Oil Spill Victims May Get Help From Alaskan Senator

By Alexa Gitler-Talk Radio News Service

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.) announced at a press conference Tuesday that she will be introducing new legislation in an effort to reform the compensation process for oil spill victims.

Murkowski said that this new legislation was sparked after she revisited the site of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Cordova, Alaska, where, after 20 years, the effects of the spill are still evident.

“The Oil Spill Compensation Act deals with so many areas with what we are seeing with the situation in the gulf that occured in Alaska, [with the new bill] we would provide for compensation in a fair and a fast manner by establishing the option for an expedited, [third-party-administered] administrative claims process,” Murkowski said.

The Alaskan Senator said that by creating an option for an independent, third-party claims process, big oil companies like BP would no longer have the authority to validate prospective claims.

Murkowksi said the new legislation is aimed at restoring and strengthening the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, increasing its ceiling to $10 billion dollars. It would also provide additional funding and authority to the U.S. Coast Guard in order to conduct research and development for oil spill containment and it would direct 37.5 percent of outer continental shelf oil and gas revenues to states and affected communities of the Deepwater Horizon spill.

“I want to make sure that the people in the gulf know that we are not taking our eye off the ball when it comes to those measures that provide them with immediate relief,” Murkowski said. "We cannot lose sight of the fact that there are people hurting now that need our help and if we can move forward a measure that is going to help them, then that’s what we need to be doing."

Senator Calls For Freedom From Foreign Oil

By Alexa Gitler
Talk Radio News Service

“Eliminating our dependence on foreign oil would have many, many, benefits,” said Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) Monday while speaking at the Center for American Progress. Merkley emphasized the United States' need for comprehensive energy and climate reform that would target the country's dependence on expensive and unstable foreign oil.

The Democratic Senator introduced a prospective, 20 year agenda aimed at ending America’s dependence on foreign oil. Merkely believes his plan would be politically and economically feasible, and environmentally beneficial.

“The plan centers around electric vehicle deployment, which would have a 3.2 million barrels-per-day [reducing] impact, and [reducing] truck fuel economy which would have a significant 2 million barrels-per-day impact,” said Merkley.

New electronic vehicle technology is anticipated to be released in 2011 with the introduction of the new Chevrolet “Volt”, Nissan “Leaf” and the Tesla “Model S Sedan”.

Merkley said that America must require better fuel economy for vehicles. The Senator added that he supports policies to provide consumers with more energy-efficient appliances. As a result, this would help manufacturers save money by improving the efficiency in industrial process.

The development of these new electric vehicles would allow for the creation of more jobs for Americans who are currently unemployed, Merkley said.

“It’s a choice between creating jobs here in America or exporting those jobs over seas," Merkley said. "It’s time to set the goal and it is time to adopt a plan."

Bipartisan Group Looks To Reduce Military Spending

By Alexa Gitler
Talk Radio News Service

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) showed strong opposition towards the Pentagon's current and future budget proposal during a briefing Friday with the Sustainable Defense Task Force.

“Nobody here is for cutting back on America’s national security, what we object to is the equation of the current and projected Pentagon budget with national security,” Frank said.

Frank, along with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representatives Walter Jones (R-NC) and Ron Paul (R-TX), proposed a plan that would match America’s military spending to the country’s genuine military needs. This plan also includes being supportive of friendly nations that genuinely face external threats, while simultaneously reducing their overall dependency on American relief.

“It is our intention to circulate a letter to our colleagues pledging that we would not vote for any deficit reduction package that does not include substantial reductions in the planned level of military expenditures going forward,” Frank said.

In addition, Frank announced that they have reached out to groups of experts from across the political spectrum to provide suggestions on how to achieve cost reduction while still meeting America’s legitimate security needs.

“I do not believe after this [proposed plan] is circulated that people will be able to dismiss the argument that you can responsibly, and at no cost to America’s genuine security, make reductions of over a trillion dollars for what has been proposed for the military budget,” he said.

Bernanke Calls For Long-Term Plan To Restore Economic Sustainability

By Alexa Gitler
Talk Radio News Service

Chairman of the Federal Reserve System Dr. Ben Bernanke testified Wednesday before the House Budget Committee to provide an update on the nation's current economic outlook, and to share recommendations and plans that the Fed has for the future.

“The economy, supported by stimulative monetary policy and the concerted efforts of policymakers to stabilize the financial system, appears to be on track to continue to expand through this year and next” said Bernanke. “The latest economic projections, which were made near the end of April, anticipate that the real gross domestic product (GDP) will grow in the neighborhood of 3-1/2 percent over the course of 2010 as a whole and at a somewhat faster pace next year.”

Although Bernanke was hesitant to offer any specific advise to Congress on legislation, he urged that a plan for medium (3-5 years) and long-term sustainability would need to be put in place to retain the confidence of the American public and foreign markets.

“It is not realistic or advisable to try to balance the budget this year because that would be too wrenching a change, and the economy is still in weak condition,” he said.

Instead, Bernanke suggested that members of Congress use the rest of the year to start working together to develop a longer-term budget plan will bring the economy back to sustainability and persuade foreign markets to continue to have confidence in the U.S.'s economy. He added that his agency has already begun to plan accordingly.

“We hope to have a public report near the end of this year, early next year, but I want to assure you that the actions that will be taken will not wait for the report, but we will be immediately working with the banks,” he said.

Brother Of Deceased Deepwater Horizon Employee Pleads For Equal Compensation

By Alexa Gitler-Talk Radio News Service

Christopher Jones, brother of Gordon Jones, one of the 11 men who died aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April, testified Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee on what he described as the unjust nature of the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), a piece of legislation that limits how much families are entitled to following maritime deaths, and the necessity to update the current inequities for not only the families of the 10 other workers killed in the explosion but for all future maritime vessels.

“[BP] could potentially write a check for $1,000 dollars for a funeral costs and walk away, under the current Death on the High Seas Act,” Jones said.

DOHSA, passed in 1920 and not amended since, limits a corporation to compensating economic damages only and makes companies immune from entirely compensating families for additional costs incurred by the loss of life.

In 2000, after a Boeing 747-100 crashed off Long Island shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport, the families of those aboard were awarded exemption from DOHSA and as of now, companies are liable to grant non-economic damages to families of victims that die in the sea as a result of a plane crash.

“We are here today to ask for that same amendment, so that everyone who perishes in federal waters is protected equally under the law and is allowed to recover non-pecuniary damages, so that there is no cap,” said Jones.