18 June 2010 Congress is as responsible as BP

18 June 2010 Congress is responsible as much as BP



The removal of oversight and regulatory function designed to prevent just such events as the BP oil dump took place in the halls of the United States Congress. The hands of many energy company lobbyists placed campaign contributions and other enticements into the hands of any elected or appointed official who could close their fist around the money. The GOP, spearheaded by Reagan, Bush II, and Cheney succeeded in gutting the agencies and laws put into place by other administrations.

Congress is as guilty of causing this disaster as is BP.

BP has sacrificed a CEO before the American public, to be snarled at and lectured to by Representatives and Senators equally complicit but more able to dodge the immediate application of blame in their carefully scripted “hearings” where they are allowed to hurl invective and place blame on a business man who is legally advised to say little or nothing. Congress is hoping that most voters will ignore their complicity in November, and most likely, the voters will. Voters seem to allow the GOP to hoodwink them routinely.

If I were a BP executive, I’d go home to Britain at once and tell the American Congress to pound sand and accept their own blame. BP wants American business but doesn’t really require it.

Their upper-crust accent fails the executives here. At home, their grammar and speech patterns would have once been sufficient to turn aside most critics. Of course, that is no longer the case today but one hears a bit of irritation at that change coming in the responses of the sacrificial BP exes who are being grilled by our Congress.

As for Rep. Barton R-TX, I’m hoping to hear his “apology” to BP played loudly and repeatedly at every GOP campaign stop. A fleet of sound-trucks driving through our towns with those words that so indicate where the GOP’s loyalty belongs is just the ticket for November. I’ve always known the GOP cared nothing for the American citizen except as a captive consumer and cannon fodder. It’s time the nation be reminded of this fact and Rep. Barton has put his words to the service of any voter with the intelligence to write his own name correctly.

It’s of tremendous interest and very amusing to watch the Red state elected officials demand that the government they want to demolish save them from yet another disaster brought about by the sainted “free marketers.” If I were in a position to wield that sort of power I’d have them spinning in the wind for a bit until they found the need to admit that a strong federal government is necessary in today’s world. But I don’t have that power and never will.

These are interesting articles, obviously biased as I would prefer:

BP executive failed to answer questions, lawmakers say

By the CNN Wire Staff

June 18, 2010 -- Updated 1416 GMT (2216 HKT)

“(CNN) -- As oil continued gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's ruptured deepwater well Friday, the political firestorm sparked by the environmental disaster showed no signs of slowing.

Lawmakers said many questions remained after BP CEO Tony Hayward faced a bipartisan barrage of criticism during a heated day of testimony on Capitol Hill.

"It was frustrating, not just to me but to the American people," Rep. Bart Stupak said Thursday on CNN's "John King, USA."



http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/06/18/gulf.oil.disaster/index.html?hpt=T2

'Tired' Tony Hayward 'savaged' by Congress, say UK media

June 18, 2010 -- Updated 1337 GMT (2137 HKT)

“

“London, England (CNN) -- British commentators and media have been split by the performance of BP boss Tony Hayward before a Congressional committee investigating the Gulf Coast oil disaster.

But while some analysts backed Hayward following Thursday's appearance before his House Energy and Commerce Committee, others criticized his performance and approach.

PR guru Mark Borkowski writing in The Daily Telegraph, said that Hayward "couldn't, or wouldn't, answer most of the questions. In fact, he looked like a tired undertaker who was rather bored with having to look mournful."

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/06/18/uk.media.oil.hayward/index.html?hpt=T2



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/17/AR2010061705992.html?hpid=topnews



Gulf oil spill puts industry-friendly Republicans in tight spot



By Karen Tumulty

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, June 18, 2010

“Who says there's no such thing as loyalty in politics?

Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Tex.), who has received more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from the oil industry during this election cycle, revealed Thursday that he may be the only person in America who believes that BP deserves an apology for the way it has been treated during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Although Barton later retracted his suggestion that BP was the victim of a White House "shakedown" -- after House GOP leaders threatened to take away his position as ranking Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee -- the episode showed the uncomfortable spot in which some Republicans find themselves.

This is not the moment to be seen as coddling Big Oil. The GOP leadership has laid out a set of talking points that spread blame in all directions -- toward the company, the White House and the regulators who looked the other way.

But some Republicans are having trouble bringing themselves to say anything bad about an industry that has been so good to them. It was notable that in their statement distancing themselves from Barton, House Republican leaders John A. Boehner (Ohio), Eric Cantor (Va.) and Mike Pence (Ind.) referred to the spill -- caused by the explosion of an oil rig -- as a "natural" disaster.

The oil industry "has deep pockets, and they have a long history of supporting Republicans," said political consultant John Weaver, a former strategist for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. "Like any kind of addiction, it's a terribly difficult thing to break." “



Shrimp in garlic and olive oil over linguini tonight.

Shabbat Shalom.