Unbelievable. Talk about being on the dick of giant corps. The comments on this article say it all (at the end). Rep. Barton apologizes to BP for Obama 'shakedown' http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts2660
I thought this part was pretty bizarre. He's going to be disciplined for saying something like that during a hearing.
Just to bring the opposing viewpoint here (not my viewpoint, mind you, since I'm not familiar enough with the Obama-BP discussions to render an opinion)--these comments intrigued me:
As well he should. Just because BP deserves the blame doesn't mean that the Executive Branch of the US Government has the right to shake down private corporations and assign dollar values to civil liabilities.
How is it a shakedown? It's a slap on the wrist IMO. This congressman is obviously ball washing BP , but I guess he's getting paid $1.5M to say "sorry." People have apologized for a lot less.
I'm not sure all the details have been made available. I highly doubt it's a $20B cap on this disaster BP caused. It's just a good starting point. EDIT: I was right $20B is just the beginning of it. They are reporting total cost could reach $100B BP will need to pay. "...an initial pledge of $20 billion dollars for that purpose"
Not surprising, Barton had received 1.5 Million dollars from the oil cartel in the past. I would provide a link, but I cant remember where I read it. Here is a link showing that one of his donors is a partner of BP on Deepwater Horizon. http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/06/top-donor-to-barton-is-partner-of-bp-on.html
I just saw this right after I posted the last post. He is back tracking from his comments. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dcnow/2010/06/gops-barton-retracts-apology-to-bp.html It's interesting, earlier in the day some fellow republican leaders were asking him to step down from the energy committee he was on. He said he would not earlier this morning. I guess he saw the light. In this article it quotes he received $1,447,880 in donations from individuals in the industry and its political action committees since 1989.
I'm not seeing how it's a shakedown either. The bigger thing to be afraid of is that the admin will make a deal with BP to get the money directly rather than paying it to folks that actually will suffer damages.
It's odd how a president can't win for losing. If he responds too slow, it's because he doesn't care or is incompetent. If he over-reacts (to some) to that little fact, he over-does it and is incompetent. If he tries to hold those responsible, responsible, to other side (of his political fence) will defend those he is holding responsible. Doesn't matter who the president is either. If the president "fines" a company (in this case, BP for 20 billion), it's too much. If he doesn't, it's not enough. In some cases, it's justified. In others, it's not. In this case, I think the some republicans are picking the wrong side of the argument to make. The more R's defend BP (or imply Obama has gone over the top with his choice here), the more the average voter will see that it's someone who is in bed with a special interest group. It's crazy. I don't see how anyone can defend BP in this situation. They fucked up and deserve to pay for the fix.
He didn't apologize for blaming BP. He apologized because the President sat in the oval office with the Attorney General (who will be heading up any criminal investigation) and bullied a private company that they needed to turn control of $20 billion over to the government, and basically denying everyone involved their right to due process.
It's not about defending BP. It's about the Executive Branch denying a private company due process. BP can pay this twenty billion, and still be held liable in a civil action for paying the same damages.
well right now, BP is putting a cap on claims against them at 5k$ and also decides to change some claims down, yet never decides to bring claims up. The main point for the quick grab of money is that the people whose paycheck was from fishing are suddenly hosed, and need some sort of immediate temporary assistance until their full claims can be sorted out.
We've spent well over $20T over the last 10 years alone and govt. looks helpless and to place blame instead of solving the crisis. I don't expect them to solve much of anything, but to create crises, so ...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-19/bp-joe-barton-obama-and-the-shakedown/ I wonder how many people who are in favor of this treatment of BP would also be in favor of skipping the judgment of a court and instead just punish those parties we "know" are guilty?
