The Washington Post on all the apologies yesterday -- by BP CEO Tony Hayward and GOP Rep. Joe Barton: “The much-anticipated congressional hearing Thursday on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill came down to a single word: Sorry. In a room packed with cameras and spectators, BP chief executive Tony Hayward said, ‘I am deeply sorry’ for the lost lives and environmental damage from his company's doomed offshore rig.”

“But the British businessman's apology before the House Energy and Commerce Committee was upstaged by another one. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) apologized to BP, saying the deal made at the White House Wednesday to set up an escrow fund to cover oil-spill damages and claims amounted to a ‘$20 billion shakedown.’”

"The top three House Republican leaders condemned Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-Texas) apology to BP and reiterated that the oil giant should pay to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and compensate Gulf Coast residents who have been hurt by it," Roll Call says. "The leaders' joint statement Thursday came after Barton met with Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) in the afternoon and was told to either apologize or he would lose his position as ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to GOP leadership aides familiar with the exchange. Barton issued an apology later in the afternoon."

"Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), whose Pensacola district is among the most affected areas in the Gulf by the oil spill, condemned Barton for apologizing to BP CEO Tony Hayward during a committee meeting on Thursday," The Hill reports. "'I condemn Mr. Barton’s statement. Mr. Barton’s remarks are out of touch with this tragedy and I feel his comments call into question his judgment and ability to serve in a leadership on the Energy and Commerce Committee,' Miller said in a statement. 'He should step down as ranking member of the Committee.'"

The Washington Post's Milbank observes, "There, in front of the cameras, one of the most senior Republicans in the House had suffered an acute attack of Obama Derangement Syndrome. The president had just secured from a British oil company a promise to set aside $20 billion to help devastated Americans -- and Barton had sided with the firm that has devastated the Gulf of Mexico. Suddenly, the hearing was not about Hayward."

The Hill: "A senior Republican gift-wrapped a gaffe about the oil spill and handed it to President Barack Obama on Thursday, ceding the GOP’s advantage on a disaster that has plagued the administration for weeks and called its competence into question."

The liberal group Americans United for Change piles on Joe Barton with this Web video -- and even brings in Bernie Madoff?

We’re all Jim Bunnings now? "A time-sensitive tax extenders bill stalled in the Senate on Thursday, creating another political headache for Senate Democrats as they seek to extend jobless benefits and middle-class tax breaks that have already expired," Roll Call writes, adding, "The vote was 56-40, and 60 votes were needed to beat back a GOP-led filibuster."

Obama’s day: “Obama and the secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, plan to discuss Mabus' role in developing a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan. Mabus knows the region -- he is a native of Mississippi and served as that state's governor from 1988 to 1992. The president also will have meetings with the Veterans of Foreign War's new commander in chief, Tommy Tradewell, and Marine Corps commandant nominee Gen. James Amos. Obama will meet separately with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

The Washington Post: “The much-anticipated showdown Wednesday at the White House between President Obama and top BP executives turned into no-nonsense business meeting in which the oil giant agreed to pay $20 billion into an escrow account to cover claims associated with the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.”

More: “Both sides got what they wanted out of the encounter. The administration, under fire for how it has responded to the environmental calamity, can boast of creating a huge pot of money for easing the pain of Gulf Coast residents. BP, though poorer on paper in the short run, got some much-needed clarity on its long-term liability, plus an explicit statement from Obama that the administration doesn't want to see BP driven into bankruptcy.”

"… Mr. Obama was able to throw something of a lifeline to desperate coastal residents worried about meeting payrolls, mortgages and shrimp boat payments," the New York Times says of the agreement. "Under the famous portrait of a charging Theodore Roosevelt on horseback, administration and company officials haggled over last details in an extraordinary White House meeting that went more than four hours, double the time scheduled, and was punctuated by breaks as each side huddled separately. Finally, participants said, Mr. Obama sealed the deal in a private, 25-minute session with BP’s chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg."

The New York Daily News reports that Vice President Biden played the bad cop on establishing the escrow: “Sources told the Daily News that Biden leaned forward and bluntly informed the Blight Brigade they had no choice: If they didn't do the right thing and put the cash in escrow, it would be done to them.”

The New York Times writes that BP could have to fork over even more money, if the Justice Department files criminal charges against the company. “Based on the latest estimates, for example, the daily civil fine for the escaping oil alone could be $280 million. But criminal penalties, if imposed, could cause the costs to balloon still further, said David M. Uhlmann, a law professor at the University of Michigan, who headed the environmental crimes section of the Justice Department from 2000 to 2007.”

