BP Gets Their Moneys Worth From Apologetic GOP Texan Barton

*** Check out both the actual news clip and the funny mocking version by a comic.





From Denny: Talk about the ultimate Bozo Sapien Award going to Texas Congressman Joe Barton! We have to paint him into the Incredibly Stupid corner. Oh, that's right, he did it to himself.

Check out Barton's Words From A Bought and Paid For Fool Who Is A Traitor To His Country:

Texas Rep. Joe Barton from the House investigation bench about this oil spill to BP CEO Tony Hayward at the witness table, "I apologize."

"I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong it is subject to some sort of political pressure that is — again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown. So, I apologize."

One of the many outraged responses to Rep. Barton is one from Vice President Joe Biden: "I find it incredibly insensitive, incredibly out of touch. There's no shakedown. It's insisting on responsible conduct and a responsible response to something they caused."

From House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "While people in the Gulf are suffering from the actions of BP, the Republicans in the Congress are apologizing to BP."

My dear readers and blogging friends, let me share a thought with you about the facts. How much in campaign donations do you think Rep. Barton has received from the oil and gas industry since early 2009? Another player, Anadarko Petroleum, owns a 25 percent stake in the same oil field where the Deepwater Horizon rig sunk. The Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog group in Washington, lists Barton's donations from that company at $100,470. Pretty sweet deal for just a Congressman. Of course, the standard running joke spoken among lobbyists is that "it costs about $100,000 to buy and own a Congressman - and it costs $200,000 to buy and own a Senator."

Just how long standing is Rep. Barton's relationship with the oil and gas industry? In other words, just how long has he been in their back pockets? Try since 1990 he has received a boatload of cash from the industry and various political action committees associated with this industry. He has received over $1.4 million poured into his political campaigns. And, yes, he is the one House member who has received the most from the oil and gas industry. Gee, "Do ya think?" there is a correlation as to why he is the ranking member of the House energy committee for the Republicans?

Rep. Barton is the guy we all have to blame for the VP Cheney closed door off-the-record-illegal meetings with energy lobbyists writing America's energy policies and legislation. Barton shepherded major energy legislation that has negatively impacted our lives for years. Barton loaded up that legislation with billions of dollars of tax breaks and royalty relief for oil and gas companies who were drilling and doing exploration domestically. This guy is an embarrassment to America for taking advantage of millions of fellow Americans just to line his wallet. Yet another reason not to live in Texas.

Did you watch the hearing or see some of the longer news clips of BP's CEO Tony Hayward's very delighted and smug reaction as Rep. Barton was making his apology? That's what concerned me greatly, Hayward's body language reaction. BP has been waging a public relations war across America to weasel out of paying up for their damages. Just recently, they kicked Hayward out of the public limelight in the TV ads. Now they have hired actors with Louisiana accents who claim they grew up here - to screw us again BP style. BP never quits with the insensitivity and insults and double-dealing and lying and cheating and... (you fill in the blanks)

The weird thing here is that if BP just manned up and did the honorable thing it would have cost them so much less. But because they are a ruthless greedy corporate culture they look for ways to cheat. Had BP paid for the Super Tankers to create a ring around the oil spill and suck up the gushing oil and processed it this disaster would have been containable to the deep ocean instead of tar balls rolling in to our shores on the latest tide. No, these guys are so cheap they are bankrupting their multinational company. Why has the board of BP not kicked this guy out on his ear and withheld any golden parachute in exchange for refusing criminal prosecution?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

On a lighter side, and far funnier, is this video clip of mocking the politicized actions of GOP Texas Congressman Joe Barton by comics like Stephanie Miller, radio talk show host featured on The Ed Show:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

*** Photo by I'm Fantastic @ flickr

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

Foreclosure Violated Military Act: Yet Another Reason Not to Live in Texas

*** A soldier returns from Iraq only to find his own Homeowners' Association sold his home at sheriff's auction.





From Denny: The whole neighborhood is in an uproar to discover a Texas homeowners' association thought nothing of it to foreclose on a house only owing a mere $800 in dues. A more than $300,000 house sold at sheriff's sale for a pittance to "an investor": $3,200. Then the homeowners' association re-sold it for the low price of $135,000 to another investor who proceeded to evict the original homeowners, the family of National Guard Capt. Michael Clauer.

Just one problem here, folks, there is the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). This federal law has been around since World War I to prevent sleazy businessmen from profiting unfairly while soldiers are on active duty away from home. The only way to foreclose on a military service person is for it to be ordered by a court. Yet the law did nothing to protect this military family. And that's the heart of so much of what is wrong in America today: we have the laws to protect yet no one enforces them so they end up toothless.

The homeowners' association tried to claim that Clauer was not on active duty at the time but that isn't true. The foreclosure was in May 2008 and the law should have prevented this from happening. Besides, where was the primary mortgage lending bank in all this? Why didn't they do anything to stop from losing their investment? They are bound by federal laws against this kind of act.

The Clauers did not learn of the foreclosure status until June 2009 when the new owner tried to demand rent from them. He also tried to evict them. Now, since this outrage came to public attention the new owner, Jad I. Aboul-Jibin, has agreed to return the home to the Clauers but wishes to be reimbursed by the homeowners' association or whomever originally purchased the home to sell to him.

Waiting for the court to decide this family's fate will take until the court date of January 2011. Clauer believes it is morally wrong for states to give so much power to homeowners' associations to foreclose for a mere $800. Believe it or not, there are a few other states that allow this nasty practice.

Currently, the Clauers are suing the The Heritage Lake Homeowners Association, the investors who bought the home at foreclosure and sold it, and the home's current owner.

Does something smell fishy here or what? Obviously, this was a scam investor who did their part for war profiteering while military service members were away. Everyone knows you don't sell a $300,000 house for only $3,200 and what kind of sheriff's department did not investigate this discrepancy? It sounds like a lot of people were not doing their jobs.

It's also no surprise that the neighbors of the Clauers and the neighborhood are emailing and phoning in death threats to the homeowners' association offices. How would you like to be a member of that HOA and be on the hook for such a large lawsuit? How would you like to read this story in the newspaper to discover an HOA could do it to you too just that easily?

The Clauers have reached an agreement with the current owner to continue living in their home with their two young daughters while awaiting the court's decision.

One thing is for sure: beware of your neighborhood HOA and read the fine print to know just how far they can go. I, for one, would not like to be party to some one's foreclosure. What ever happened to just putting a lien on it and when they sell it the HOA gets their money?

We in Louisiana often refer to Texans as "sh*t-kickers." Yeah, that about sums it up. They even do it to their neighbors. Yet another reason not to live in Texas. After the last eight years you can easily guess the first reason. :)





*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!