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June 18, 2010
Republican Rep. Joe Barton To BP Rush On Dictator Obama's Speech
Joe Barton Is ‘Ashamed’ of the White House; Apologizes to BP for What ‘Amounts to a Shakedown’
Republican Rep. Joe Barton apologizes to BP for what he says “amounts to a shakedown.” Barton said, “I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a ‘shakedown,’ in this case a 20 billion dollar shakedown.”
Rep. Joe Barton apologized to BP chairman Tony Hayward for what he called a ’shakedown’ from the White House for the $20 billion in funds to cover the likely expenses of the Gulf oil spill. Barton later apologized for the remarks.
“Speaking totally for myself, I’m not speaking for the Republican Party, I’m not speaking for anybody in the House of Representatives but myself; but I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I characterize as a shakedown.”
Here is the apology issued by Rep. Barton: ~ I so wish he had not apologized after he was soo strong and did so great in the above video. ~ Wild Thing
“I apologize for using the term ’shakedown’ with regard to yesterday’s actions at the White House in my opening statement this morning, and I retract my apology to BP,” Barton said in a statement. “As I told my colleagues yesterday and said again this morning, BP should bear the full financial responsibility for the accident on their lease in the Gulf of Mexico.
“I regret the impact that my statement this morning implied that BP should not pay for the consequences of their decisions and actions in this incident.”
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Rush Limbaugh Compares Obama’s Speech to Jimmy Carter’s “Malaise” Speech
Rush Limbaugh comparing President Obama’s speech from the Oval Office on the Gulf Oil Spill with Jimmy Carter’s disastrous “malaise” speech back on July 15, 1979. Limbaugh said both speeches prescribe the same kind of Left-wing, liberal fixes that just don’t work.
Limbaugh said the liberals continue to get a chance to do their disastrous work because of a media that enables them, by portraying them as the ones who really are compassionate about people, and that makes them seem like they are the majority and won’t tell the truth about them.
Rush said Carter was a “bumbling fool,” but that Obama is not. Obama has a “road map” he wants to follow, and Limbaugh said “We are on his road. And we are speeding down that road.”
Limbaugh warned that if Obama does not withdraw his six-month moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling, it will cost 120,000 jobs in the Gulf Region, and the oil companies will shut down those rigs and move on to somewhere else.
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Joe Barton is Right: There Was a $20 Billion Shakedown in the White House
What happened in the White House yesterday was a “shakedown” of Godfather-like proportions.
Lets review:
1) BP agreed to pay $20 billion over four years to an “independent” party;
2) BP immediately identified $20 billion in U.S. assets that could be liquidated should BP not be able to pay on time;
3) BP received no assurances that the ultimate economic damages would not be higher;
4) BP is still liable for all individual and state claims in court;
5) The fund is completely separate from any environmental damages, which the Obama administration says could top $30 billion;
6) BP paid another $100 million for workers made unemployed by President Obama’s indefinite ban on offshore oil drilling;
7) BP received no assurance that the White House would not ask for more money if the ban becomes permanent.
All of this was “negotiated” while Attorney General Eric Holder, who has already threatened BP with criminal prosecution, stood in the corner. And what did BP get in return? A single statement from the President saying he did not want to drive BP into bankruptcy. Of course he doesn’t. The mob can’t collect from a bankrupt business. Clinton administration Deputy Attorney General turned BP lawyer Jamie Gorelick let slip what the game is really all about: “We know what it looks like when a company is driven into bankruptcy. The claims that come first are the creditors, then the employees, then the environmental claims, and then the likes of shrimpers. This would not be a good result for anyone.” Well, not anyone who expects the law to be followed.
Yesterday’s White House victim was not BP. It was the rule of law. Just as the Obama administration junked the bankruptcy code last year to protect their union allies, they are doing the exact same thing this time for their environmental ones.
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Wild Thing's comment........
Hey Joe, STOP APOLOGIZING WHEN YOU GET IT RIIIIIIIGT!!!
(sorry for the allcaps)
UGH!!! WHY DO THESE PEOPLE KEEP APOLOGIZING?!?!
We want Representatives with CAJONES!
I am not saying BP are victims, but the heavy handed way the THUG Obama has delt with them is uncalled for. Especially since Obama has screwed this up from day one. Barton was correct but could not stand the pressure. That is why the Republican Party is called ‘stupid’. Not only was it a shakedown it was government extortion.
There is something in the genes of Republicans. One of them finally gets tough, catch a little flack, and ham handedly apologize. Just stick with Cheney’s line: “Go F Yourself!”
Posted by Wild Thing at June 18, 2010 05:47 AM
Comments
I enjoyed and admired Barton's speech. That he caved in and apologized for that speech disappoints me. That it was mainly Repubs that pushed for his apology really ticks me off. For a moment I thought we had some guts in a part of Congress.
Posted by: TomR, armed in Texas at June 18, 2010 10:57 AM
Tom, you said exactly how I feel about it.
It is even worse when it was repubs that laid
into him.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 18, 2010 03:45 PM
