GOP Rep Franks: Obama's treatment of BP was "arrogant"

Here's another one that Dems will jump on to continue making the case that Joe Barton's apology to BP represents a commonly held view among Republicans.

GOP Rep Trent Franks, in a quote buried in a Politico piece, appeared to say that Obama was "arrogant" in demanding the $20 billion escrow fund from BP:

"It's my opinion that Mr. Barton and Mr. Price's comments were more of a reaction to the arrogance in President Obama's speech, where he said he was going to 'inform' BP that they would set aside this separate compensation fund to be controlled by a third party," said Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.). "Under our laws and Constitution, the president does not possess the power or authority to make such an arrogant command to a private company."

Franks is going further here than merely refusing to condemn Barton's apology. He's basically offering a justification for it: Obama's "arrogance" in using the White House to leverage BP in order to hold it accountable for the disaster.

As the number of Republicans condemning Obama's rough treatment of BP mounts, the easier it gets for Dems to argue that this represents a widely-held position within the GOP.

