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Republican Rep. Barton apologizes to BP for Obama 'shakedown'

Hatuey

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Rep. Barton apologizes to BP for Obama 'shakedown' - Yahoo! News

Well, that was fast. Barely 10 minutes into Thursday's landmark congressional testimony — where BP CEO Tony Hayward and other leading company executives are revisiting the Gulf Coast oil spill before a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee — the first controversial statement has entered the record.

[The latest coverage of the hearings, updated continuously throughout the day, is available from the Associated Press and from Reuters.]

And no, it didn't come from the gaffe-prone BP brass. Instead, GOP Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the ranking member on the House Energy Committee, made a decisive splash in his opening remarks (from which Republican leaders immediately began distancing themselves). A staunch conservative who has a long record of backing oil industry interests, Barton apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward for the "shakedown" the Obama White House pulled on the company. (Barton has received more than $1.5 million in campaign donations from the oil industry, according to Open Secrets, a nonpartisan watchdog group.) You can watch the video here — the apology begins at the 1:45 mark:

I wonder what he thinks of car accidents. It must be a "shake down" when somebody hits your car accidentally or otherwise and you expect them to pay for the damages.
 
Rep. Barton apologizes to BP for Obama 'shakedown' - Yahoo! News



I wonder what he thinks of car accidents. It must be a "shake down" when somebody hits your car accidentally or otherwise and you expect them to pay for the damages.

Joe Barton ought to apologize to me for the State of Texas. I was convicted of DWI almost a year ago, and it cost me about $18,000.00. Never mind that I was a menace on the road, and deserved what I got. I am glad to see someone who is willing to stick up for those who refuse to hold themselves responsible. At this time, I choose not to be responsible for my DWI conviction, and am waiting for the right honorable Joe Barton to apologize to me for the State of Texas shaking me down. Barton is really a good guy, now that he is on the side of the criminally negligent. It's about time someone spoke up for all of them. They have been so poorly represented by our government. LOL. :mrgreen:
 
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Unbelievable. I thought conservatives believed in personal responsibility?

How can anyone defend BP?
 
Unbelievable. I thought conservatives believed in personal responsibility?

How can anyone defend BP?

Conservatives DO believe in personal responsibility. Your mistake was assuming that today's Republicans are Conservative. Most of them are not.
 
Conservatives DO believe in personal responsibility. Your mistake was assuming that today's Republicans are Conservative. Most of them are not.

That's fair enough coming from a self-identified conservative. Thanks!
 
Unbelievable. I thought conservatives believed in personal responsibility?

How can anyone defend BP?

I don't understand how anyone can call for BP's execs to go to jail, then turn around and defend Obama's response to the spill.
 
I don't understand how anyone can call for BP's execs to go to jail, then turn around and defend Obama's response to the spill.

Well, I for one am not defending Obama. I have pretty much raked him over the coals, because he deserves it. However, this topic is about Barton, and his defending BP. Now why would he be doing that? Could it be because his largest political contributor has a 25% stake in BP's disasterous Deepwater Horizon project? Yup, could be.

But don't take it from me. Nate Silver has all the details.

Now, bashing Obama is OK, especially in this instance, because he deserves it. What the American people DON'T deserve is political hackery. Attack them ALL, not just Obama.
 
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Joe Barton ought to apologize to me for the State of Texas. I was convicted of DWI almost a year ago, and it cost me about $18,000.00. Never mind that I was a menace on the road, and deserved what I got. I am glad to see someone who is willing to stick up for those who refuse to hold themselves responsible. At this time, I choose not to be responsible for my DWI conviction, and am waiting for the right honorable Joe Barton to apologize to me for the State of Texas shaking me down. Barton is really a good guy, now that he is on the side of the criminally negligent. It's about time someone spoke up for all of them. They have been so poorly represented by our government. LOL. :mrgreen:
I have a hard time believing some of the stories I hear about DWI's sometimes. My brother got one when he was 21, about 6 years ago. He spent a night in jail and about a thousand dollars in fines, court costs, pee tests etc. and was on probation for 6 months.
 
GOP Rep. Joe Barton apologizes to BP

Very politically risky... and did it even make sense to do so??? BP is doing the right thing in my opinion.

