Sunday Roundup

After making a $209.8 billion profit since 2000, we're hearing talk about BP going bankrupt (the better to avoid fines and settlements, my dear), while the Chamber of Commerce is suggesting that taxpayers, not just BP, should be responsible for the cost of the Gulf clean up. Shades of the bank bailout mindset: privatized profits and socialized losses. BP has spent $55 million on lobbying in the last ten years, and contributed more than $3 million to candidates since 2000. Here's a thought: as well as making it quite clear that taxpayers should not be on the hook for one penny of the cost of the disaster, what if those politicians gave back the money, not to BP but to a fund to help those in the Gulf whose livelihoods have been destroyed by BP? It would be a great way to clean up that dirty money.