Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) stopped Democrats' efforts on Tuesday of passing a measure to increase oil companies' liability for accidents resulting from offshore drilling.
Menendez tried Tuesday morning to pass, by unanimous consent, his bill to increase the liability cap for oil companies' offshore drilling accidents to $10 billion, up from the current $75 million cap.
Inhofe objected, saying that it was important to calibrate the amount by which the cap should be raised, pointing out that President Barack Obama hasn't even yet set a hard figure.
It's obvious, from his own admission, that Inhofe is objecting out of deeply held conservative principles. And when Republicans unanimously opposed the stimulus bill, that was because of deeply held conservative principles and a new found fetish for fiscal responsibility. When they opposed health care, the same reasons applied. And every subsequent bill and agenda that they have drug their heels on kicking and screaming, from the simple extension of unemployment benefits to financial regulation - it's all because they just want to get it right! It has nothing to do with the fact that they have no interest whatsoever in governing, in offering serious alternatives (no, tax cuts do not cure cancer, sorry), or in allowing the adults to clean up the mess that they created during their eight years of finger painting and nap time.
And for all their free market wankery, there shouldn't even be a limit on liability for oil companies, as John Cole so aptly states. The fact that we can't even get such an obviously necessary bill through the Senate as millions of gallons of oil are spilling into the Gulf just shows how completely screwed we are.
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