Bass on Barton: "A Man of Energy, of Integrity"

by: Dean Barker

Fri Jun 18, 2010 at 06:04:12 AM EDT

Making matters worse for Barton is the identity of the top contributor to his election campaigns. Since 1989, it has been the company Anadarko Petroleum, from which he's received $56,500 in PAC donations and another $90,000 in individual contributions.

...Anadarko has been making a lot of news lately, and none of it is good: they're a 25 percent partner in the Macondo Prospect, which was the site of the Deepwater Horizon explosion that is causing oil to spill into the Gulf of Mexico. Anadarko has also been sent a bill by BP and asked to pay its share of the cleanup costs.

Bass & Barton Fought to Decrease Oversight for U.S. Refineries

According to Environment and Energy Daily, "lead sponsor Bass and fellow Republicans called the bill a way to streamline the siting process for new refineries, noting that U.S. refining capacity is not meeting consumer demand for gasoline and other fuels. Bass and Barton told reporters the lack of an efficient permitting process is among the reasons why there is not more domestic refinery capacity today. 'The uncertainty as to how long it will take -- six, seven, eight, nine, 10 years -- makes it difficult,' Bass told reporters."  Environment and Energy Daily, May 4, 2006, "ENERGY POLICY: Defeated refinery bill could return to floor next week"

· Bass Criticized for Helping Burton to Protect MTBE-makers

According to Roll Call, "Bass was a key negotiator with Joe Barton on an MTBE deal and voted against a motion by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) that would have stripped MTBE liability protections from the House bill. Though the protections were removed in conference anyway, critics derided Bass for supporting Barton's efforts . . . "  Roll Call, February 21, 2006, "Environment May Resonate as an Issue In Some 2006 Races."

· Bass Described as "Doing the Bidding" of Delay and Barton

"Democrats are licking their proverbial chops over" Bass' MtBE legislation fell through in July 2005.  The article stated that even Bass backers did not understand why he was involved in the legislation, as it put him in a position of "doing the bidding of the oil industry and oil-rich Texas congressmen Tom DeLay and Joe Barton by proposing liability protection for the industry and a cleanup trust fund partly funded by taxpayers" especially when he knew that the Senate would not go along with the plan.  The editorial claimed that his backers could "see no upside for Bass" in the ordeal, but said it wouldn't hurt Bass in the long-run. A DCCC spokesperson countered that the matter proved Bass "vulnerable and ineffective." The Union Leader (Manchester NH) July 28, 2005 Thursday STATE EDITION

"Over his six terms in Congress, Charlie Bass voted repeatedly to expand offshore oil drilling, he called for eliminating the entire U.S. Department of Energy, he attacked the Sierra Club a so-called 'extremist'" organization, and he did everything he could to help the big oil and power companies that gave him tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.  It should not come as a surprise that the man he called a 'great member of Congress and a good friend' just last week is now catching heat for apologizing to the CEO of BP," said Kuster.

Does Charlie Bass agree with his recent endorsee that BP shouldn't have to pay for damage done by the terrible oil spill in the Gulf?

Concord - In congressional hearings today, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas apologized to the chief executive of BP for having to take responsibility for his company's oil spill.  Barton added that it was a "tragedy" that BP would have to pay to repair the damage it has caused.

Just two weeks ago Barton was in Belknap County endorsing Charlie Bass in the second Congressional District Republican Primary.  Bass called Barton, who has taken over $1.4 million in campaign contributions from oil companies, a "great member of Congress, and a good friend."  Citizen.com, Granitegrok.com

"It's disgraceful that Rep. Joe Barton thinks BP shouldn't be held responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico," said Harrell Kirstein, press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.  "The tax payers in the second Congressional district deserve to know if Charlie Bass agrees with Rep. Barton's outrageous claim."

During his 12 years in Congress, oil companies could consistently count on Bass's vote to deliver billions of dollars in tax breaks and subsidies to pad their bottom line. [HR4297, Vote #121, 5/03/06] And Bass voted in favor of exempting the oil and gas industries from clean-water laws, streamlining permits for oil wells on public lands.  HR 6, Vote #445, 7/28/05

"Bass's numerous votes to give oil companies tax breaks and subsidies, paid for by the American tax payers, are shameful," continued Kirstein.  "And the real tragedy is that Bass continues to recklessly support big oil, even calling for drilling off the coast of New Hampshire."

Weeks after the BP oil spill began, Bass continued to support drilling on all of America's coasts.  As recently as June 3rd, Bass said, "every coastline ought to be involved" in our national off-shore drilling policy.

