From today's Seattle Times

Joe Barton is not alone in tossing bouquets and sympathy toward the corporation responsible for the worse pollution disaster in American history. Other examples:

--BP "shouldn't have to be fleeced," in the words of Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minnesota, who described as "a redistribution of wealth fund" the $20 billion escrow account set up to pay cleanup costs and claims.

--"We can't afford to demonize" BP, Sarah Palin declared on television last week as she upbraided President Obama for taking so long to meet with BP's chief executive Tony Hayward. (Hayward has been exiled back to England.)

--President Obama "is directly engaged in extorting money" from BP, ex-House Speaker (and possible presidential candidate) Newt Gingrich charged, appearing on Fox News' "Hannity."

--Back when he was a law professor, Barack Obama taught his law students "how to use the Constitution to shake down corporations through race and grievance lawsuits," Rush Limbaugh charged. "That's what he taught students at the University of Chicago . . . much like he is doing to BP."

--The BP escrow account is an example of "Chicago-style shakedown politics" by President Obama, Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, charged in a statement.

After Republican House leaders beat his brains in, Barton apologized for his apology. Interestingly, however, House Republican leader John Boehner declared about 10 days ago that government and BP should share burdens of spill response, before hastily clarifying that cleaning up is the company's responsibility.

Republican Senate hopeful Dino Rossi told seattlepi.com that he supports the escrow fund and removing the liability cap on oil spills. In Kentucky, however, GOP Senate nominee Rand Paul delivered a now-famous "Accidents happen" response before he stopped giving interviews to non-tame media.

Dating back more than a century, to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, "green" Republicans have done yeoman service for conservation and the environment. But they are now an endangered species.

When supertankers were banned from Puget Sound -- via an amendment slipped into the Marine Mammals Protection Act -- Democratic Sen. Warren Magnuson received the kudos. But two Republicans in our House delegation, moderate Joel Pritchard and conservative Jack Cunningham, cleared away obstacles to House floor passage.

By contrast, Joe Barton is responsible for legislative language that forced the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to speed up approval of drilling rigs. MMS was already more a lapdog than a watchdog.

Just when you thought the GOP couldn't be any dumber, they are.

And Hank is right there to apologize for them apologizing to BP.

Didja notice Hank, Barton was certainly not the only Repugnicant to be apologizing for the awful way Obama has treated the poor oil company? In fact he is right in step with mainstream far right nut jobs, like Gingrich, Palin, and druggie airbag Limbaugh.

This is a bit out of date,but the trend has not changed.

Top recipients of big oil contributions:

1
Hutchison, Kay Bailey, R-Texas
Senate
$258,361

2
Burns, Conrad, R-Mont.
Senate
$188,775

3
Santorum, Rick, R-Pa.
Senate
$188,120

4
Bode, Denise, R-Okla.
House
$153,650

5
Allen, George, R-Va.
Senate
$148,600

6
Talent, James M., R-Mo.
Senate
$147,470

7
Cornyn, John, R-Texas
Senate
$142,750

8
Barton, Joe, R-Texas
House
$138,450

9
Hastert, Dennis, R-Ill.
House
$122,200

10
Pombo, Richard, R-Calif.
House
$121,340

That article is sort of a pisser. It points out what pisses me off about Repubs: They spend waay too much time trying to be republicans, and less time doing their actual job.

BP set aside the $20B fund as a way to show that they give a sh!t about the damage their blow caused. Whether or not they do give a sh!t is immaterial. The first thing that happens is thes RWWJ get on the stump and try to leverage that action for political gain, and that dog won't hunt. It smacks of pandering to big oil, and for what gain?

BP is a for-profit corporation, they don't care if they get an apology, they just want to cap the leak, and get back to making money, or GTFO. Whichever makes the most economic sense.

The Fed and State should be working around the clock on getting their fines, and lawsuits put together instead of this political knee jerk regulation, and oversight. All that does is make life harder for the other oil companies who haven't f-ed up. That in turn takes jobs away from people in the affected area, exacerbating the economic conditions started by the blowout.

I'm sure BP's lawyers are working in shifts for their appeal of the fines. BP realizes that each day costs them more and more money which can only be made back by capping the leak and selling more oil.

Hankster. I didn't leave out anything. I simply did a Hank and did a C&P.

This is one where your best response is to say "Well, you are right." The Repugnicans are waaaaaay deeper in big oils pockets than the dems. Roughly 76% of all big oil contributions go to Rs. Yeah, its a bit like comparing virtue among whores, but your whores get waaaay more, and like your poster child, Barton have absolutly zero concern for anything but their sugar daddys. It's like the Dems are high priced call girls and the Rs are crack whores.

Well I guess it all goes by whom you listen too, US NEws and World Reports say's the #1 Beneficiary of Big oil money is Democrap Blanche Lincoln :
1 Lincoln, Blanche Democrat AR Senate $286,400

In fact the top 4 are split 2 R's and 2 D's, so to say say one party is deeper in the pockets than the other.... well..... it just isn't true.

