Joe Barton BP Apology, 'Shakedown' Comments Slammed By White House (VIDEO)

At Thursday's hearing on Capitol Hill where BP CEO Tony Hayward was called to testify about the oil spill, Texas GOP Congressman Joe Barton apologized to the embattled oil company chief, characterizing White House actions to hold BP accountable a "shakedown."

HuffPost's Sam Stein reports:

In the wake of Wednesday's White House announcement, a host of GOP officials are raising questions about both the process by which the deal was made and the deal itself -- going so far as to apologize to BP on America's behalf.

"I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday," said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) during a hearing on Thursday morning with BP's CEO Tony Hayward." I think it is a tragedy in the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown -- in this case a $20 billion shakedown -- with the attorney general of the United States, who is legitimately conducting a criminal investigation and has every right to do so to protect the American people, participating in what amounts to a $20 billion slush fund that's unprecedented in our nation's history, which has no legal standing, which I think sets a terrible precedent for our nation's future."

"I'm only speaking for myself. I'm not speaking for anyone else, but I apologize," Barton added. "I do not want to live in a county where anytime a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong, [it is] subject to some sort of political pressure that, again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown."

The White House immediately fired back with a statement:

"What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction. Congressman Barton may think that a fund to compensate these Americans is a 'tragedy', but most Americans know that the real tragedy is what the men and women of the Gulf Coast are going through right now. Members from both parties should repudiate his comments."

WATCH Barton's comments:

Comments

[Puller58]

04:27 PM on 06/18/2010

He makes a convenient pinata for the White House.

[Dick Horne]

10:31 AM on 06/18/2010

I checked and in 2009-2010 Oil & Gas unsurprisingly provided the 2nd highest contributions to his campaign.

[0334231]

07:44 AM on 06/18/2010

I don't know why some people are surprised, this is the way the Republican think tanks think. He just spoke the way most Republicans think and feel, most Republicans are pro-business and pro-corporate control of people, vs the other way around. Republican Party prefers corporations to control people instead of people controling the corporations....hopefully, the republican Gulf Coast's understands who are on their side and who are not......What's so funny, the same people who's lives are destroyed, are the same people who will vote Republican in November and vote again for Joe Barton..benefit from the dems and turn around and vote repub...let's take a pause-selah

[ladyearth]

07:21 AM on 06/18/2010

Wonder if Barton has apologized to the families who lost their loved ones?

[bighat]

06:25 AM on 06/18/2010

As BP is turning out to be the main provider of pensions for the English people I wonder how long it will be before the US and the Britsh govt come up with some sort of a bailout package (under a different name of course) to help the company make dividend payments.

Or will the US end up losing its main ally. Talk will occur over the coming months but with no bailout or a cap on BP funds expect England to pull out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and maybe even NATO.

I see a lot of under the table dealing going on.

[ragnar - danneskjold]

09:34 AM on 06/18/2010

I agree.
One of 2 things happened in that room (between the White House and BP).
1. BP volunteered the 20 billion.
2. There was a negotiation. If it was a negotiation. What was the quid pro quo.
Did they promise to not prosecute for the deaths?
Did they threaten future contracts?
Are the protecting them from being sued by other oil companies for lost wages because of the moratorium?
Is there an artificial cap?
I don't think these are unreasonable questions.

[Gilliam G]

04:55 AM on 06/18/2010

Invisible-hand-of the-free-market-man!

Suddenly, the mood at BP Command Center isn't so grim

http://www.salon.com/entertainment/comics/this_modern_world/2010/06/15/this_modern_world

[Friction57]

04:51 AM on 06/18/2010

F you congressman F you and the horse you road in on

[VictoriaP]

04:46 AM on 06/18/2010

really, bartphuck, a "shakedown" of british petroleum?

"...hayward is the stupidest person on earth or he is lying. all of the errors that were made are documented...

