Make no mistake, the Republicans just bailed out BP:
A bill to increase the liability cap for oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion was defeated Thursday by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
Bill S.3305, the "Big Oil Bailout Prevention Liability Act" would cap BP's liability at $10 billion, even if damages from the gulf oil spill surpass that figure. The company already estimates that spill will cost $450 million to clean up.
The liability cap ought to be eliminated entirely. BP topped $6 billion in profits in just the first quarter of 2010. They can afford it. They have to clean up every drop of oil from the Gulf and they should be held liable for the destruction of the fishing industry, not to mention the years of illnesses (or worse) from the chemical dispersant.
BP says it's already spent $350 million and the clean up really hasn't even begun. At some point, they're going to point to the $75 million cap and declare "mission accomplished." Every penny spent on the clean up above and beyond that stopping point is a bail out for BP.