The only thing more blatant than the fraud and corruption that is killing our country is our current leaders' unwillingness to stop it.
Now, as we are faced with the unspeakable damage from both the Gulf oil spill and the financial crisis, our leaders still insist that the best people to deal with the aftermath are the very people who caused it in the first place.
Imagine how silly this reasoning would sound if we decided to let the spouses of murder victims be in charge of the crime scene. After all, they know the area the best and are very familiar with the victim. By our current leaders' reasoning, these criteria alone would make this the best person to do a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrator to justice.
This kind of bizarre ignorance of incentives is now displayed by our current president, who often appears to think that government works best when it is subservient to corporations under even the most dubious circumstances. So far, it seems like the only entrenched power that our president is interested in fighting was the Democratic Party machine that wanted him to wait his turn back in the primaries. This from a man that so many hoped would be an antidote to the horrendous corporatist reign of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
Nowhere is this attitude more on display than in the Gulf right now. Perhaps operating under the fear of that "if you try to actually fix something, you own it politically," our government continues to abdicate its responsibilities in the ongoing disaster.
Instead, it prefers to blindly trust the corporation that is largely responsible for the problem in the first place, regardless of the fact that the corporation has a history of safety mishaps and makes "covering-up" the basic tenet of its overall marketing plan.
Meanwhile, the corporation prevents tankers from cleaning up, scientists and engineers from researching, journalists from reporting and Americans from witnessing, all while the oil spill pumps into the gulf at an alarming rate for what could potentially be another 30 years before running dry.
I'm not sure what is more a sign of the times -- having a Democratic White House claim that they couldn't possible infringe on the rights of a private corporation that is destroying public water and land while a Republican Senator rightly demands a Government takeover, or Sarah Palin and Robert Gibbs having a flame war over who is more on the take from said corporation (the answer -- both).
This dynamic is not new to those who have been following the Government's response to a financial crisis that continues to let the Banksters ruin our economy while they line their pockets.
Our current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the one who handed billions of tax dollars to a corporation now under federal fraud investigation, is spearheading the government's fiscal response and financial "reform" efforts even though he may eventually be charged as well.
Meanwhile, Larry Summers, Director of the White House's National Economic Council, has responded to the financial thievery by fighting against real derivative reform, which isn't surprising considering he was a chief architect of the dangerous system that tanked our economy in the first place. Of course, Larry also made millions off of the very derivatives he helped legalize.
That just leaves us to rely on the "independent" Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, who seems more interested in using his endless money-printing hose to try to delay the pain (and blame) of the fire that he helped start until after he's long gone.
So while real regulators and proven advocates of the People like William Black and Eliot Spitzer are relegated to the sidelines, we are left with a paltry $8 million dollar "investigation" by Phil Angelides. So who should step into the void? That's right, the very corporations who caused the collapse are now running the cleanup effort.
As bad as government can be (and, as we know in New York, it can be very bad), our leaders are trying to tell us that corporations have your interests at heart as much as government does. But corporations do not work for the general public, nor are they set up that way -- they work for money.
As grim as all this may sound, let's not forget that corrupt politicians, bankers and yes, even media figures are nothing new. However, a vast, unstoppable flow of the truth brought on by amazing advances in technology, and a country that still counts each person's vote equally, allows its citizens the right to speak freely and decide how and where to spend its non-taxed money -- is a stiff antidote to this age-old problem.
I believe we are already well on our way to righting this ship. Recent primaries point to a deep rumbling in the sleeping giant for a shared value that offends us all deeply regardless of political affiliation -- the basic issue of fairness and its obvious betrayal by our previous and current Government.
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BP brought these concerns to the attention of the administration. Further more, after the explosion 23 countries have offered cleanup assistance. Clearly, this administratio is more concerned about exploiting this disaster for "political gain", to the peril of the Gulf. With Cheasapeake Bayfront property, I can just imagine the effects this accident is having on the beauty, wildlife, and economy of the region. But lets take the high road and understand the facts before demonizing this company.
Also, this is exactly the right time for Obama to try to push for energy policy reform. If he waits until this is over then it will no longer be on the minds of the people and no one will care. It's not about seeking political gain. It's about pointing at the outcome of existing regulation (or lack thereof) and saying, "see, this is why we need to fix it," when you've been calling for that fix for 2 years.
He has gotten away with stealing elections, profitting from oil and big business, strangulating the very life from the livelihood of the American people, and paving the way for the irrepairable destruction of the environment-not to mention, that he and Bush started a war in Iraq, with countless lives and dollars, all in the name of seizing control of oil, with military force! He's a monster-a devil-and nobody seems to have the balls to stand up to him! If this is the American way, then our nation's days are numbered! And those who profitted from the destruction of this country-namely Dick Cheney and other corporate strong-armers- are going to leave us in the muck of their corrupt actions, and retire to their lush lifestyles in another country, with all of our money! will we EVER see justice passed down to these monsters, or will big money continue to buy our destruction and our demise?
