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Two lawmakers’ comments about BP were callous
Monday, June 21, 2010 | 2:02 a.m.
Rep. Michele Bachmann had this to say about BP: “They shouldn’t have to be fleeced and made chumps to have to pay for perpetual unemployment and all the rest — they’ve got to be legitimate claims. The other thing we have to remember is that Obama loves to make evil whatever company it is that he wants to get more power from. He makes them evil, and what we’ve got to ask ourselves is: Do we really want to be paying
$9 for a gallon of gas? Because that could be the final result of this.”
Rep. Joe Barton said the following during a committee hearing last week: “I think that it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation is subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case a $20 billion shakedown.”
Barton added, “I apologize. 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.”
Shortly after making this statement, due to political pressure, Barton apologized for his apology to BP.
Those members of Congress mentioned above were more concerned with the $20 billion escrow account than the 11 dead oil rig employees.
What more does the public need to understand about how deep Republicans are in bed with corporations? Do these right-wing politicians expect us to bail out all companies that make major errors?
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There are laws in this country that address the civil wrongs of individuals and corporations.
These laws are the basis for recovery of damages and injuries by those who are harmed. We certainly do not need the federal government
establishing a new set of penalties in a Kangaroo court run by Obama. In the instant case the Federal government contributed significantly to these harms through lax regulation and failure to invest in new technologies or take advantage of remedial technologies that were available outside this nation. The Obama administration is irresponsible, refusing to stand up and accept responsibility on behalf of the feds for its share of the damages in this fiasco.Instead, the Obama administration chooses to take from the private sector, the great evil doers, all that it can suck out of it . This is not a one way matter, and both parties deserve to step up and pay their respective shares of the damages.
Vernos Blanco aka acorn nut strikes again. Ho hum.
until the republican maggots silence blowhards like michele psycho bachmann...
and joe the apologist barton...
they simple can not be taken seriously...
they are maggots...
all of them...
maggots...
The GO(B)P would cease to exist if not for their corporate masters.
What started out as the Party of Lincoln has become Washington's biggest lobbying firm where backroom deals are made to make the rich richer on the backs of the middle class.
"Those members of Congress mentioned above were more concerned with the $20 billion escrow account than the 11 dead oil rig employees."
Branco -- although those deaths were tragic, (1) killing the entire Gulf's ecosystem and (2) destroying entire industries that make their living from it, is a much greater public concern.
A loved one who lives in that area told me yesterday about a local family business, a hundred years old, now out of business because that leak killed their oyster beds.
Also told me his friends who wanted to head for the coast and volunteer for the clean ups were told they had to first go through a 90 (ninety) hour course to be certified before they could do anything.
Considering the history of court gamesmanship from the Exxon Valdez disaster -- still in court 18 years later -- the only winners in the end will be the attorneys.
And considering how impotent the feds were with Katrina, I seriously doubt this regime will perform any better.
It is a strange thing to watch. The federal government seems more concerned about placing blame and laying claim to a large pile of money than stopping the leak and determining why it happened in the first place. One congressman was trying to get the CEO of BP to admit that his company had acted recklessly, which he would not do. One doesn't know if they did nor not, but it seems more and more likely that they did. Still, any good attorney would have told Mr. Hayward not to answer such a question.
While we grill various people in front of Congress and dispatch teams of lawyers to the gulf, we are turning away help from other nations delaying the efforts of our own people to mitigate the damage. I agree that in normal times if the state of Louisiana wanted to build sand berms to protect their coast, it would probably warrant a detailed analysis. But when you have an oil slick heading toward the coast, you need to do some back of the envelope calculations and decide which is the bigger risk.
And I have mixed feelings about the twenty billion dollar fund that BP is creating. I'm glad that they are doing it since it is good to get some money secured up front. Heck, some of the lawsuits over the Exxon Valdez spill are still in court. At the same time, we do have a legal system for dealing with such things and no determination has been made as to the root cause of the problem.
Vernos makes it appear that only Republicans are in bed with private corporations. Reality is that ALL politicians Republican AND Democrats receive monies from giant corporations. To think that only one party is being cooperative is naive.
I understand a persons political party affiliations. Blindly following either party and agreeing with everything that party says or does is also naive. The Democratic party is not totally w/o fault. Just because the Democrats were good for the country in the 30's doesn't make it good for us now.
Why does anybody get all overheated about politicians. I personally would love to spit on them. All of them. They all talk about how hard they work. All they do is sit around pressin' ham and lying to us. They point fingers at each other and we're supposed to believe one over the other. Don't forget this. They all eat lunch together. On our tab. They all get free haircuts. On our tab. They all swap wives and kiss each other in private. You all make your choices and fiercely defend them. Believe me Politicians aren't worth our allegiance.
floozy--sensible post and comments!
Wow, wondering what that Swede has to say bout this and if it's Halliburton's fault! Note to the Swede, do u have fact's that Halliburton drill's wells? They are a service company, not on oil drilling company. Get your facts straight.
Halliburton was selling whiskey and guns to the Apaches 140 years ago. Don't put anything at all poast those crooks.
I can actually see the lawmaker's points. Just for a minute, suspend everything we think we know about this oil spill. As of last Friday, BP still does not know exactly what happen to the rig. There were early reports (nine days after the event) that Pres. Obama was sending SWAT teams out to the platforms in the Gulf. First, if you didn't suspect foul play I don't believe SWAT would be a thought. Second, there was another early report regarding two torpedo launches from a North Korean ship, which may have been the catalyst for the SWAT deployment. So far, no results for the public regarding these efforts. What we see is a bunch of B.S. from both sides through the media. Why would you call the company in for hearings and meetings when their butts should be in the gulf getting the flow stopped? A unified effort to stop the flow is that too much to ask?
We need to prioritize this issue. Get the flow stopped, simultaneously conduct the cleanup efforts. Once the flow is stopped complete the investigation and figure out exactly what happen. At that point someone's head should roll.
Michele Bachmann and Joe Barton are guilty of not agreeing with the current administrations viewpoint, what else is new.
Michelle Bachmann is just nuts,...needs to be retired,...she's not wired right
Michelle Bachmann is as crazy as Sharron Angle.
The GOP has all of the crazy people.
Let's keep these nuts out of power.