"as this black oil comes ashore, we have had 1% of it so far and lots of people are in the hospital for inhaling benzine and other things, when it [oil] comes ashore in a hurricain, we could have millions of people die."
Matt Simmons, Guest Expert
dylan ratigan show (msnbc) June 18, 2010

[Friction57]

04:52 AM on 06/18/2010

EXACTLY

fanned

[ragnar - danneskjold]

12:54 AM on 06/18/2010

I can't believe Joe Barton. Why would he
- write a law to cap their liability at $75 million
- pay off the MMS to not make proper inspections
- pass an executive order to expand deep water drilling because he examined it so thoroughly and deemed it safe
- blow up the rig
- wait a month to utilize foreign skimmers
- ignore the problem because he was either was too inexperienced or saw political value in it
- deny dredging because it would harm the wildlife
He is DEFINITELY the villain in this. We should just remove him from Congress and take BP over. Just let the government disperse their assets to anyone they see fit. Laws be damned. Sure there are some innocent people who have saved their whole lives and own BP stock but this government is blameless and guided by benevolence. Certainly they can choose the right winners like they did in the GM collapse. But JOE BARTON - THIS is unforgivable. The government has been perfect from day 1 of this disaster. The mistakes made by this lone individual could make the American people think we have too much power and are ill-equipped to handle everything. He should resign.

[Solja]

02:35 AM on 06/18/2010

You are expending way too much misinformation for free. Lobbyists pay a lot for garbage like you're spilling here. Go to K Street with that nonsense where they believe and appreciate that gibberish. Thinking Americans find the GOP, BP, and Joe "I apologize to the company that caused the nations' worst ecological catastrophe in history." Barton, deplorable.

[ragnar - danneskjold]

07:01 AM on 06/18/2010

I don't understand. Did Joe Barton NOT do all of these things? Hopefully the "thinking Americans" will rank him accordingly when assessing blame for this disaster. It's the non-thinking ones I am worried about.

[jburke55]

12:09 AM on 06/18/2010

Joe Barton plays a spot-on (Senator) Pat Geary to Tony Hayward's Michael Corleone. Indeed, Barton must be one of the finest Members of Congress since Pat Geary.

Just to refresh memories.....
Senator Pat Geary: [as they're watching the performer at the sex club] Freddie, that thing can't be real.
Fredo Corleone: Sure it is. That's why they call him Superman.

[ragnar - danneskjold]

11:36 PM on 06/17/2010

What he should have said... "BP should pay every dime they legally owe. I KNOW this administration would NEVER threaten anybody or shake them down. So this must have been a negotiation. In a negotiation both sides give something up. So I have one question for you Mr Heyward. What did they give or promise you for creating this $20 billion fund controlled by the executive branch rather than the judiciary as it would have been in a class action lawsuit"

[dawgspiel]

10:59 PM on 06/17/2010

They apologize to BP. Anything big business wants is great.
They protect Wall Street.
They tried to privatize Social Security.
Over the past 3 decades they supervised a massive transfer of wealth from nearly everyone to the Top 10%, the top 1% in particular.
They promoted and passed tax incentives to encourage U.S. companies to ship jobs overseas.
The tried to privatize SS just before the financial markets crashed.
They passed a tax cut for the rich early in Bush's reign that Sec Treasury Paul O'Neill objected saying it would create massive deficits; Bush fired him and left us with a $1.2 trillion structural deficit.
They followed it up with more tax cuts for the wealthy creating more red ink.
They pushed to repeal Glass Steagall. Dorgan of ND warned we would regret it in 10 years; how prescient.
They deregulated everything from airlines to coal mines. Then they filled the agencies with industry lackeys, ideologues opposed to said agencies' missions, and incompetents. Great results there.
They tried to auction off some of the country's most beautiful scenery to the oil derrick crowd.
They gave us the Laffer curve that lifted all yachts.
They opposed Medicare until they had to vote for it and spent the next 45 years trying to kill it.
They gave us Gene McCarthy and a communist under every bed.
They opposed opposing fascism until Pearl Harbor made it impossible.

Why would anyone vote for Republicans?

[Libra28]

11:12 PM on 06/17/2010

Republicans have become the clear and present danger to America.
They are totally disloyal Americans.

[bascombe]

11:14 PM on 06/17/2010

exactly!

[ragnar - danneskjold]

11:56 PM on 06/17/2010

Yes. This was even more disloyal than having 1/2 of congress give a standing ovation to the president of Mexico for preaching civil rights to us.

[mady]

11:29 PM on 06/17/2010

Great list!

Why would anyone vote for Republicans? It never ceases to amaze me how they claim to be fiscal conservatives, etc, and people believe it.

[johndtuttle]

10:48 PM on 06/17/2010

Chicago Shakedown?

More like Eliot Ness staring down Al Capone and getting something for the Victims.

[Libra28]

10:34 PM on 06/17/2010

Psychological profile of the far right GOP ....
http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html””

[freecitizen1946]

09:44 PM on 06/17/2010

There is a political party in this country that considers compassion and empathy to be dirty words, except when it is applied to poor hapless mom and pop businesses like British Petroleum.