Rep. Barton apologizes to BP

Status
Not open for further replies.
darkdog said:
You may be right. However, if the goal is to get people to talk about the negative aspects of the deal and instead, people end up talking about how he's apologizing to the bad guys and how he's a corporate shill, then the goal isn't achieved. It backfired.
Click to expand...

Obama is perhaps the most loathed man in the U.K. There are many BP pensioners who rely on BP checks for their retirement support.
 
darkdog said:
You may be right. However, if the goal is to get people to talk about the negative aspects of the deal and instead, people end up talking about how he's apologizing to the bad guys and how he's a corporate shill, then the goal isn't achieved. It backfired.
Click to expand...

That's true......
 
kokonut said:
Obama is perhaps the most loathed man in the U.K. There are many BP pensioners who rely on BP checks for their retirement support.
Click to expand...

then BP shouldn't have cut corner on safety protocol
 
You know.....one thing that is being completely overstated is the impact on the local businesses. This will actually be a boon for them. True there will be fewer vacationers....but those same rooms will be filled with cleanup personel......same with the diners. With a little creativity souvenir shops will do well too. Add to that the claims and their year is better due to the spill.

I also think it is ridiculous that BP is paying 100 million for non working off shore workers when it was obama that called for shutting down the wells AGAINST advice the panel gave him
 
kokonut said:
Yeah, and see a few hundred thousands jobs lost as a result. Maybe push that unemployment rate over 11%?
Click to expand...

you care more about British corporation than American businesses - the one who is feeling hurt from this spill?
 
TXgolfer said:
And the inspectors that gave them the green light
Click to expand...

After Jindal did some table pounding first. He's doing everything what the president refused to do in the first place. And in of all places, Louisanna.
 
Jiro said:
interesting..... There's not a single post of yours that mention anything about blaming BP or GOP :hmm:
Click to expand...

That's because his only concern and motive is to bash Obama. Doesn't matter if it shows his inconsistency.
 
Not everyone in Texas supports these kind of comments. Wonder how much of big asskisser's campaigns are funded by oil interests.

It's easier for a Texan to excuse BP because we're not being directly effected by the oil spill. We could have been easily involved in this environmental disaster but we were spared. A change in currents would have effected Texas.

Also, note that this Texan does not live on the Gulf Coast. It's easier to ignore the disaster when you live inland and don't have to deal with the consequences, including the economic loss.
 
sallylou said:
Not everyone in Texas supports these kind of comments. Wonder how much of big asskisser's campaigns are funded by oil interests.

It's easier for a Texan to excuse BP because we're not being directly effected by the oil spill. We could have been easily involved in this environmental disaster but we were spared. A change in currents would have effected Texas.

Also, note that this Texan does not live on the Gulf Coast. It's easier to ignore the disaster when you live inland and don't have to deal with the consequences, including the economic loss.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you missed the part where Barton said BP should pay.....that was never an issue.
 
Democrats continue hammering GOP over Barton apology to BP

Washington (CNN) -- A top Democrat kept up the Joe Barton drumbeat Sunday, saying the Republican legislator's defense of BP last week was an example of GOP ideology that favors big business.

Republicans seeking to change the subject countered that the nation's focus should be on efforts to stop the Gulf oil gusher and critcized the Obama administration for failing to make that happen.

The statement last Thursday by Republican Rep. Joe Barton of Texas -- which was quickly retracted under pressure from House GOP leadership -- provided Democrats an opportunity to deflect growing public disenchantment with how the government was responding to the oil disaster.

Acknowledging the political gift handed to his party by Barton, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told the ABC program "This Week" that Barton's comment and other pro-BP statements by Republicans including Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul would be a factor in the November congressional elections.

"In case you forgot what Republican governance is like, Joe Barton reminded you," Emanuel said, calling Barton's comments a "philosophy" that considered BP the "aggrieved party" instead of the oil giant responsible for the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

"These aren't political gaffes -- Joe Barton was speaking from prepared remarks," Emanuel said, calling the comment reflective of a GOP approach that considers the government to be the problem, not BP.

Nonsense, responded Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of oil-rich Alaska on the CNN program "State of the Union."

While calling Barton's comments wrong, Murkowski accused Emanuel of trying to deflect attention away from the magnitude and severity of the oil disaster.

"Let's not be distracted by saying, you know, Joe Barton made this gaffe or this -- this inappropriate comment," Murkowski said. "Let's focus on what we need to do, which is getting relief to the Gulf, making sure that they have every asset possible, making sure that we've got a claims compensation system that works for them. Let's focus on providing what the people of the Gulf need, not pointing fingers back and forth and saying, 'oh, you know, what you said was wrong.' "

At a House committee hearing intended to grill BP CEO Tony Hayward, Barton instead drew the headlines for an opening statement that apologized to BP over the $20 billion account to pay damage claims that the company created at the request of President Barack Obama.

"I am ashamed of what happened at the White House yesterday," said Barton, the ranking Republican on the panel. "I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation would be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown - in this case a $20 billion dollar shakedown."

Democrats including Vice President Joe Biden and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs immediately criticized Barton, and Republicans quickly distanced themselves from their colleague. By mid-afternoon, Barton issued a statement retracting his apology to BP and instead apologizing for calling the fund a shakedown.

Now the Democratic National Committee is promising a television ad focusing on Barton's comment, and Emanuel made sure to keep the issue alive on Sunday. While Murkowski shot back criticism at Emanuel, her Republican colleague Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama called Barton's comment a "dumb mistake" and declared on the CBS program "Face the Nation" that his party believed the oil disaster was a "man-made incident, a big mistake" by BP.

"They tried to do it on the cheap, I believe, made some shortcuts and they paid for it, and now we paid for it," he said of the massive oil leak. Shelby also invited two of the Republicans cited by Emanuel - Barton and Paul - to visit the Gulf Coast region and witness themselves what is happening.

However, Shelby also added that Barton "only spoke for himself -- that is not mainstream Republican thought."

On the same program, though, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida said Barton's comment was "illustrative that the oil industry rules the roost." He noted that senators from major oil-producing states were trying to prevent the chamber from voting on a bill that would greatly increase the liability of oil companies for damages from spills.

Democrats continue hammering GOP over Barton apology to BP - CNN.com
Click to expand...

Yup, I agree with our senator about Barton's comment.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top