by Jed Lewison
Republicans in Congress
want the public to believe that they were furious with Joe Barton for
apologizing to BP and calling the $20 billion compensation fund a "shakedown," but the reality is that most of them agree with what Barton said.
Take, for example,
these words from GOP congressman Tom Price, the head of the Republican Study Committee (my emphasis):
However, in an administration that appears not to respect fundamental American principles, it is important to note that there is no legal authority for the President to compel a private company to set up or contribute to an escrow account.
BP’s reported willingness to go along with the White House’s new fund suggests that the Obama Administration is hard at work exerting its brand of Chicago-style shakedown politics.
Aside from the apology, the substance of what Price said was no different than what Barton said, yet no Republicans have raised their voice in protest of Price. None of them have demanded an apology from him, nor have they demanded apologies from other Republicans like Haley Barbour or Michel Bachmann who made similar comments. The reason is simple: Republicans, like Joe Barton, hate the idea of the compensation fund.
Oh, sure, they know it looked stupid for Joe Barton to apologize to BP for being pressured to establish the fund. And they wish he hadn't done that, because they hate looking stupid.
But they agree with him. They think he's right.
They desperately hope that
forcing Barton to issue a transparently bogus "apology" for apologizing to BP will make the issue go away, but their unwillingness to demand a retraction from Tom Price is all the proof you need of their utter insincerity.
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