Government Impotence and Corporate Rule

Wednesday 02 June 2010

by: Jim Hightower, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

Government Impotence and Corporate Rule
(Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Violentz, craynol)

Many news reports about the Gulf oil catastrophe refer to it as a "spill." Wrong. A spill is a minor "oops" -- one accidentally spills milks, for example, and from childhood, we're taught the old aphorism: "Don't cry over spilt milk." What's in the Gulf isn't milk and it wasn't spilt. The explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon well was the inevitable result of deliberate decisions made by avaricious corporate executives, laissez faire politicians and obsequious regulators.

As the ruinous gulf oil blowout spreads onto land, over wildlife, across the ocean floor and into people's lives, it raises a fundamental question for all of us Americans: Who the hell's in charge here? What we're witnessing is not merely a human and environmental horror, but also an appalling deterioration in our nation's governance. Just as we saw in Wall Street's devastating economic disaster and in Massey Energy's murderous explosion inside its Upper Big Branch coal mine, the nastiness in the gulf is baring an ugly truth that We the People must finally face: We are living under de facto corporate rule that has rendered our government impotent.

Thirty years of laissez-faire, ideological nonsense (pushed upon us with a vengeance in the past decade) has transformed government into a subsidiary of corporate power. Wall Street, Massey, BP and its partners -- all were allowed to become their own "regulators" and officially encouraged to put their short-term profit interests over the public interest.

Let's not forget that on April 2, barely two weeks before Deepwater Horizon blew and 11 people perished on the spot, the public's No. 1 official, Barack Obama, trumpeted his support for more deepwater oil drilling, blithely regurgitating Big Oil's big lie: "Oil rigs today generally don't cause spills." He and his advisors had not bothered to check the truth of that -- they simply took the industry's word. That's not governing, it's aiding and abetting profiteers, and it's a pathetic performance.

But that was only the start of Washington's oily confession that it has surrendered control to corporate arrogance and avarice. With an unprecedented volume of crude gushing from the well and the magnitude of the disaster multiplying geometrically by the day, who was in charge of coping with that? Not the White House, not the interior secretary, not the EPA. As we saw when Wall Street's greed exploded our economy, the polluting scoundrels were left in charge!

While BP's dapper CEO issued patently ridiculous statements (such as, "Everything we can see at the moment suggests that the overall environmental impact of this will be very, very modest."), our government blindly went along with BP's false assertion that only some 5,000 barrels a day were pouring from the well, when independent experts were shouting at the White House that the correct volume was up to 19 times that much.

Finally, almost a month after the blowout, Obama ordered a moratorium on drilling new offshore wells and on granting environmental waivers to the oil giants. Bravo, Mr. President! But ... his moratorium was simply ignored. Days after his order, oil companies were handed at least seven more drilling permits and five waivers.

Last week, with 63 percent of the public disapproving of his meek deference to BP, the president of the United States of America was reduced to convening a press conference to insist that he was "engaged" and, behind the scenes, was "monitoring" BP's efforts.

Wow, monitoring! Excuse me, but who's the president here? Obama should personally take charge ---cancel all of his social and political events, convene an emergency response team of the best scientific minds in the world, announce a clear plan of clean-up actions, install all relevant Cabinet officials in a Gulf Coast command center to direct the actions, make daily reports on progress to the public, fire a mess of failed regulators and go to Congress with sweeping legislation to replace America's oil dependency with a crash program of conservation and renewable energy sources.

Oh, he should also wring a few corporate necks. Instead of monitoring these criminals, prosecute them -- and put the public back in charge of our government.

National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.

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Comments

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An efficacious salvo would

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 09:56 — AnonymouV (not verified)

An efficacious salvo would be a "smart" SUBROC right down the ol' BP Bushole to seal their fate until prosecutions prove successful!

