s market

Yesterday BP saw a huge decline in it's value as their stocks lost 15% of their value:

As BP hacked away at a pipe gushing oil at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, investors sawed off 15 percent, or $21.1 billion, of the company's market value Tuesday.

Some are pointing to the announcement by Eric Holder of the criminal investigation into BP, but the big sell off started before that in the U.K. markets, leaving it to point to BP's failure to contain the spill.

This sudden decline in value for the oil giant begs the question of rather BP will survive or not. In this clip from Rachael Maddow last night, Rachael explains how the EPA could actually nail BP for billions in court.

I believe this would be the best outcome to the situation. Sure it will play hell with oil prices for awhile, but it will also send a loud message to the oil industry that they can lose everything if they play by their own rules. It would also provide a very interesting case to watch.

Looks like the webmasters over at the GOP need to do some work:

Rebuilding Homeownership

Homeownership remains key to creating an opportunity society. We support timely and carefully targeted aid to those hurt by the housing crisis so that affected individuals can have a chance to trade a burdensome mortgage for a manageable loan that reflects their home’s market value. At the same time, government action must not implicitly encourage anyone to borrow more than they can afford to repay. We support energetic federal investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution of criminal wrongdoing in the mortgage industry and investment sector. We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself. We believe in the free market as the best tool to sustained prosperity and opportunity for all. We encourage potential buyers to work in concert with the lending community to educate themselves about the responsibilities of purchasing a home, condo, or land.

(emphasis added)

So what should it read now?