(Excerpted with permission from Eddie’s Corner, the blog of Eddie Rose at www.eddierose.org)
The Wednesday, July 7, 2010 issue of USA Today featured a full-page ad paid for by British Petroleum (BP) attempting to clean its oily (no pun intended) image by trying to con the American people into thinking BP is really committed to environmental restoration in our coastal waters and our coastal shores.
The truth of the matter is that the BP oil spill has caused irreparable damage to the Gulf of Mexico and to the people, the animals, and the wetlands affected thereby, damage which will never be mitigated in our lifetime.
Further, had BP paid as much attention to and committed as much resources toward preventing this disaster as it did in lobbying (perhaps buying is a more accurate term) members of Congress to allow BP to “drill, baby, drill” to its heart’s content, this oil spill would not have happened.
BP executives must be held criminally, as well as civilly, liable for what has happened. I certainly don’t condone the white-collar crimes perpetrated by the likes of Bernie Madoff and Kenneth Lay (of ENRON infamy). They received jail sentences, and rightfully so, for what they did. But, by comparison, their crimes were committed against a select group of “willing participants” in their fraudulent schemes, while BP executives committed crimes against humanity, and they should be prosecuted accordingly.
And those in Congress who received contributions from BP are also culpable. Many of these very same individuals who received large sums of money from BP serve on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which is presently conducting hearings on the oil spill! At best, these Congressional members have a conflict of interest. At worst, they are guilty of political corruption. (For a listing of the ten biggest Congressional recipients of BP contributions and/or those holding stock in BP, please go to my blog at www.eddierose.org, or google “Ten Top BP Recipients”.)
Is it any wonder that Americans view their elected leaders with such contempt and disgust? The bottom line is that American politics is awash with big money, from the smallest City Councils to the highest levels of the federal government. There are those who will do anything to get elected, and there are those powerful special interests who are willing to buy them—at whatever price it takes!
The Honorable Eddie Rose
Former Laguna Niguel (CA) City Councilman
“A Voice—Not an Echo”
Eddie,
I’m glad you didn’t differentiate between Democrats and Republicans, but you forgot to mention one of the biggest BP beneficiaries of all – the President. Obama is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, so I’ll include him in your conflict of interest/corrupt politician group.
Presidential candidates get money from everybody; you kinda have to show that he treated them differently than he would have if he hadn’t been “in their pocket.”
Are you one who says he should have been more aggressive with them, maybe seized their assets like one of the Roosevelts probably would have?
Vern,
I’m just noting that if Rose is going to follow the money, it leads directly to Obama. I would also note that he has been BP’s top recipient for the past 20 years, while he’s (thankfully) only been President for 2 long years. So, he was getting money from them long before he was President. Personally, I don’t think he’s in BP’s pocket, I just think he’s a train-wreck as Chief Executive.
… Cuz I would almost agree. He was on the verge of allowing a lot more offshore drilling before this happened; his response was slow, and less aggressive toward BP than a lot of us would have liked. Maybe he WOULD be tougher on destructive corporations if he weren’t awash in their cash. (On the other hand he probably wouldn’t be President if he weren’t…)
Newbie—
If you will go to my blog, Eddie’s Corner, on my website at http://www.eddierose.org you will indeed see that I listed President Obama as the ricipient of the most money (over $77,000) from BP. In the interest of space, I did not list any of the BP recipients in the Orange Juice blog, but I suggested that you visit my website for the full story, including the list and including President Obama. And, for further inforamtion, including the entire list, just google “10 Top BP Recipients” You will also find Obama’s name listed. And yes, Obama does have a conflict of interest in this matter. If he is honest, he should immediately return any and all BP contributions or recuse himself from taking any action with respect to BP.
Eddie