As much as I agree with 90%

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 09:57 — youngshane (not verified)

As much as I agree with 90% of your assertions, we need to look at the root causes to find a 'cure'.
BP and Big Oil was allowed to forego the use of Acoustic Switches as safety backups under Cheney's 'Secret' Energy Policy - as they were deemed 'too costly'. We have seen the chickens coming home to roost in the form of heinous abuses by Wall St, the Insurance Companies, and Big Oil. The most recent slap in the face was SCOTUS decision to allow corporations to contribute as much as they want to Buy our 'leaders'. Without Serious Campaign Finance reform, lobbyists and corporations will continue to have their way with our Constitution. I guess it's not 'sexy' to talk Campaign Finance Reform?

Mentioned @ very 1st the

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 10:09 — Anonarcmous (not verified)

Mentioned @ very 1st the inappropriatenes of language of 'spill' chosen by BP to maintain definition & control of the event--smore correctly a breach of volcanic proportions.In total agreement w/J Hightower, but find that haste may not be as encompassing as the situation calls for. By action, Louisiana BJindhal has transitioned from Republican to Democrat: by asking the US Federal Government to intervene asap--in absolute contradiction to PresRReagan "the worst 10 words of the english language are 'we are from the US government & here to help!'" You betcha!!!! Sadly this is where it takes time when intelligence is not promoted over profits.

Corporate necks are hard to

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 10:29 — BillyDoc (not verified)

Corporate necks are hard to wring. They have much more power than anyone in government. Money enough to buy a life with lots of change left over. So if our well-meaning President were to actually try a wringing or two . . . how long do you think he would live? Or, assuming his infraction was only modest, what do you think his political future would be like?

Our empty suit president

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 10:47 — Anonymous (not verified)

Our empty suit president just doesn't get it. He has advanced his career through no major achievements other than pleasing the power elite and duping the rest of us through rhetoric. Today on CNN his admiral in charge repeatedly said "we" when referring to the efforts to saw the offending underwater pipe. He then stood by while we received a lecture from the head of NOAA on all of the bureaucratic cooperation (including analysis of "stakeholders") and academic symposia that have taken place. Still, she couldn't tell us why we haven't been able to measure the amount of oil spewed from a 24 inch pipe over more than 40 days. This is the work of clowns. Let the academic and bureaucratic work go on behind the scenes. We need leadership. Obama is sickening. Now no way to rescue this hollow man. Why would we want to?

It is unbelievable to NOT

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 11:02 — Anonymous (not verified)

It is unbelievable to NOT have the president of the this country and/or the US congress be in charge of the Interior department and stop all new apps until this oil disaster is cleaned up and be on top of the current crisis!
At the very least all personal from BP to interior that did not do its duty should go to prison after forking over all of BP profits.

Then again, we all should call our congress critters to support a total rewriting of the law which among other things LIMITS the clean up costs to $75 million dollars!

I absolutely agree. Obama is

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 11:10 — Anonymous (not verified)

I absolutely agree. Obama is pathetic, our government incompetent and BP is a demon in disguise. This situation has only gone from bad to worse. Other countries are terrified that we aren't doing more, so much so that they are sending help themselves, as our own government lays idle. WTF?

How is anyone suppose to sleep at night?

Its a joke. Its kinda like a

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 12:40 — The Man (not verified)

Its a joke. Its kinda like a lot of people don't even care. I know if this happened in 1970 BP would be no more. There is a discussion about this at http://www.thepartisandialogues.com/PoliticalDiscussions.cfm . Check It Out

Jim Hightower got it right

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:11 — Charles Carlson (not verified)

Jim Hightower got it right here. The only control we have over private corporations is through the federal government; and as much as that is flawed instrument of control, it's crucial it be used to the full extent of it's (insufficient) power to step in on this.

People do not yet grasp just how big a disaster this thing is. It's not a "leak"; it's the damn Mississippi spewing generations worth of destruction into the along the Gulf Coast and beyond. I supported Obama, but he must now actualize the idea that "buck stops here" and reorient his activities to focus on this disaster. It far outstrips the scope of any environmental disaster we have seen and hopefully will see in our lifetime..

What happened to "change you can believe in?"

