Norton staffer: Obama "forced" BP into "$20 billion slush fund"

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by: Alan

Sometimes, people send out emails that they realize later they should not have, and when that happens there’s a “recall” procedure in some email clients you can try. It usually doesn’t work, in fact it often makes people more likely to open the email they don’t want you to open.

I have to imagine that the mood at RNC headquarters was pretty grim after the BP “$20 billion shakedown/slush fund/etc.” talking points the GOP handed out on Thursday morning turned into a disaster. I’ll bet they hit the ‘recall’ button.

Unfortunately, says the Denver Post, Jane Norton’s press aide didn’t get the message!

A press aide to Republican Senate candidate Jane Norton said today that President Obama had forced BP to create a $20 billion “slush fund,” and that Obama is heading toward “autocracy.”

Coming on the heels of another Republican’s apology to the giant oil company, the remarks quickly drew a rebuke from Democrats and a distancing from the rest of Norton’s campaign.

At a Colorado Republican Business Coalition luncheon at Brooklyn’s restaurant, Aindriu Colgan introduced himself as a press aide to Jane Norton, and then said, “Apparently, in the past few weeks, America has turned into an autocracy rather than a democracy or a republic. The president thinks he can unilaterally decide that ‘Ok, we’re not allowed to have drilling in the Gulf anymore.’ He can force BP to put $20 billion in a slush fund. And he can do whatever he wants without congressional approval.”

The remarks were captured on tape by ProgressNow Colorado, a liberal watchdog group that frequently sends monitors to public forums to follow candidates. ProgressNow Colorado executive director Bobby Clark said the latest defense of BP shows Republicans in general are more interested in defending large corporations than in helping people hurt by BP’s massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill…

Here’s the recording of Mr. Colgan’s remarks, note how he introduces himself as a representative of Norton’s campaign, and ends with a request to sign Norton’s circulating clipboards:

You’d think what happened to Joe Barton after his “apology” was enough of a warning. It could be that Mr. Colgan gets a forwarded copy of RNC talking points, and they arrive a day or so late. Normally that’s not a big deal, but this time it undeniably would have been a problem.

Or it just might be the case, we at ProgressNow would ask you to consider, that Republicans are more interested in defending large corporations than in helping people hurt by BP’s oil spill.

9 thoughts on “Norton staffer: Obama “forced” BP into “$20 billion slush fund””

wmmarkeddy says:

June 19, 2010 at 8:58 am

norton cares more about big oil than she does about all of us.

disaster. she would be a disaster for colorado.

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bullshit! says:

June 19, 2010 at 5:32 pm

They say he doesn’t speak for the campaign? Well then he should be fired, because in the audio he is very clearly speaking for the campaign.

Maybe he WAS speaking for the campaign, before Joe Barton’s talking points got shredded on national television?

One more thing, where is the print version of this story? It had better not only be on the Spot.

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1. H-man says:
  
  June 21, 2010 at 4:57 pm
  
  Colgan is quoted on the Norton campaign’s behalf here:
  
  http://www.durangoherald.com/s…
  
  Sure seems to me like this guy was authorized to speak on behalf of Norton.
  
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  1. Fidel's dirt nap says:
    
    June 21, 2010 at 10:35 pm
    
    fairly common in failing campaigns actually…if he says something really stupid, he’s not authorized to speak on behalf of the campaign. See: rogue staffer defense.
    
    Come to think of it, I don’t think Jane is authorized to speak for the Norton campaign either.
    
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    1. redstateblues says:
      
      June 21, 2010 at 10:38 pm
      
      But she’ll get back to you soon.
      
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      1. Fidel's dirt nap says:
        
        June 21, 2010 at 11:13 pm
        
        the waters at the Isle of Wight are rather nice this time of the year, and free of those nasty pollutants! Grab a fistful of cash when you board, get your regatta on, then tell Tony you’re sorry when he receives you, and all shall be well again in conservativeland. Make sure to bill the feds for your travel.
        
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Go Blue says:

June 20, 2010 at 6:54 pm

They’re corporate apologisits who defend Wall Street Banksters, Insurance Companies and Big Oil.

They GOP is literally bought and paid for with corporate slush funds and have the audacity to claim otherwise; Barton, Barbour, Bachman, Rand Paul, Jane Norton, Dick Cheney, George Will, Rush Limbaugh, and the list goes on and on.

If these corporate shills take control of our country, you know what to expect from them when it comes to corporate accountability – apologies.

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LoDoVoter says:

June 20, 2010 at 7:20 pm

It’s pretty scary that she’s even competitive in the race with the crazy sh$t that comes out of her mouth. Or did Cinammon tell that moron to say that for Jane? I get confused of who is running and deciding what they stand for.

Don’t know how Obama thought he was going to force BP to do it but sounds like he got them to agree to a pretty big fund. I just wish he’d done it sooner. This isn’t just the worst environmental disaster that will cost hundreds of millions to clean up. There are thousands who are out of work now and will be for years. A way of life has been destroyed possibly for generations. Then there’s all of the trickle down damage like the lost tourism and the jobs that were just starting to come back to the Gulf Region and are disappearing again. If demanding BP pay for the hell they’ve created is a problem for Jane Norton then maybe her family should head down to New Orleans and try to make a living as a fisherman or running a restaurant. How about we send her down for a vacation on the beaches in the Gulf so she can roll her ignorant behind around in the oil covered beaches

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1. H-man says:
  
  June 21, 2010 at 4:53 pm
  
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