Vitter declined to directly answer questions about the incident, except to refute media reports that Furer was assigned to handle women’s issues in his office.

“Charlie Melancon refuses to demand President Obama end the job-killing offshore moratorium.” www.davidvitter.com, 6/16/10

Vitter proposes increasing the liability limit for oil spills to the offending company’s profits for the last four quarters, or double the current — and laughable — $75 million limit, whichever is greater.

But if the intent is to hold BP to its admission of responsibility, why impose an arbitrary limit at all? Up to 800,000 barrels of oil a day continue to leak into the Gulf of Mexico. The dome, the siphon, the junk shot, the top kill and the underwater robots have, so far, failed. Commercial fishing, recreational fishing and tourism, all big-money industries along the coast, are at risk. The cleanup, if anyone can figure out how to clean oil from a coastal marsh, will surely exceed the current liability limit. And what dollar value can be placed on a fragile ecosystem, a seafood hatchery, a hurricane buffer or a cultural heritage?

Read the full editorial

U.S. Senator David Vitter asked for unanimous consent to pass legislation that protect BP and other oil companies by limiting their financial liability for oil spills and potentially leaves taxpayers on the hook for the cost of cleaning up the damage. Vitter’s request was met with objection and did not pass.

On the Senate floor, Vitter claimed that BP has said they are willing to pay more than his bill would require, but the oil corporation has been vague on their financial commitment. Under questioning from Senator Mary Landrieu last week, a BP executive committed to pay all “legitimate claims.” Pressed further, the executive said BP would only pay claims it felt were “substantiated,” but offered no definition or process to determine which claims meet that definition. (Advocate, 5/11/10)

Vitter’s bill caps a ‘responsible company’s’ liability at the total of their last four quarters of profit or $150 million, whichever is higher. But Vitter’s bill does not designate BP as the ‘responsible’ company, it simply refers back to the Oil Pollution Action of 1990, which places responsibility on the company or companies who hold the lease. (Vitter bill; OPA)

“Make no mistake, David Vitter’s bill is a bailout for BP,” said Louisiana Democratic Party spokesman Kevin Franck. “We don’t need some convoluted equation or any of the legislative mumbo jumbo that comes out of DC to know that BP should pay for the full cost of fixing the leak and cleaning up the spill. Period,” Franck said

Anadarko, one of the smaller corporations involved in the disaster, owned 25 percent of the Deepwater Horizon rig’s lease. Even though the corporation is estimated to hold $50 billion in assets, the company posted no profit last year. In fact, Anadarko lost $135 million in the last four quarters. Under Vitter’s proposal, Anadarko would face no more than $150 million in liability. (CNNMoney.com)

Vitter has received more than $15,000 in campaign contributions from Anadarko since entering the Senate in 2004. (Center for Responsive Politics; Center for Responsive Politics)

Cameron, the corporation which manufactured the faulty Blowout Preventer that was the focus of much of last week’s congressional hearing, reported earnings of about $475 million for the last four quarters last year. Under Vitter’s bill, the corporation would be liable for no more than that amount. (CNNMoney.com)

During his first term as a member of the House of Representatives, Vitter introduced a bill to limit the criminal liability of corporations found responsible for oil spills. Vitter’s bill would have exempted oil companies from all criminal sanctions except those specifically found in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. (HR 5100, 106th Congress)

WASHINGTON — Sen. David Vitter, R-La., delivering the GOP response to President Obama’s radio address on Saturday and decrying politicians who seek publicity to talk about the BP oil spill:

It’s so frustrating to many Louisianans that while the crisis actually continues in the Gulf — while we’re still fighting to contain the well — Washington Democratic Committee Chairmen have rushed to create media events for television cameras instead of devoting full attention to stopping the immediate problem.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., telling his 6,140 Twitter followers about the address:

Media coverage of my national address on efforts/ response for the #oilspill. VIDEO included: http://bit.ly/9COEXk

What was that about creating media events?

All emphasis added