VIDEO: msnbc.com Video Player

WASHINGTON - The first apology that rang out in a congressional hearing about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill Thursday was not from BP CEO Tony Hayward.
It was from Texas Rep. Joe Barton, a Republican who apologized to Hayward that BP had to agree to a deal with President Barack Obama to set up a $20 billion fund for Gulf damage claims.
"I'm speaking totally for myself, I'm not speaking for the Republican party ... but I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday," Barton said.
He called it "a tragedy of the first proportion, that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, a $20 billion shakedown."
Barton's point was that BP should pay for damage claims but should be allowed to follow the "due process and fairness" of the American legal system.
But the ensuing gusher of criticism that flowed forced Barton to later apologize for the apology.

CONTINUED: Republican forced to apologize for BP apology - Disaster in the Gulf- msnbc.com
 
I think the Joe Barton's remark was probably not what he actually meant.

BP has, almost from the outset of this disaster, stated unequivocally that BP would be responsible for the clean up costs as well as compensation for all legitimate claims, they (BP) have never sought to wriggle out of their responsibilities.

It is very true that their reaction to both the initial disaster and settlement of claims and release of accurate information has been extremely poor and slow.

It is also very likely they needed a kick up their corporate backside, hopefully this will be administered.

I personally do not like Obama, this is obvious from the various Threads I post.

I am not alone in this dislike, where I and I assume some others agree would be Obama's tactics in hectoring BP every day.
BP has and will continue to do all it possibly can to seal this leak, they are using every technology and the experience and advice from not only their own people but also from every other US Oil Company, it costs everyone and that includes BP Millions every day this leak continues.

Obama, by using the tactics he has has reduced the possibility of BP to continue to function as a viable profitable Company, and ok some of you may well think it better that BP were closed down (With the staggering number of regulatory infractions that they have incurred over the years, this might be a good idea) BUT if BP were to close down, I give you one guess who would pick up the clean up costs tab.

And I also give you one guess as to whom would pay the compensation to legitimate claimants, or indeed if these would ever have been paid.

I would agree that BP has nothing to be proud of other than their insistence that they would pay for clean up and legitimate claims from the start, whereas Obama only managed to get his actions in gear when he belatedly realized that his inaction was costing him politically.
 
Re: GOP Rep. Joe Barton apologizes to BP

Yeah, how dare BP be made to set aside money for the inevitable and massive civil suit that will be filed against them? Massive international oil companies shouldn't have to pay for the damage they've done to people!
 
I think it is a fair question to ask, espcially considering the track record of this crew of bandits.
They pass ObiKare with parliamentary procedures never intended for the purpose, and after MA sent Obi a message by electing Brown to Dead Kennedy's seat.

What is stopping them from shaking down an oil executive and company?

Barton shouldn't have apologized.
He should have used recent history to illustrate why he asked such a harsh question.

BP stated they would pay what is due, and stated it repeatedly.
We don't need government administering these funds.
Look at how slow Obama has been in dealing with this mess. Hell a total moron could do better.

Was BP in a shakedown?
Why not release the minutes of the meeting to see how this president handles such situations.

My bet is they were, and Carville coached it in words that indicate that's most likely what happened.

Should Carville apologize too?

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Re: GOP Rep. Joe Barton apologizes to BP

Yeah, how dare BP be made to set aside money for the inevitable and massive civil suit that will be filed against them? Massive international oil companies shouldn't have to pay for the damage they've done to people!

The point is that there is already a liability amount that's legal from what I understand. The POTUS has no business coercing BP or any other corporation into paying more than they are legally liable for. I'm sure I'm in the minority on this, but I applaud Barton for his action on this issue.
 
Re: GOP Rep. Joe Barton apologizes to BP

The "apology" to BP was a little dicey. Not sure if that was a good idea. But I did listen to some of our US congress pricks grandstanding and thought that was/is a little embarrassing to the country. Since we started televising congressional hearings they have just become video circus venues for politicians to showboat and spew.....



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I wonder what he thinks of car accidents. It must be a "shake down" when somebody hits your car accidentally or otherwise and you expect them to pay for the damages.

FWIW, I don't think that's really the right analogy.

If I crash into your car, you have the right to seek compensation from me to cover your damages. You institute proceedings, there is a factfinding, a number is handed down, and then I pay you.

In this case, I'd be like BP crashed into your car and then you demanded that they place $20,000 in an escrow account before the proceedings even started.
 
Moderator's Warning:
Threads merged
 
Moderator's Warning:
Threads merged

Ah, that's where my links went :) . Could you please send me a PM next time so that I don't think my thread went into a black hole of the internet ^_^ ?
 
Ah, that's where my links went :) . Could you please send me a PM next time so that I don't think my thread went into a black hole of the internet ^_^ ?

My bad, I thought it automatically subscribed you to the new thread.
 
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