Industry: Oil & Gas

Top Recipients of money from this industry

Rank Member Party State Office Amount
1 Lincoln, Blanche Democrat AR Senate $286,400
2 Vitter, David Republican LA Senate $242,600
3 Murkowski, Lisa Republican AK Senate $209,826
4 Boren, Dan Democrat OK House $139,700



And why leave out the Clintons, Hillary got more oil money than anyone in the campaign in 2008,


"Unlikely as it sounds, it's Democrat Hillary Clinton who has taken the most from big oil money , she took a whopping $267 thousand dollars from big oil interests to fuel her 2008 campaign"

I guess if you don't want people to give you a hard time for saying stupid sh!t, then you shouldn't say stupid sh!t.

Hankster. I already said the Dems get some oil money. But every credible source I can find shows the Repugs get waaaay more in total and they are the ones making apologies for big oil and suggesting the taxpayer should pay to fix the problem. Try as you might you can’t just blame one big mouth R. There are similar stupid remarks from Palin, Gingrich, Limbaugh and others of your chosen party.
You and other like you have cried for deregulation and letting the free market handle all our problems. Now, you cry that the big ole evil gubmint oughtta do more. You can’t have it both ways.

Let’s try it your way. Let the oil company do as it sees fit. I’m sure the market will make it all better – somehow. How did that work for the Exxon spil?

If you wnat to see exactly how much bribery your representative indulged in click here. The sad fact is no politician should be beholding to any donor. But they all are.

http://oilmoney.priceofoil.org/federalRaceGraph.php?type=congress

So, should we pick who to vote for based on what groups donate money to them? That might be interesting info, but I'm not sure that would change anyone's vote.

In the mean time, what has the Administration and the party in power done to stop the leak or clean it up?

I like to know who's bought my politicians. There are groups I like better than others. Would you prefer a legislator in the pocket of commercial fisherman, or in the pocket of sport fishermen?

Clean up effort is massive. Stop it? You got any ideas? I bet they aren't even trying.

No matter what party is in power they woud do all they can. But you knew that didn't ya?

And this thread solve's what?

Forget the f'n politics people.

All politicians suck for the most part. The R's just seem to lead the pack here on the left coast.

Cheney was with out a doubt the biggest POS that ever held office, if'n ya wanted to dig hard enough, I am sure you could find a few that have a D before there name that MIGHT rival him.

Find a solution for the problem and stop the stupid ass blaming.

You asswipes are solving nothing!

Chuck, I so would love to have 10 acres on Rock Creek. Have you been to the testicle festival? If anyone doesn't like this thread getting hijacked, ask yourself, what better could have happen to it? Besides which I brought it into this world, I can take it out!

Hank: We do agree on the need for getting corporate money out of the hands of politicians. But how can a free marketer say there should have been more government oversight and regulation? The Rs have preached the gospel of deregulation forever. How’s that working for ya?

The Rs are also on their bandwagon that Obama should do more. How's that fit with your concept of smaller gubmint? You STILL can’t have it both ways.

Big Oil spent millions of dollars to sweep—and keep—George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the White House. And it got its money’s worth.

The new administration and its staunchly pro-oil congressional allies returned the favor by enacting one of the most pro-oil, anti-environment pieces of legislation in history: the Energy Policy Act of 2005—itself based on the recommendations of Cheney’s secret energy policy task force.

OMG, Hank are you really trying to somehow blame those who wanted to clean up the corporate Love Canals of the country? To date that may be your worst come back ever! What was the free market planning to do about all the toxic messes left after the corporations moved on?

Sure enforece the regulations you see in the rear view mirror as valuable, then continue the chant of deregulation, smaller governmint, ad nauseaum.

Rory Bellows returns.

Yeah, no kiddin'! Hankster, any lick of sense you've ever made has totally evaporated in this thread. Your unwavering support of conservatism and the Republican Party and the values of small government and now trying to have it both ways labels you as the poster child of RWnuttery. Your comebacks grow ever more feeble. You'd be more of a man to simply admit that the conservative values you stand for, and the Republican politicians and party you lean toward, are more likely than not to produce a governmental system that by virtue of "small government and less regulation," allows, permits, and facilitates catastrophes like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. There's far less wrong with that than there is with the endless cut and pastes and your, "well the Deems did this and accepted that . . ." blathering. MMS failed and is incompetent precisely because that's how the Republican administration wanted it structured. The corporations that buy government, on balance buying more Rs than Ds, don't want strong government regulatory agencies. And that is why the federal laws intended to protect the environment are as weak as they are. Corporations got what they paid for.

There is a time and a place to defend conservative politics. If you were half as smart as you seem to think you are, you'd know that this oil spill topic isn't one of them. I used to enjoy the wing nut balance of KK you tried to bring to this forum. But you're really falling off the deep end here. You really ought to think about what you post in a topic like this if you expect to be taken seriously.

Sg

I thought they sent her to the butcher shop after she quit producing quality wool.