- the American taxpayer. (Huffington Post)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, speaking of BeePee, how's that freemarket genius thing going?


Click for animation

So before the accident, big gummint couldn't be trusted to do anything.

But after the accident, Republicans are all like, "Where's big gummint? Help big gummint, help!" (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Gross New Way To Enjoy Teabagger Twitters."

Trust me. Just follow this link. (Wonkette)