As if you needed any more evidence that the only mistake Joe Barton made was saying out loud what most congressional Republicans actually believe, today John Boehner announced that Barton would keep his spot as the top Republican on the House Energy Committee:
WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Barton has expressed remorse to his fellow Republicans for his remarks last week apologizing to BP chief executive Tony Hayward and will retain his position as the top GOP lawmaker on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
House Republican leader John Boehner said the Texas lawmaker had apologized to his colleagues at a closed-door meeting Wednesday for his "poor choice of words."
Boehner said the issue is closed.
The issue is closed? Is John Boehner on crack? Democrats aren't going to let this go, especially now that the GOP has decided Joe Barton is too big to fail. The fact remains that if Republicans win this November, Joe Barton will be chairman of the committee in charge of regulating BP and the rest of the oil industry. Moreover, it's not like Barton was the only Republican to attack the Obama Administration for holding BP accountable. There's no way that won't continue to be an issue.