My reply from Joe Barton after his BP apology

[tammywammy]

I sent in an email saying I was disgusted with Barton the day after the apologized to BP.

Anywho, I wasn't expecting a response, but I guess his email lackey finally got to mine. I'm thinking it took them this long to come up with somethink that didn't sound like he did such a bad thing. The worst part of all of this is his opponent Cozad still didn't get enough attention to be able to actually fight against Barton, and Barton will walk back into Congress again next year.



Dear Ms. tammywammy:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me. It is an honor to serve you in Washington, DC.

I appreciate you informing me of your opposition to my remarks regarding the President's behavior toward BP, and I respect your opposition. On June 16, 2010, President Barack Obama and the United States Attorney General Eric Holder met with executives from BP to discuss matters related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The White House seized this moment to "negotiate" a deal requiring BP to place a total of $20 billion over the next four years into an escrow account for damage claims from the GoM and to pay $100 million to a foundation established to support oil rig workers who are unemployed due to a six-month moratorium on deepwater ocean drilling by the Obama Administration.

I am not opposed to a special fund for the victims of the oil spill, and I am not opposed to BP financing the fund. I do think, however, that the fund should be created by Congress, with proper oversight and transparency. I also do not think the Attorney General should have been involved in the negotiations for this fund.

I strongly believe that BP should accept complete responsibility for economic damages and fully compensate those families and businesses that have been affected by the oil spill. However, I believe that the manner in which the President "negotiated" the deal may be a violation of the Constitutional authority granted to the President. The United States Constitution states that no person shall be "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." These tenets of our Constitution must be honored, regardless of the specific issues involved.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans living and working on the Gulf Coast have been impacted by the oil spill. My thoughts and prayers are with them and the families who lost loved ones working on the rig during the explosion. This tragedy took the lives of 11 people and leaked hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf. I strongly believe that justice must be served, and these victims must be fully compensated for their terrible losses.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please keep me informed of matters important to you.


Sincerely,

Joe Barton
Member of Congress

[sonias]

1. He didn't write that

I will say that he's got a good speech writer though. He really made it sound so innocuous. He's not opposed to a special fund for victims... and I'm sure that like the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Oily Joe would like to see the victims wait for decades for any settlement. Why major corporations are accustomed to being treated extra fair by the courts. They're entitled to however much justice they can buy!

How dare Obama put the rights of Gulf Coast residents and workers above Big Oil! How unconstitutional of him!

You see I don't have a problem with the President forcing an escrow on BP property because #1) I don't trust them and #2) I don't consider them a "person" under our constitution. So go take a black oil bath Joe! :P

Here's what happens when you trust corporations, especially big oil, to make things right when they cause an environmental disaster. They fight like hell in the courts using their money clout to drag the lawsuits on for decades.

Seattle PI 11/9/2008
First payments from Exxon Valdez hitting banks

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez lawsuit are starting to receive their settlement money, nearly 20 years after the tanker spilled 11 million gallons of crude into Prince William Sound.

The first settlement payments, in the form of direct deposits, began hitting bank accounts this week. Paper checks are expected to start going out next week.

Mark Witteveen, a former commercial fisherman, told the Anchorage Daily News that he and his wife, Bree, discovered some Exxon Valdez money in their bank account Monday.

"We waited for it, it came and we'll take it," the Kodiak man said. "But it's certainly not a life-changing amount."

Most amounts range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, but some exceed $100,000. All payments also are minus 22 percent to pay lawyers who pressed the class action lawsuit. Some money also has been set aside in case a Seattle-based processor who wants more than the allocated settlement should win on appeal.

Environmental News Service 3/24/09
20 Years After Valdez Oil Spill, Exxon Still Owes $92M
WASHINGTON, DC, March 24, 2009 (ENS) - Today is the 20th anniversary of the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill, but the federal and state governments have yet to collect millions of dollars that the oil company agreed to pay.

A final $92 million claim for harm to wildlife, habitat and subsistence users filed in 2006 has gone unanswered by the Exxon Corporation, now ExxonMobil.

Good try Tammy - You're dealing with Oily Joe the best you can. :hug:

[tammywammy]

2. Never voted for him and I never will

The sad fact is that he'll still end up winning the election. :(

BP isn't to be trusted and neither is Barton.

[sonias]

4. They're melded together at their oily joints

Operating as a single brain cell.

I feel for you, and the vast majority of Texans is represented by one or another loony toon winger. I just hope that we do see the change we want to see in our life times.

I mean what does it take for people in these red districts to vote the creeps out? :shrug:

[white cloud]

5. LOL

Thanks for the feedback

check this
http://www.chinahearsay.com/breaking-joe-barton-apologizes-to-petrochina/

[sonias]

6. +10

From your great link above:

BREAKING: Joe Barton Apologizes to PetroChina

Joe Barton (probably a PetroChina shareholder)

In the wake of China’s largest ever oil spill, which has seen 400,000 gallons of petroleum spread over 165 miles of water as of Thursday, Texas Congressman Joe Barton (R – Arlington) issued a public apology to PetroChina, whose joint venture with the Port of Dalian owns and operates the pipelines damaged in last weekend’s blast.

Barton spoke at an unscheduled press conference at the Krispy Kreme donut shop in Dupont Circle. The following was transcribed from amateur video taken by Ulysses X. Gosprin, an industrial diver from Moab, Utah vacationing in D.C., who caught Barton on tape:

(snip)
But I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation, um, State-owned, or whatever those Commanists have over there . . . could be subjected to such treatment from the attorney general of the United States.

I wish we could export Oily Joe, but I doubt China would take him. He's our national tarball. :shrug:

The Chinese are getting it just as bad from their Big Oil Machine too:
China Acts to Reduce Oil Spill Threat- NY Times 7/23/10 :(

[jah the baptist]

3. no politicians write their own letters

to the little people anyway

but very few suck like joe barton

i think my congressman may be more despicable than joe however

louis

the birther

goemhert

he has however been the moment of zen on the daily show

a coupe of times i believe

[flamin lib]

7. At least you got a response. He doesn't even reply to me anymore nt

[kjackson227]

8. Good for you! Keep calling them out on their foolishness.