"The scum always floats to

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:12 — radline9 (not verified)

"The scum always floats to the top." I heard this statement on CNN this morning. They were talking about people who take avantage of disasters like this to scam money out of the victims. I think it also applies to our government, corporations and capitalism in general.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:13 — Charles Carlson (not verified)

The sound bite reports for

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 15:51 — Mg (not verified)

The sound bite reports for this disaster add up to collusion by BP and the US gov't plain and simple. Jim Hightower is no stranger to gov't. and understands that this is no accident, and I certainly do appreciate Mr. Hightower's candor. He's not stretching the truth, which in some way is sad, but so very few are willing to do it. Thanks again, Jim!

Most of the author's

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 15:54 — OA (not verified)

Most of the author's conclusions have a decent amount of validity. However, the reasoning used is careless. It appears that every example or reference used in this article was used incorrectly, making it only useful to those already motivated to agree. Information without proper context is meant for fools and "con artists"...

From the Article: "Barack Obama, trumpeted his support for more deepwater oil drilling, blithely regurgitating Big Oil's big lie: "Oil rigs today generally don't cause spills." ". Tsk! Tsk! Context is important.

- OA

Tsk Tsk what? The author

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 17:57 — Truthspill (not verified)

Tsk Tsk what?

The author pointed out, a quote from Obama, yes, not the whole conversation, but a quote.

The author then, in context with that quote, pointed out that the quote "Oil rigs generally don't cause spills" was simply "blithely regurgitating Big Oil's big lie".

Tsk Tsk Tsk on you for asserting that "every example or reference used in this article was used incorrectly" without substantiation to such assertion.

If you're going to Tsk Tsk Tsk anyone, how about Tsk Tsk Tsking BP, and the Obama Administration's deference to BP,

Take a good look America.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:04 — Anonymous (not verified)

Take a good look America. THIS is what clamoring for small impotent "gubmint" plus a big dose of "Drill Baby Drill" gets ya. Take it in. Ya wanted it, you got it. Reagan said the most terrible words he knew were: "we're the government, and we're here to help." OK now we have next to no government. Happy? We have NO tools, ships, robots, etc. WE have SMALL government. Just like you wanted it. You baked it. Now eat it America. With some light sweet crude to wash it down.

If the BP gulf catastrophe

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:47 — Chuck Ebeling (not verified)

If the BP gulf catastrophe proves anything, it's that protection and conservation of our water resources is paramount. Without healthy water, our planet's oil will be useless. If there is ever to be a rallying cry for developing practical alternative -- solar, wind and water-powered -- this tragedy is it. The only good thing to come from this devastating blight is a new commitment by the world's youth to move away from oil as quickly as possible, and demand that the older generations take the necessary steps. The Supreme Court, the White House and our "incompetent" Congress need to rise to the occasion. This might be their last chance to regain the confidence of the populace.

This country began turning

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 20:17 — billnbillieskid (not verified)

This country began turning in the wrong direction when Ronald Reagan, a pretty good "B" Actor in Hollywood, but with no REAL credentials, was put on the World Stage as President of the greatest country in the Free World at that time. He, under the guidance of the "me first" generation of Politicians began the erasure of rules and regulations, decimating the trade unions, negating any kind of oversight of their greedy sponsors and turning us into slaves to Corporate greed and self-interests. They have packed our Supreme Court with right-wing ideologues who pander to the Corporations and "Piss" on the poor working stiffs. We now are reaping what he and his kind have sown over the last 40 years. Hopefully, the American People will NOT be fooled into thinking that we deserve more of "Reaganomics" and Bush I's "Trickle Down" Bull-Fritters. It is THEY who just don't get it. The Government IS the PEOPLE, not just RICH people, ALL the people. Until we are fairly represented by those elected we will continue to root them out and replace them with, Heaven forefend, COMPETENT individuals like President Obama who take RESPONSIBILITY for what occurs on their watch, whether or not they actually are. Bush & Co. didn't take responsibility for anything except, "Mission Accomplished" and "Good Job, Brownie". Obama has done more for America in the 18 Months that he's been in office than "dubya" did in in his entire 8 years. If Obama walked on water the Regressive Right-wingers would complain that he "never even got his feet wet"! Enough! Let's get behind our President and support his efforts, would that "the shrub" had worked as hard, we wouldn't be in the mess we are now if he had.

