From the outset, it was clear this Administration was going to detest profit at any level. For the activists-in-chief, who, in the words of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, “should never let a crisis go to waste,” the Gulf Oil Spill is no exception. In case you haven’t heard about it, the largest offshore spill in U.S. history began with the explosion, collapse, and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, owned and operated by BP, after its Blowout Preventer (BOP), a pressure control system, catastrophically failed, more than 5,000 feet below the surface, and 40 miles from shore.
Now, you would expect this progressive government, stacked with stalwart supporters of Keynesian theories of economic controls, would respond immediately, rushing in to do something, try anything, to fix this leak, which daily tars the President’s reputation as a leader. In fact, many progressives want Obama to be Johnny-on-the-Spot, in the helicopter, with the Louisiana governor, calling on everyone to help, in a collective effort. It’s hard to disagree with that.
But that’s not this President’s style. Remember, he’s calm and collected; some might say, laconic. That’s not the root cause for the delay, though. You see, Barack Obama’s government is no friend of business, much less Big Oil, not even BP, the nation’s largest energy developer, having invested $40 billion in alternative fuels in the past 5 years.
Now, BP’s received their fair share of due criticism, and will receive the bill handed down by the feds. The feds, however, are not free of blame themselves. This Administration’s anti-capitalist sentiments, coupled with the environmentalist sway, has delayed government assistance for BP as they are trying to stop the leak, or assistance for state and local governments, who are trying to protect their shoreline. Environmentalists believe condemning BP will solve the Oil Spill. Remember, environmentalists operate on 90% Envy, 9% Irony, and 1% Mental capacities.
But I digress. Some say this is Barack’s Katrina. I disagree. I say it’s Barack’s Pariah. Unlike the multitudes, I will not criticize the Administration herein for their inaction. I instead criticize their response, for what lies beneath the surface is ugly.
(Two Kinds of Responses)
Shocking, but not Surprising
One thing was immediate from the feds: their constant attacks on BP. On May 3rd, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs repeated Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s words, saying, “We’re going to keep a boot heel on the throat of BP.” On May 24th, Salazar said, “This is a BP mess. It is a horrible mess. It is a massive and environmental mess.” Thanks, Ken, for clearing that up.
Following Salazar, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, “We are going to stay on this and stay on BP until it gets done and it gets done the right way.” Obama’s pointman in the cleanup efforts, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, said he was ”ready to call BP and order them to take the appropriate steps.” Finally, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said, “The company’s initials now stand for ‘beyond patience.’” Clever.
What they failed to mention was the federal government’s complete incompetence due to bureaucratic stonewalling. For example, on May 20th, the Environmental Protection Agency banned BP’s use of Corexit, an oil dispersant, with no acceptable alternatives presented. On May 21st, Louisiana state and local officials issued emergency permit requests to build sand barriers and berms on the Louisiana coastline; these requests were stalled for more than two weeks while the Army Corps of Engineers “reviewed” their plans. Whilst they deliberated, oil flooded the Louisiana marshlands.
Needless to say, others in the oil industry have seemed apprehensive to aid BP in their efforts. With a government like this, with powers to tax, regulate, fine, and jail those with whom they disagree, why would they? Suggestions that the U.S. military could be used somehow to stop the leak – barring a nuclear blast, which is outright prohibited by some stupid treaty – just goes to show the profane arrogance of our swollen, reactionary government. In one swift move, Interior Secretary Salazar ordered a six-month moratorium on deep water drilling, affecting nearly three dozen rigs, and thousands of jobs in the Gulf of Mexico.
Realization that American business is better suited to handle the Oil Spill has nothing to do with money. It is simply a reality that the profit model produces more efficient processes in nearly every market than government can produce. Not all; but nearly all. Instead of enabling efforts, though, this government has stood in their way.
Where exactly does the buck stop?
President Obama was on the 25th Anniversary of Larry King Live this week, and Larry asked Obama the following:
KING: What part of it is your baby? What part of it is the country and not BP?
OBAMA: BP caused this spill. We don’t yet know exactly what happened. But whether it’s a combination of human error, them cutting corners on safety, or a whole other variety of variables. They’re responsible. So they’ve got to pick up the tab for the cleanup, the damages, fishermen who are unable to fish right in the middle of their most important season.
