This guy should be censured. Obama stuck his foot in his mouth when he said the "know who's A$$ to kick". This is above & beyond. BP IS responsible, and SHOULD pay. For this guy to call this a shakedown shows whata complete moron he is. The fund is a great idea, except I don't think it sets aside enough. $50B would be more appropriate.

Kevin, you're likely to get angry at me, but I generally agree with Joe Barton's comments. One can argue about the timing and the forum, but in the abstract I agree with Barton.

The courts should certainly be involved in judging exact extent of damages and BP's responsibility - that is the extent of the federal government's legitimate involvement. Period.

I said here before that Obama's rhetoric (and now actions) have had a negative impact on the very market he's vowed to protect. BP is still the only one that can fix this, and they don't need the "foot on the neck" (exact quote from the White House) while they're trying to fix the problem.

I posted this before: we should not drop the context that the government bears some responsibility by blocking oil exploration on land. If oil companies were permitted to drill in shallower waters and in the Arctic (where there's nothing but tunda) instead of deeper waters in the middle of fishing areas (like the Gulf), an accident or blowout is easier to address.

I'm not being an apologist for BP - they must be held accountable. But Obama's reactions the last few weeks have given one more piece of proof on just how bad a leader he is. Obama's statement that he would have fired the BP CEO for the "I want my life back" comments, in microcosm, is the quinessential example of Obama having no executive experience. Firing the CEO at the time would have been bad business, no matter how badly BP screwed up. But Obama doesn't realize that. (And yes, those BP CEO comments were very stupid).

Obama doesn't have anything to offer here - and that's fine - but he needs to take a page from the book of Calvin Coolidge: "I minded my own business".