Oil Spill Anniversary Celebration… Let’s Hear It For BP…
HuffPo rightly points out,it is the one-year anniversary of the Gulf Oil Spill and, so far, Congress has passed no oil spill bills. None. Nada. No Siree.
They have held at least 60 hearings. 150 or so bills have been introduced, then no 
action was taken. And, of course, oil lobbyists have swelled the balances of their American Express cards lunching with our lawmakers as they defend the people that John Boehner said would pay every dime of the cleanup costs in the Gulf. They haven’t.
Of course, what is the importance of protecting our coastal citizens from the dangers of offshore drilling when you can be working hard on destroying health care, eliminating taxes for multi-millionaires or getting control of women’s bodies? Especially when, by ignoring the oil spill situation, you can help fund your campaigns.
BP, for instance, has now given out $29,000.00 to various Federal campaigns… and while more has gone to Republicans, they have not left Democrats out, either.
From HuffPo:
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican
Congressional Committee each received $5,000 from BP last month.
Indiana Democratic Rep. Pete Visclosky got $3,000, and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) bagged $1,000.
…and this is probably just the start of it. BP, on average, donates $200,000.00 to influence elections each round.
There was a comment in HuffPo that asked if there was any difference between these kind of payments and those of Mexican drug cartels to Mexican politicians to keep hands off 
the thriving drug business. Frankly, I don’t see it.
This is just another example of corporate control of the government and another triumph of American Capitalism. 
Related Articles
- BP lays a lot of cash on House Republicans (capitolhillblue.com)
- BP’s Back in the Electoral Game (alternet.org)
- BP Sued by Gulf Well Partner Moex Over Blow-Out, Oil Spill (businessweek.com)
- Nil, Baby, Nil: Congress Fails To Pass A Single Oil Spill Law (huffingtonpost.com)
- Nungesser: One year since Gulf spill, ‘Who’s in charge?’ – CNN (news.google.com)
- BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill bill could hit $60bn, Moody’s warns (telegraph.co.uk)
- Deepwater Horizon and the Gulf oil spill – the key questions answered (guardian.co.uk)
- The B.P. Oil Spill, One Year Later (bigthink.com)
- Obama on oil spill: Progress but ‘job isn’t done’ (cnn.com)
- One Year After Oil Spill, Admiral Reflects on Continued Impacts (npr.org)
- Gulf Oil Spill Sickness? ABC Investigates (abcnews.go.com)
- Gulf Oil Spill’s Biggest Toll May Be on Mental Health (time.com)
- ‘I Know What You Spilled Last Summer’ Parodies Oil Spill For Counterspill.org Launch (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
- Mitsui’s Moex Blames Partner BP for Gulf of Mexico Rig Blow-Out, Oil Spill – Bloomberg (news.google.com)
Posted on April 20, 2011, in Business, campaign, Climate Change, Congress, crime, Economics, election, Finance, government, history, Labor, Legal, News, Opinion, Politics, quote, Technology, Warning, Word from Bill and tagged BP, Gulf Oil Spill, John Boehner, National Republican Congressional Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, Pete Visclosky, United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce, United States House Committee on Ways and Means. Bookmark the permalink. Comments Off.
