Addendum ...

JOE Barton, the Republican congressman from Texas, is now sorry for calling the BP liability fund a "shakedown." Or so he says. Barton understands the meaning of "shakedown," though. Oil and gas interests gave him more than $100,000 since the start of 2009, the AP reports. It has to do with the House committee he's on. It's interesting that Missouri's Roy Blunt, another Republican, got even more: more than $133,000.