In case you have not

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 21:43 — Anonymous (not verified)

In case you have not noticed, the US government has become of, by and for corporate America, not US, THE PEOPLE... If it worked for the average voter, we would not have wars, price gouging by every major corporation, financial crisis after financial crisis leading to concentration of wealth each time (few getting richer, many losing their shirts), crackpots brought to the position of power with corporate money and corporate agenda....You know the rest...

After sixty years of observation, I have decided to let corporations run things the way they like it. I will not vote any more. They will hasten their own demise. The only thing we got is freedom of speech.

Another good piece by Mr.

Thu, 06/03/2010 - 08:53 — Cynthia (not verified)

Another good piece by Mr. Hightower. I wonder if youngshane (second comment) could enlighten me about the Acoustic Switches and if they are again required.

Secondly, to Anonymous above, of course you know that yielding responsibility as a citizen is not the best way to go; I assume you're just a bit bummed out right now, and will cheer up later and realize that you may wish to state by your vote how it is that you like it. Not voting will not hasten their demise, and who knows what its impact would be on freedom of speech, which you value, were your action to be universalized? Voting is not too much to ask, no matter how upset you are.

And we still have no plans

Thu, 06/03/2010 - 09:39 — hark (not verified)

And we still have no plans to develop alternative, renewable energy in a robust way. And won't.

That would offend the coal, oil and gas giants.

Will the majority of the

Thu, 06/03/2010 - 10:39 — Eric Rogers (not verified)

Will the majority of the American people ever coalesce around the cause of restoring the government to the People? After all, we are the ones that have allowed our politicians to be bought by the corporations and to serve them at our expense. We have never really gotten behind the idea that that is what is going on or that being ruled by the corporations is a bad thing. We are to blame! It is our doing through our complacency. Only when enough of us have had ENOUGH to drive us to take the kind of action necessary to bring about change that change will come. So far we are not in agreement in sufficient numbers. Maybe this will do the trick! I hope so! Because if not, what will? And when?

First, let's face the

Thu, 06/03/2010 - 10:46 — Pavlov's Dog (not verified)

First, let's face the progressive "big lie" that Obama and the federal government are incompetent and impotent. The President, Congress and Supreme Corporate are all powerful in covering up, facilitating and supporting the big corporations' rape of the environment and terrorist war against poor and middle class (95% of Americans) across the planet. The U.S. federal government is not an impotent witness, but a criminal co-conspirators and our democracy a feeble validation by clueless victims. We don't need less government but a NEW government that stands up for ordinary people against the ravages of the multinationl corporations and bankers.

Yeah but, there is going to

Fri, 06/04/2010 - 07:46 — WDRussell (not verified)

Yeah but, there is going to be a blue ribbon panel look into this.

Translated, that means the corporate communists have ordered the government to sweep it under the rug.

Both the Democrats and the

Fri, 06/04/2010 - 11:37 — Alan8 (not verified)

Both the Democrats and the Republicans are on the corporate payroll.

Upset about this? Vote Green Party! The Green Party doesn't accept ANY corporate money, and represents CITIZENS' interests, not corporate interests.

5% will get the Green Party matching Federal funds, and will start building a movement to take our country back from the corporations!

Vote Green!

great article, did you know

Mon, 06/07/2010 - 23:35 — kevin (not verified)

great article, did you know that there is millions of pounds of the polymers needed to clean up the oil in the gulf and not being used. I'm one of those guys who could have cleaned it up in a week.
check out my press release cheers Kevin Daum
http://oillift.net/blog/2010/05/18/oil-spill-clean-big-proven-money-making-conspiracy-gulf-mexico-oil-spill/