My job is to make sure that they are being held accountable, that we get to the bottom of how this happened, that they are paying what they’re supposed to be paying, that they cap this well.
He went on to say, “What we have a responsibility for is to make sure that the recovery efforts, mitigation efforts along the coastline, making sure that fishermen and businesses that are being affected are getting paid properly, making sure the local people are being hired. All those efforts are ones where we can do it better. What we’ve said is, you’re going to pay. You will coordinate, BP, with us.” Additionally, he said he was “furious” with BP, because “this is an example where somebody didn’t think through the consequences of their actions.”
Then yesterday, shockingly, President Obama went back to the Gulf, and “warned” BP about their advertising budget and the payment of dividends to shareholders this year. When it seems he almost gets it, he lashes back at business. As a far Leftist, he can’t resist the urge. Let’s not forget that BP lost eleven men on that rig. Those lives, as well as the livelihood of thousands and their reputation as a viable business, is worth more than money can buy.
What Could Have Been
In my mind’s eye, I imagine a scenario in which the sitting President told BP it would provide the Gulf state Governors with “whatever they need” to protect their coastlines, including all that FEMA, the Interior Department, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Homeland Security could provide. It’s called laissez-faire, and it has its advantages. Our dual system of government allows for this, and enables the President to focus on other things, namely, at the moment, Israel, Turkey, Iran, the Korea Peninsula, China, the new Japanese Prime Minister, the Greek-caused Eurozone economic crisis, and our own flailing economic situation.
I also imagine the President offering BP “whatever they need” to seal the well, and leave culpability and cost assessments to some day after the leak has stopped. But that’s not what has happened. The root cause for this improper response is the lack of business leaders advising the President. Business is simply not to be trusted by Barack Obama’s government. Nobody advising the President has ever made payroll. So instead, the Administration creates barriers instead of solutions, assigns blame instead of duties, and offers rhetoric instead of rationale.
What’s sad for me, personally, is I’m actually glad my Grandpop isn’t alive to see the marshland (and the political party) he loved decimated due to shear human incompetence.
Eric Holder is on it, you guys
On June 1st, Attorney General Eric Holder opened a criminal investigation against BP. “There are a wide range of possible violations,” thus spake Eric, ”And we will closely examine the actions of those involved in the spill.” All of this with the leak still going on. I believe there is a proper balance of the ever-present progress of man and concerns over justice, including, yes, economic, social, and environmental concerns. This spill hurts us all. Nobody benefits from this disaster, politically or otherwise.
But I’m tired of talking about it. If you can’t glean my point-of-view by this point, I could write another 50,000 words, and it still wouldn’t get through your head. So I’ll let others wrap it up for me.
President Calvin Coolidge, in defense of commerce, sought the proper balance in industry in a 1916 speech to Amherst College, stating:
“The hope of tomorrow lies in the development of the instruments of today. The prospect of advance lies in maintaining those conditions which have stimulated invention and industry and commerce. The only road to a more progressive age lies in perfecting the instrumentalities of this age. The only hope for peace lies in the perfection of the arts of war. All growth depends upon activity. Life is manifest only by action. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work. Work is not a curse, it is the prerogative of intelligence, the only means to manhood, and the measure of civilization. Savages do not work. The growth of a sentiment that despises work is an appeal from civilization to barbarism.”
He understood the role of President is little more than to be the nation’s cheerleader, overseeing a “Bully Pulpit,” in the parlance of Theodore Roosevelt. That’s all. We’re not expecting the federal government to provide everything for us, including charity… right? Right, you guys? Crickets.
Peggy Noonan wrote a great article earlier this week, saying, ”Even though the federal government in our time has continually taken on new missi0ns and responsibilities, the more it took on, the less it seemed capable of performing even its most essential jobs.” She finished the article with a warning of her own: ”When you ask a government far away in Washington to handle everything, it will handle nothing well.”
Insomuch, she channels Alexis de Tocqueville, circa 1835, who highlighted the brilliance of our (former) dual system of government, saying, “A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty.” A teachable moment exists for the federal government in this disaster; enable your state and local governments to govern. Don’t hold grudges, and remember, elections have consequences.
“I think we’re going to be judged and the President will be judged on our response and our recovery efforts to what we all know now is the worst environmental disaster in our nation’s history, but pounding on a podium isn’t going to fix a hole in the bottom of the ocean.”
~ White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, June 4, 2010
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