The Gulf of Mexico is about to become a dead zone because the BP & Obama team are "BLIND TO PLUMES". The main leak is from the fractured sea bed not the riser 6 miles away shown on TV. It will take a nuclear weapon at 18,000 feet below sea level to plug the fractured hole. The main leak is gushing oil at the rate of 120,000 bpd instead of BP estimate 5,000 bpd and government estimate of 19,000 bpd. BP should be declared a terrorist and all BP assets seized and all company officers declared enemy combatants and sent to Guantanamo for daily waterboarding until they confess. Bye Bye GOM! Hello East Coast have a BP tar ball. A gift from uncle Tony.
Obama is stalling and BP is a terrorist. It is time for the US Navy to take over the spill/leak containment and cleanup. Our leaders have bungled this job. It is now time to save America before GOM is dead and gone. A scenario painted by the scientific community is the death of 50 million people around the Gulf of Mexico and poisoning of the Atlantic ocean if this is not stopped soon. This is survival time folks get out your bible and pray it is not too late.
If he didn't, he is dangerously naive.
You didn't want to pay higher taxes (might have to give up a cell phone or two or the big-screen t.v. )
Obama said "we are the ones we've been waiting for" but then everyone went on with their daily lives, blabbing on the phone, filling up your tanks, whining endlessly, expecting him to clean up all of the messes left behind by the Bushies.
I'm sick of us all.
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Where were the Governors of these Gulf Coast States while these industries were operating in their waters? Did they ever research the precautions and regulations that their trusted "Heroes of Capitalism" had to follow? No? Were these Govs chanting "Drill Babay Drill" with potential thoughtless voters hoping to garner votes? What was keeping Gov. Jindal from building the artificial barrier reefs nine months ago in order for them to be ready for the coming hurricane season? Now he claims he can't get permission? As if this would do any good now. Don't the leaders of the State's have culpability here?.
Where was the outrage when these oil company executives marched into their meeting with Dick Cheney to write U.S. Energy Legislation and given the power to regulate themselves or not be regulated at all? As long as these Industries are allowed to be more powerful than our Governement then we cannot complain when our worship of the free market and small Governement shows it's limitations and dangers.
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The most obvious absence is that of a voluable American public, particularly from the left. When you peruse the Blogosphere you find an incredible number of comments that can only be characterized as "mad as hell." What's missing is organization and a more public expression of this anger from all political persuasions. And, its anger over all the the things you mention and more.
Only the Tea Party has managed to present its angst before most of the nation's eyeballs. There is no Independent, Progressive or Liberal party that can match this exposure. Therefore, there is every likelihood, given the success of Tea Party advocates, that Nov. will set the stage for the return of explicit corporate feudalism, as Republicans gain control of both houses.
I hope I'm wrong but there are no signals from the "outraged left" that they are prepared to organize, and capitalize on the egregious corporate control of the BP Eruption, and the Wall Street Heist.
working presently on campaign finance reform.
The oil industry and the Republicans sold the country a bill of goods on the supposed safety of their operations. The Republicans went one step farther and didn't even insist on minimal regulations. "Drill, baby, drill!" They are the ones to blame for the original explosion and EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWS. Not Obama.
This is an apt analogy to how the BP/Transocean/Halliburton spill is working. The oil drilling companies developed the technology to drill thousands of feet below the surface of the water, but had little more than "toss garbage at it" if such drilling practices went awry.
The federal government needs to form as many alliances as possible, whether politically, regionally or privately, to get as many capable minds and bodies together to fix this mess. Necessity is the mother of all invention, and boy do we have the necessity. Now we need the brains and technology to bring the solution to fruition.
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I recommended that course of action on day one, given our history with Exxon Valdez.
It's not too late. Dylan is on the right track, but he has to make it explicit. Nationalization is the ultimate process of assuring governmental ownership, since the Government is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't.
Current policy, a wretched and pusillanimous approache only placates the oil industry. They are further emboldened, and can phone 535 elected officials telling them that if they don't stay out of the fray they will not get their campaign financing. So you have a very small minority of Representatives and Senators, who have not been on the fossil fuel payroll, objecting to Obama's approach and demanding stronger leadership, indeed, nationalization. But, again, these are the minorities in the Congress and have been or will be marginalized by MSM.
We are so F@#$%^
I hope I got that right. I was just listening to him on Puplava’s interview of Saturday. He said that the psi could have been 40,000 and that is beyond our current technology. So digging these relief wells could be another more catastrophic move.
http://www.financialsensenewshour.com/broadcast/fsn2010-0529-2.asx