GOP lawmaker with BP stock has role in spill probe

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gxAgm_6t-uLzJ0aGn1pMh5TfetlwD9G8KOJG1

By DENNIS CONRAD (AP) – 1 day ago

WASHINGTON — A multimillionaire House Republican who owns thousands of shares of BP stock has no plans to recuse himself from a congressional investigation related to the Gulf oil spill or from votes on Capitol Hill that could affect his investments in the oil company.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin has avoided directly criticizing BP for the spill itself. At the same time, he has watched his BP stock tank in value.

Worth more than $251,000 just a few years ago, Sensenbrenner's 3,604 shares of BP PLC stock had plunged in value to just $118,000 by the end of trading Thursday. That's roughly half their value the day before the April 20 oil spill. Sensenbrenner has said his net worth is about $10 million.

The No. 2 Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and a former chairman, Sensenbrenner has kept a low profile on the issue, but now he's coming out swinging: He has written a letter to President Barack Obama questioning BP's actions and the adequacy of the White House response — but refrains from directly criticizing BP for the spill.

Sensenbrenner also has complained about the government's criminal investigation into the circumstances of the oil spill. He said the Justice Department should have identified specific companies it might be targeting for its investigation and that threatening to prosecute BP in court could prevent the company from cooperating fully with Washington.

and always will be.

Somewhere the Free Press lost its mission to afflict the comfortable and Corporate McPravda picked up the slack to comfort the comfortable.

they're being investigated.

Honestly, I thought resolving the non-paying position of legislator under the Articles of Confederation to one that paid well today would end this silly gaming. Not!

Ya think if we made all our legislators billionaires, they'd finally get on with advocating for the little gals and guys?