President Obama and Senate Democrats want BP to create a $20-billion escrow account to pay claims stemming from the Gulf oil spill.

“Our mission is to hold them accountable in every appropriate way,” Obama advisor David Axelrod said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “He is going to be very clear about what our expectations are in terms of taking care of the people who’ve been damaged by this crisis.”
In a letter to BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward on Sunday, 54 senators, nearly the entire Democratic caucus, called on the company to set aside $20 billion for cleanup and damages, to be administered by an independent trustee.

BP has lost about half of its market value since the spill, and has already spent more than $1 billion in cleanup and containment efforts. Current law caps its liability at $75 million.

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