White House Meeting Procures Key Agreements From BP

Top executives with BP have agreed to establish a $20 billion account that will be used to award claims made by individuals and businesses that have been affected by the Gulf oil spill. The company will also suspend making dividend payments to shareholders for the rest of the year.

At the behest of the White House, BP Board Chairman Carl Henric-Svanberg, CEO Tony Hayward and others with the company met privately with President Obama and other administration officials in the Roosevelt Room on Wednesday. The meeting, which the President took part in for only 20 minutes, lasted nearly four hours. Vice President Joe Biden, White House Economic Adviser Larry Summers and the administration’s point man on the ground in the Gulf in charge of managing efforts to stop the spill, Adm. Thad Allen, were among those who attended the meeting.

In brief remarks to to the press afterwards, the President confirmed BP’s willingness to oblige his request to set up an escrow account. The company will contribute $5 billion per year to the account over the course of the next four years. However, with questions looming as to whether or not $20 billion will be enough to cover all claims, the President assured that the figure would not represent a cap for BP, adding his belief that the oil giant will make good on its promise to fully pay for all damages caused by the spill.

“I’m absolutely confident BP will be able to meet its obligations to the Gulf Coast and to the American people,” said Obama. “BP is a strong and viable company and it is in all our interests that it remains so.”

“This is about accountability,” he added. “At the end of the day, that’s what every American wants and expects.”

The President said lawyer Ken Feinberg will be asked to oversee the fund. Feinberg previously presided over the fund set up to remunerate families of the 9/11 attack victims. Currently, he oversees a program within the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) that monitors executive compensation, and is frequently referred to as the White House’s ‘pay czar.’ Within the BP fund, a panel of three judges will be assigned to hear appeals to decisions made by Feinberg.


Moments after the President concluded his remarks, Svanberg, the chairman, who until today had not spoken with Obama, addressed reporters who had gathered at a stakeout location outside the briefing room, and apologized for his company's actions.

"I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the American people," he said. "Through our actions and commitments, we hope...that we will regain the trust that you have in us."

Svanberg also reportedly issued a personal apology to the President during their meeting. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters later in the day that he "assumed" Mr. Obama had accepted it.

Following his brief statement, the BP Chairman took a handful of questions, including one regarding what he discussed specifically with the President. Svanberg, a Swede who speaks English as a second language, responded by saying both he and Mr. Obama are frustrated over not being able to help the "small people" in the Gulf by plugging the leak.

"I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don’t care,” he said. "But that is not the case indeed. We care about the small people."

In addition to agreeing on the escrow fund and postponing dividend payments, BP agreed to not attempt to use a liability cap established under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) to avoid awarding claims. Furthermore, the company agreed to contribute $100 million to a foundation designed to support oil workers that have lost their jobs as a result of the six-month drill moratorium announced by the President in response to the spill.

Washington Gridlock Yielding Increased State Waiting Lists For AIDS Patients

As the Senate prepares to vote on a $126 billion tax extenders bill this week, a $126 million measure that would provide emergency funding to an AIDS program for states is not even on the chamber's agenda.

The bill, introduced nearly three weeks ago by Republican Senators Richard Burr (N.C.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.), would use unobligated Recovery Act (ARRA) dollars to fund the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), a federal program that allows states to distribute FDA-approved HIV treatment drugs to low income patients across the country.

With waiting lists for patients mounting in several states, the program needs an infusion of cash to keep going. In the past two weeks alone, the number of Americans on ADAP waiting lists has grown by 288, an increase of almost 25%. However, Congress can't move forward until a companion bill to Burr-Coburn is drafted in the House. There, any proposal would likely face opposition by Republicans reluctant to touch stimulus dollars and Democrats happy to exploit the GOP for prioritizing politics over the health and well-being of over 1,000 people in need.

Without funding, waiting lists are certain to increase greatly in the coming weeks. The current total number of Americans on ADAP waiting lists, 1,431, doesn't even take into account the state of Florida, which has yet to report its current figure, but normally enrolls and services around 15,000 people each year. It is believed that without legislation between 250 and 300 people will end up on Florida's ADAP waiting list by the end of this month. Already, over 600 people are on wait lists in North Carolina. AIDS advocates fear that continued delay in Washington will yield harmful results, such as states having to either close their programs or institute enrollment caps.

“For the better part of one year, we’ve witnessed ADAP waiting lists – and other cost containment measures – spread like wildfire across the United States and the time to end the wait is upon us,” said Brandon Macsata, CEO of the ADAP Advocacy Association.