Thirty-two million people watched Obama’s Oval Office speech. That is a big number, but lower than the number that watched the State of the Union or his Afghanistan speech.

“A new Associated Press-Gfk poll finds public support for President Barack Obama's health care law has risen to its highest point to date. Yet the nation remains divided over the new law, with 45 percent in favor and 42 percent opposed. Still, that's a significant change from May, when supporters were outnumbered 39 percent to 46 percent.” (There was even an uptick among Republicans.)

The AP previews BP CEO Tony Hayward’s testimony today on Capitol Hill. “BP chief executive Tony Hayward has said famously that he’d like his life back. First, he’ll need to survive a congressional hearing that some are describing along the lines of a public execution. ‘[I expect him to be sliced and diced,’ said Representative Bart Stupak, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, which hauls the British executive in for a hearing/flaying today. Here’s advice from a Washington lawyer, Stan Brand, who specializes in criminal law and Congress: ‘Put on your asbestos suit and get ready.’ … Stupak stressed that the carving up of Hayward he envisions has a larger purpose: to come up with a legislative proposal to prevent such accidents in the future.”

“In his first appearance before a Congressional panel Thursday, embattled BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward is expected to apologize for the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and outline the extent to which his company is going to plug the leak and clean up the environmental mess,” Roll Call says, adding, “In the remarks provided in advance to reporters, Hayward opens with a contrite tone, saying that the explosion and resulting spill ‘never should have happened -- and I am deeply sorry that they did.’ Hayward will say he fully grasps ‘the terrible reality of the situation’ and was ‘personally devastated’ when he learned that 11 men died on the Deepwater Horizon rig.”

Roll Call also has this headline: “Obama’s Bipartisan Hopes Rest on Scott Brown.”

“Need a lift? Try calling Sen. Dianne Feinstein,” Roll Call writes. “The California Democrat offered seats on her private flights home to at least three of her colleagues in 2009, including Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.), according to their annual financial reports. Both the House and the Senate released Members’ yearly financial disclosures on Wednesday, providing an overview of their individual holdings and debts for calendar year 2009, as well as a plethora of quirky details.”

Familiar sentence? “Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on Wednesday defended a colleague who is involved in an ethics controversy,” The Hill writes. “They also expressed concern about how the House Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) is operating, making their case for changes to the lower chamber’s ethics process. CBC lawmakers say Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), one of eight lawmakers the OCE is scrutinizing information on, has been a leader on ethics-related issues. The OCE is scrutinizing an amendment to the financial regulatory reform bill that passed the House last year, The Hill reported Wednesday. Watt offered the amendment and then withdrew it within two days of a fundraiser held in his honor, according to a review of public documents.”

From NBC's Scott Foster
After meeting today with President Obama and senior administration officials in a highly anticipated session at the White House, top BP officials emerged from lengthy talks to apologize to the American people and promise their company will repair the damage done along the Gulf Coast.

"I would like to take this opportunity," BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said, "to apologize to the American people on behalf of all the employees of BP -- many of whom are living on the Gulf Coast and I do thank you for the patience that you have in this difficult time."

In front a large group of reporters gathered at stakeout cameras outside the West Wing, Svanberg tried to sympathize with local fisherman and business owners, saying large oil companies like his often he get a bad rap. At BP, he explained, "We care about the small people."

He told the press, "I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care. But that is not the case with BP. We care about the small people."

But Svanberg also stuck a somewhat defensive tone, saying BP has "always met our obligations and responsibilities." He argued that "we have made clear from the first moment of this tragedy that we will live up to all our legitimate responsibilities."

Calling the meetings "constructive," Svanberg said BP is committed to repairing the environmental and economic damage to the Gulf Coast region. "We will look after the people affected," he pledged.

"This administration and our company are fully aligned in closing this well, cleaning the beaches, and care for those affected," he explained.

Moments after Obama announced a $20 billion escrow account to cover damage claims because of the spill, Svanberg promised those claims would be handled "fairly and swiftly."

And, heeding the calls of many U.S. lawmakers, Svanberg made some news by announcing that BP's board decided to suspend its dividend payments this year.

But Svanberg side-stepped a question of whether BP took safety short cuts on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded on April 20. He said the company is doing its own investigation "where we will scrutinize everything that we do to make sure that we understand the root cause of this tragic accident -- because it shouldn't have happened."

Svanberg said he hopes his company's actions "over the long term that we will regain the trust that you have in us."

BP CEO Tony Hayward, who's been the face of the company's response since the tragedy, didn't speak to the press. Instead, he stood behind the chairman -- alongside BP's general counsel and managing director.