Barton’s second try at apologizing, retracting for his comments this morning. Here’s his written retraction.
Sodexo has what is apparently a very wasteful, Rumsfeld-era contract to run the mess halls for the Marine Corps. And they’ve enlisted Dick Gephardt, now a lobbyist, to help them hold on to the deal.
Apologizing to the CEO of BP for the president getting BP to pay for damages to the Gulf.
Who could have imagined it would turn out so badly?
Barton issues non-apology apology.
Hmmm. Seems like there’s also now a written apology which goes further, perhaps into real apology territory. More shortly.
Eeesh, Florida Republican Rep. asks Barton to step down as top GOPer on the Energy Committee after “apology” and “tragedy” comments.
Cornyn says he “shares [Barton’s] concerns.”
What actually has me curious is when this gets back around to the House Republican Study Committee, which is essentially the right-wing or Movement conservative caucus within the House GOP, and a very big deal. Everybody’s reacting to Barton’s statement. But the HRS put out a pretty much identical statement yesterday about the Escrow account and President Obama yesterday. And more than a hundred members of the House Republican caucus belong to that group.
That makes it much more of a Republican position than what Barton said.
Maddow rolls out the address to the nation on the Gulf Disaster that she would have given if she were president. Watch it.
With the oil spill and other news, financial reform has fallen off the radar. But a House-Senate conference committee continues to negotiate over how to reconcile the versions of reform that passed each chamber. Those negotiations are very difficult to monitor, even for other senators and congressmen, and a lot can happen there to significantly shape the final bill. But we’ve gotten a glimpse at one gambit reform opponents are taking. As Brian Beutler reports, four House Democrats, including three who are on the conference commitee, are quietly maneuvering to weaken two of the key elements of reform.
Minority Leader John Boehner (R) is already running away from Rep. Barton’s remarks about the tragedy of the escrow account and how President Obama should stop being so mean to BP.
You can see the video Barton’s statement here. And video of Boehner’s response here.
And now the White House piles on … Read More