Jobs Bill Will Help Reverse Deficit, Say Senate Democrats

The Senate continued to look for ways on Wednesday to muster the votes needed to pass a jobs bill filled with tax breaks, unemployment benefits and aid packages to states.

With the House having passed a jobs bill before the Memorial Day recess, Senate Democrats this week have proposed making changes to their bill, such as restoring $24 billion in Medicaid funds, money that was dropped from the House’s package. Additionally, in a move designed to court moderate support, the Senate bill now features a softer approach on taxing investments than does its counterpart legislation.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) called on both parties to put aside their differences and bring relief to folks struggling to make ends meet.

“Families are going through an emotional roller-coaster...and everyone knows around here that nothing is done in the Senate anymore without a filibuster, or two or three...It’s pretty outrageous.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said the bill would extend provisions within other bills -- most notably the Recovery Act -- that have “already changed the direction from a huge hemorrhaging of jobs...to several months of job growth.”

"We’ve gotta keep the pedal to the metal, we can’t now pull back,” Reed added.

At stake are several programs that need funding legislation to stay alive. In addition to the Medicaid dollars for states, there are matching $23 billion initiatives to prevent education layoffs and to reimburse physicians that accept Medicare. Stabenow said she supports the so-called “Doc-Fix,” and added that she plans on putting forth an amendment to extend COBRA benefits for the unemployed. She also downplayed concerns that the bill, totaling over $100 billion in cost, would add to the nation’s already-massive deficit.

“The reality is that this legislation is part of turning things around and I would argue lowering the deficit,” she said. “When people are working, they are paying taxes...and that’s part of how you lower the deficit.”

Republicans, however, say Americans should be skeptical of Democratic attempts to spark economic recovery and take on the ballooning budget. In an email to Talk Radio News Service on Wednesday, Parish Braden, a spokesman for the RNC, took aim at Reed, calling him an irresponsible steward of his struggling state.

“Senator Reed isn’t up for reelection and has the luxury of not having to match facts to his rhetoric," Braden said. "It’s odd that the Senator would hold a news conference on the Democrats’ efforts to cut taxes and create jobs seeing as Rhode Island has lost over 18,000 jobs since the ‘stimulus’ became law and unemployment has jumped from 9.9% to 12.6% in the same period.

According to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor, Rhode Island and Michigan possess two of the nation's four highest state unemployment rates.

Driven By Gulf Spill, Menendez Continues Fight Against Big Oil

After repeated failed attempts to force the Senate to vote on a bill that would hold oil companies more liable for damages caused by spills, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) today announced a bill aimed at recouping more tax dollars from such corporations.

The Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act, which Menendez is co-sponsoring with Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), would rescind a number of tax breaks that large oil companies currently receive; breaks Menendez believes are unfair.

“The flow of revenues to oil companies is like the gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico; heavy and constant,” he said in a statement Monday. “There is no reason for these corporations to shortchange the American taxpayer.”

Yet, while Menendez says the bill would generate roughly $20 billion over the next decade, the intent of the legislation appears to simply be to punish the oil industry for profiting. Of the bill’s eight provisions, only one -- a proposal to place an excise tax on oil and gas produced on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) -- seems rooted in consumer protection.

Menendez, however, said the bill is necessary to prevent oil companies from continuing to gauge their customers.

“They certainly aren’t using the extra money they get from exploiting these loopholes to help bring down the price of gas for our families.”

Senate Republican Defends "Yes" Vote On Financial Reform

Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), one of four Republicans in the Senate that voted yesterday to pass financial reform, sent a statement to reporters on Friday justifying his support for the bill.

“There’s no question this bill has flaws," he said. "But a message needs to be sent to Wall Street that business-as-usual is over. After what happened leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, something’s got to change."

During the nearly three week long debate on the bill, Grassley offered a number of amendments aimed at increasing transparency within the financial regulatory sector, three of which passed. One of those amendments would put in place for employees of credit-rating agencies the same whistle-blower protections enjoyed by corporate employees.

Though earlier in the week he voted multiple times against cutting off debate on the bill, Grassley said the need to reform the way Wall Street works is what ultimately convinced him to change his mind.

"Taxpayers need protection," he said. "Big banks and financial institutions took advantage at the expense of average Americans, and the system let them get away with it. This bill takes a step in the direction of trying to fix things."