GOP leaders forced Rep. Barton to retract apology to BP (Long past time to ditch the wimpass GOP!)

Washington Post ^ | 6/17/2010 | Aaron Blake and Paul Kane

[tobyhill]

Under pressure from Republican leaders who threatened to remove him from a ranking committee position, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) late Thursday retracted his apology to BP CEO Tony Hayward for the way his company has been treated by the U.S. government -- a comment that had drawn heavy criticism from both parties.

Barton made that apology to Hayward in his opening statement Thursday morning before Hayward's testimony to the House subcommittee, in which Barton decried the Obama administration for pressuring BP to open a $20 billion escrow account and to suspend dividend payments for the rest of the year.

The ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said such arrangements have no legal basis, and that the political pressure exerted on the corporation in the midst of an investigation is a "tragedy of the first proportion."

"I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday," Barton said in the morning. "I apologize."

[BwanaNdege]

I just called the RNC and told them exactly that.

“You are a bunch of spineless wimps. You’re not getting any of MY money! Fire Steele and clean out your executive committee and maybe we can talk. Otherwise it is Third (Tea) Party time.”

[hunter75]

I confess to being confused by the drift of this and other Barton threads. Are we saying that the taxpayers — I.E., ME, should pay for the damages? If not BP, then who? Not arguing here — just trying to get clear on what people are saying.

[af_vet_rr]

I confess to being confused by the drift of this and other Barton threads. Are we saying that the taxpayers — I.E., ME, should pay for the damages? If not BP, then who? Not arguing here — just trying to get clear on what people are saying.

That's what people here and in the other threads seem to be saying, because if BP doesn't pick up the tab, then that means the taxpayers pick up the tab.

I'd rather have a "shakedown" of BP than of the taxpayers, but unfortunately the oil industry has bought off quite a few politicians on both sides of the aisle and I have no doubt that the taxpayers will be paying for some of BP's actions.

[skinkinthegrass]

A Kentucky Ping.

...for those interested. :D
(As a Kentuckian) I am ashamed of
Sen. Mitch "Go / Get Along" McConnell.
he really has his head up, The Won's @$$.
he's conducting a real Circular Firing Squad.
Stop! the triangulating of the Marxist Morons...

please...take a stand!

[skinkinthegrass]

A Kentucky Ping.

...for those interested. :D
(As a Kentuckian) I am ashamed of
Sen. Mitch "Go / Get Along" McConnell.
he really has his head up, The Won's @$$.
he's conducting a real Circular Firing Squad.
Stop! the triangulating of the Marxist Morons...

please...take a stand!

[LRS]

As they say about great minds ;)...

About an hour before seeing this posting, I had a call from a GOP money grabber, and in the middle of that gal's pitch, I cut her off with an “If the GOP forces people telling the truth to apologize, they ain't getting nothing from me!”