Posted on 06/17/2010 3:07:24 PM PDT by Gipper08
The three top members of the House GOP leadership called a top-ranking member's apology to BP "wrong."
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) condemned remarks Thursday by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) in which he apologized to BP for the treatment the company has faced by the government.
"The oil spill in the Gulf is this nation’s largest natural disaster and stopping the leak and cleaning up the region is our top priority. Congressman Barton’s statements this morning were wrong," the three said in a joint statement. "BP itself has acknowledged that responsibility for the economic damages lies with them and has offered an initial pledge of $20 billion dollars for that purpose."
The top three members of the Republican leadership were forced to respond after Barton apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward in a hearing for the government's pressure on the company to establish a $20 billion account in escrow to pay out damages related to the oil spill.
“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,” Barton said.
He later backed off those remarks, apologizing before the committee and in a statement.
Democrats pounced throughout the day on Barton's statement, seeking to tie his remarks to the GOP as a whole. Vice President Joe Biden called the sentiment "incredibly insensitive," while White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs questioned Barton's fitness to serve in the top GOP position on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The leadership trio sought in their statement to redirect the debate away from their own party and back toward President Barack Obama's handling of the crisis, where they'd made some headway in recent weeks.
"The families and businesspeople in the Gulf region want leadership, accountability and action from BP and the administration," they said. "It is unacceptable that, 59 days after this crisis began, no solution is forthcoming. Simply put, the American people want all of our resources, time and focus to be directed toward stopping the spill and cleaning up the mess."
Top marksmanship emerges- in the GOP circular firing squad
No respect whatsoever for them
This was another “YOU LIE” moment and Barton deserves suppport just as did Joe Wilson
Barton was right....it was a shakedown.
Exactly!
GOP leaders are far closer to Obama than the people who put them in office. If we can just make it through November, we can spend the next two years removing the rest of the trash.
No kidding...what a bunch of pussies
I was SO PROUD when I heard Barton’s comments... he exactly expressed my own feelings of shame.
He said he was speaking for himself... Is that not allowed in Washington anymore?
Now.. I’m just as disusted in this forced apology. Just when I was starting to think Republicans were getting a clue... no.
God help us all...
Let’s have a new mascot for the GOP. I think some sort of invertebrate such as a worm would be more appropriate.
Squishy!
Listen to the words of the Duke, “Never apologize, it’s a sign of weakness.”
Ever since Pence was hailed as the conservative of the future three or four years ago, hasn’t he been moving to the left, like his Hossier voters?
These geldings are just stuck on stoopid.
Barton was right, these three supposed Republicans are wrong. What right does Obama have demanding 20 Billion dollars from anyone?
Now that he has, lets see which of his cronies can steal the greater part of the 20 Bill.
First question on the application:
1. Are you a union organization?
No company answerable to their shareholders or investors will risk capital in a country which has brutally abandoned the rule of law.
Barton’s words:
[Barton] complained that “the attorney general of the United States, who is legitimately conducting a criminal investigation and has every right to do so to protect the interests of the American people, [is] participating in what amounts to a $20 billion slush fund that’s unprecedented in our nation’s history, that’s got no legal standing, and which sets, I think, a terrible precedent for the future.”
“I apologize,” Barton added. “I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure that is — again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown. So I apologize.”
“I’m speaking now totally for myself,” he noted. “I’m not speaking for the Republican Party.”
Cowards - almost all of them including cantor who retracted his remarks (which imo is worse than simply keeping his mouth shut in the first place).
Once again, Palin is the effective voice of conservatism attacking Obama and BP effectively.
Boehner is a loser, Cantor suspect,,,,Pence very disappointing.
I agree on both of your points. That's the problem with Washington, and it's why this nation cannot afford another president plucked from congress. No matter how sincerely intent one is on maintaining independence and good judgment when first elected, the steady erosion is inevitable. They don't even know it's happening to them. Their reasoning is altered on a molecular level.
Traditionally, we've elected governors to the presidency, and for good reason. Obviously, the executive experience is essential. But geography is, imho, just as important. Governors lead from their own states, amid the people who elected them. They simply are not as vulnerable to the daily erosion.
Sort of fits into the entire plan of putting America in her place, wouldn't you say?
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