I wasn’t sure that I heard this right, so I listened to it three more times. But Lamar Alexander says that the government can “fire BP and take it over”.
Really?? Nationalize an oil company? Why would he advocate such a position with regime who is nationalizing everything under the sun?
I feel like this is an episode of the twilight zone or something.
Watch:
UPDATE: I’m really hoping this is a case a poorly worded interview and the ‘it’ that Alexander was referring to was the oil spill cleanup. But I can’t get past Schieffer asking him “Would you favor taking over BP?” Alexander responded: “Sure…”
UPDATE: From Alexander’s website:
On the BP oil spill:
“Under the law, the president can fire BP and take over. We ought to allow the administration, working with the [state] governments and others, to do its best to clean it up and make the verdict about the blame later. Under the law, we know who pays, that’s BP. Under the law, the federal government can take [over the cleanup efforts] if it chooses.”
It’s good to know that he wasn’t advocating anything more than taking over the oil spill.