"Do all the Republican candidates for U.S. House and Senate think we should risk having the same kind terrible disaster that occurred in the Gulf happen on New Hampshire's coast?" asked Kirstein.  "Where do Kelly Ayotte, Jim Bender, Bill Binnie, Ovide Lamontagne, Rich Ashooh, Bob Bestani, Bob Giuda, Frank Guinta, Sean Mahoney, Jennifer Horn and the Republicans who were at the fundraising event with Joe Barton and Charlie Bass stand on drilling off New Hampshire's coast?"

(Posted by Harrell Kirstein, press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.)

Kuster: Bass Showed True Pro-Oil Colors By Accepting Endorsement From BP Apologist Joe Barton

Texas Congressman who came to NH to endorse Bass last week became a national lightning rod today after apologizing to the CEO of BP for White House "shakedown"

CONCORD, NH - Democratic congressional candidate Ann McLane Kuster today issued the following statement about Congressman Bass's praise for pro-oil Texas Rep. Joe Barton while they campaigned together last week.  Barton today became a national controversy today for his outrageous apology to the CEO of British Petroleum.

"Congressman Bass has revealed his true pro-oil colors by praising the very Texas congressman who made an outrageous and completely inappropriate apology to the CEO of British Petroleum," said Ann McLane Kuster, who previously has served on the New Hampshire Advisory Council for the Trust for Public Lands and has been deeply involved in the environmental community in New Hampshire.

"Over his six terms in Congress, Charlie Bass voted repeatedly to expand offshore oil drilling, he called for eliminating the entire U.S. Department of Energy, he attacked the Sierra Club a so-called 'extremist'" organization, and he did everything he could to help the big oil and power companies that gave him tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.  It should not come as a surprise that the man he called a 'great member of Congress and a good friend' just last week is now catching heat for apologizing to the CEO of BP," said Kuster.

"I could not disagree with Congressman Bass and Congressman Barton more - BP should be apologizing to America, not the other way around, and BP and its CEO must be held accountable for this horrific disaster they created.  In Congress, I will fight to enforce real accountability, end the massive kickbacks for big oil, and invest instead in the renewable energy technologies that create jobs right here in New Hampshire," said Kuster.

###

Dear Zandra,

This morning a Republican Member of Congress apologized to BP.  Yes, you heard it right.  Congressman Joe Barton (R, TX) apologized to British Petroleum CEO Tony Hayward because the White House got BP to create a $20 billion escrow account to pay for the ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

This is incredible. Rep. Barton and his Republican colleagues are more upset that President Obama is forcing BP to take responsibility than they are at BP for pouring hundreds of millions of gallons of oil into our water and devastating the livelihood of entire regions of our country. These are the same politicians who refuse to acknowledge that we need a clean energy plan now - one that will move us away from destructive oil drilling and oil spills.

By apologizing for holding BP accountable for cleaning up its mess, Barton is essentially saying that American taxpayers should have to foot the bill instead. Perhaps the millions in contributions flowing from oil companies to campaign coffers has made it difficult for Barton - a ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee - and others to appropriately do their job to hold these companies accountable.

Joe Barton needs to step down from his top committee post. And we need to know: which New Hampshire politicians stand with Barton, and which ones side with the American people?

http://www.granitestateprogres...

Barton was in New Hampshire just two weeks ago to attend a Republican Party event where, according to the Laconia Citizen, he told people to support Charlie Bass for Congress.1

"I have seen him in operation as a member of my committee. He has integrity and got results." He told the crowd, which include several other conservative candidates for office.

Does it sound like Barton really understands integrity? His exact comments this morning:

"I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday.  I think it is a tragedy in the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown -- in this case a $20 billion shakedown -- with the attorney general of the United States, who is legitimately conducting a criminal investigation and has every right to do so to protect the American people, participating in what amounts to a $20 billion slush fund that's unprecedented in our nation's history, which has no legal standing, which I think sets a terrible precedent for our nation's future.

"I'm only speaking for myself. I'm not speaking for anyone else, but I apologize," Barton added. "I do not want to live in a county where anytime a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong, [it is] subject to some sort of political pressure that, again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown."

I'm angry at Barton.  But I'm also angry that Republican candidates for office in New Hampshire haven't taken this oil disaster more seriously. Will they continue to look the other way, or will they repudiate what Barton said?

Where do they stand? Email them NOW:

http://www.granitestateprogres...

In Progress,
Zandra Rice Hawkins

CONCORD, June 17, 2010:  Second District Congressional Candidate Katrina Swett said it is ridiculous that Texas Rep. Joe Barton apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward over the President's handling of the BP oil spill.  "This is yet another instance of the GOP pandering to Big Oil," said Swett.

Swett noted that Rep.Barton recently endorsed Charlie Bass during a visit to New Hampshire. "If Charlie isn't deeply embarrassed to be tied to BP's defenders, then he's hopelessly lost in a Gulf of Hypocrisy," she said.