Congressman Barton Apologizes for His Apology
18th June 2010
Freeberg speaks for me.
So this isn’t about the fact that BP screwed up…although, for the record, they most certainly did. If the cost of putting things right exceeds their worth, then I see no earthly reason why they shouldn’t be subjected to corporate euthanasia and parted out like an old car at a junkyard.
Leaving that aside though, Barton’s original statement was completely right. The precedent is horrible. In fact, the spectacle of the Congressman being bludgeoned into apologizing the very same day raises very disturbing possibilities. The appearance — to me, anyway — is that Republicans and democrats alike who work in the beltway are putting together a phantom industry. It is an avenue toward fantastic profits to be enjoyed by the non-producers.
June 18th, 2010 at 18:16
Barton was right the first time. The $20 billion is a slush fund and it is a shakedown. If a private citizen had even tried to pull something like this it would be called extortion.