No solutions are out there on the horizon to resolve the economic and environmental disaster in the Gulf, so thought I had better solve it myself.
The first step is to arrest the CEOs of British Petroleum, Halliburton and TransOcean. Appropriate their personal assets to compensate the families of the 11 workers who were killed in the explosion. Seize the assets of the corporations and use the money to stop the ongoing tragedy, clean up the environmental mess and compensate the people whose lives and businesses have been devastated. No government bailouts, subsidies or no bid contracts to the corporations.
Place a moratorium on all offshore drilling.Fire the federal regulators, specifically those in Mineral Management Service (MMS), who exempted BP from producing a legally mandated environmental impact study for the site where Deepwater Horizon drilled. Obama was warned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that MMS studies approving offshore drilling were not reliable.
Discontinue Congressional hearings, which provide a platform for the "Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil" CEOs to pass the buck and a cover for Congressmen to pretend they are conducting investigations. Require all government officials in the administration and Congress to visibly display on their bodies the amount of money they have received from BP, Halliburton and TransOcean.
Deny access of lobbyists from the oil industry, Halliburton and TransOcean to public officials.
Stop the hemorrhage of oil in the Gulf and clean up the environment.
Contract with problem-solving engineers and technicians who are not affiliated with the corporate establishment. Attach no financial constraints on their efforts. The bill will be paid by the three primary offenders.
Send public officials, lobbyists and corporate personnel implicated in creating this disaster to the Gulf to repair the damage. Assign the National Guard and the Border Patrol to supervise the perpetrators who have caused infinitely more damage than all the migrants.
Conduct a trial in a people's court after the catastrophe has been resolved satisfactorily. Transportation to Louisiana for anyone who wants to participate on the jury will be provided with the seized corporate assets. No attorneys, no police and no homeland security officials will be allowed to participate. The CEO perpetrators must speak for themselves. Ramsay Clark will be the trial judge and present the case against the CEOs. The jury of the people will vote up or down on guilt or innocence and on the penalties if the CEOs are found guilty as charged.
Or, we could resort to the decades of "deregulation" which proclaimed that the "free market" could regulate itself. Worked well for the financial, auto and telecommunication systems. Bail out those responsible - the financial elite - and leave the working class to foot the bill. Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor.
- Sue Bastian, Bend
