"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 is subject to some sort of political pressure that is—again, in my words—amounts to a shakedown. So, I apologize."—Rep. Joe Barton (R-Eeally?!), apologizing to oil-spilling corporate behemoth BP for the "$20 billion shakedown" orchestrated by the White House, which is his characterization of the "$20 billion that BP agreed on Wednesday to put into a compensation fund for victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, following hours of negotiations between BP and the White House."
Since even other Republicans went totes apeshit about that hot mess, Barton has since retracted his statement.
Shaker Cim, who gets the hat tip along with ShakerTS, points to this BBC article, which notes that "shares rose more than 6% after it agreed to put $20bn (£13.5bn) in a fund to compensate victims of the spill." Comments Cim: "So [BP] gets a quarter of that $20bn back in increased share value instantly anyway, and doesn't have to actually pay up for months. Some shakedown."
Indeed.
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