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Title: Republican's Oil Spill Gaffe Hands Advantage Back To Administration
Source:
THE HILL
URL Source: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/67 ... age-back-to-the-administration
Published: Jun 17, 2010
Author: By Michael O'Brien and Ben Geman -
Post Date: 2010-06-17 15:47:13 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 561
Comments: 29
The top Republican gift-wrapped a gaffe about the oil spill and handed it to President Barack Obama on Thursday, ceding the GOP's advantage on a disaster that has plagued the administration for weeks and called its competence into question. Rep. Joe Barton (Texas), the senior GOP lawmaker on the House energy committee, apologized to BP and accused the White House of a "$20 billion shakedown" for forcing the oil company to set up a vast clean-up and compensation fund. The Republican leadership, caught flat-footed by Barton, immediately distanced themselves from Barton, who told a congressional hearing that he was "ashamed" of the Obama administration's treatment of BP. “It is a tragedy of 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,” Barton said during opening remarks at the Energy and Commerce Committee hearing where Hayward was giving testimony. The White House and leadership offices in Congress immediately pounced on the comment, looking to tie the GOP to the comment, and forcing Republicans to disavow his sentiments. In a later line of questioning, Hayward said he "certainly didn't think it was a slush fund." "As we said yesterday, the fund is a signal of our commitment to do right to ensure...everyone who's been impacted by this is kept whole," he said. "That is what I've said from the beginning of this, and that's what we intend to do." Asked at his weekly press conference if he disagreed with Barton’s characterization of the deal struck Wednesday at the White House, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) quickly responded, “I do.” “BP agreed to fund the cost of this cleanup from the beginning and I’m glad they’re being held accountable,” Boehner told reporters. Adding to the pressure on Barton was Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), whose Pensacola district is among those areas hardest-hit by the oil spill in the Gulf. Miller called on Barton to step down from his position as ranking member of the committee, a spot that would set the Texas lawmaker up for the plum chairmanship next year if Republicans were to win control of Congress this fall. "I condemn Mr. Barton’s statement. Mr. Barton’s remarks are out of touch with this tragedy and I feel his comments call into question his judgment and ability to serve in a leadership on the Energy and Commerce Committee," MIller said in a statement. "He should step down as ranking member of the Committee.” Hayward's testimony before the committee took an immediate backseat to the controversy over Barton's statement on a day in which Republicans sought to hammer away at the Obama administration for its response to the ongoing spill in the Gulf. Democrats, meanwhile, saw the gaffe as a major opportunity to shift the dialog on the oil spill, an issue on which Obama's approval rating had been flagging, and on which they had sought traction to advance an energy and climate bill yet this year. The White House quickly pounced on Barton, and put pressure on other Republicans to reject the comments. At the daily press briefing, Vice President Joe Biden called Barton's comments "incredibly insensitive, incredibly out of touch." The congressman's comments were "a pivot point in the BP oil spill," Democratic National Committee (DNC) communications director Brad Woodhouse wrote in an email to reporters. "Republicans have a plan," he said. "Politicize the Oil Spill. Apologize to BP. Turn their backs on the Gulf Coast."
"What is wrong with that? How is that a shakedown? I dont know. I find it a pretty outstanding comment."
"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," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. "Members from both parties should repudiate his comments.”
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#19. To: Brian S (#0)
Only ignorant, statist, cryoto-communist scum such as the demonRAT partee and the rest of you Hate America FIRST! droolers, would consider a congress critter pointing out the OBVIOUS violation of the RULE OF LAW, and the feral gooberment's, (under the messiah "king" obammy's diresct control), total usurpation of power, in direct contravention of the US Constitution, to be a "gaffe". "Up is down!" "Light is dark!" All HAIL the messiah "king" obammy! Useful fools UNITE! Death to America! You F ing vile lying foul wannabe tyrant scum.
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