- U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, isn’t the only lawmaker to receive huge campaign donations from big energy companies. Democrats from Gulf states are beneficiaries as well
WASHINGTON – The outburst by Representative Joe L. Barton of Texas in support of BP underscored the potential peril for lawmakers forced to respond to crises involving industries vital to their regions, and whose bountiful donations finance their political campaigns.
Democrats continued to make use of Mr. Barton’s apology to BP, using it to portray Republicans as beholden to big oil. Mr. Barton, the senior Republican on the Energ and Commerce Committee
worked as a consultant to Atlantic Richfield Oil and Gas Company before being elected to Congress. He has long been one of the top beneficiaries of campaign donations from big energy companies, cornerstones of the Texas economy.
But in going after Republicans, the Democrats’ attacks gloss over a more complicated picture.
