Costly Politics

4/29/10 letter to Whitehouse.gov, Contact Mr.Bob Jindal(LA), Contact Mr.Bob McDonnell(VA):
Dear President Obama, Governor Bob Jindal (LA), Governor Bob McDonnell(VA),
All of us will agree that today is a very sad day along the Louisiana coast. Tonight an onslaught of oil will begin to destroy the coastline and this may continue for many weeks, possibly months. In 1979 an oil well off the Mexican Gulf Coast continued to spill out of control for 9 months! For those of you who fall to the political right of center and prefer to "let the free market work," let's take a good look at what offshore drilling really means. And while we're at it why not throw in a little comment about no new taxes, "read my lips," defending "states rights" and "hands off Federal Government".

Mr. Jindal no doubt wants to have the free market work it's magic as his state faces an emergency at a magnitude we can't yet imagine. He'll want those capitalists at BP and Transocean to pay, pay, pay for damages. Ummm, until they can't or won't? Until their attorneys set into motion a series of well orchestrated diversionary tactics. And Mr. Jindal will accept the Federal Government's immediate emergency response $$ to the crisis. And when it's all said and done, Mr. Jindal will continue to ride the foolish politcal rhetoric that suggests he can have it all and not pay for it, meaning he'll promote lowering taxes and maybe evoke the infamous "read my lips."

Mr. McDonnell and Mr. Obama, strange bed-fellows as they would be, seem hot on the idea of drilling off the eastern seaboard very near the deep and swift moving gulf stream. Imagine a spill of these proportions (millions of gallons) surfing hundreds, maybe a thousand miles reaping destruction in one of the most important sealife highways in all of the world.

Mr. McDonnell a good free enterprise loving fellow will need to make it clear to these oil companies that they're on the hook for any disaster costs. And Virginia will have to pay it's way for such costs as well. In fact, it will have to be Virginia and not the Feds who underwrite these costs if the oil companies can't or won't pay up. Think about it, all the revenue benefits you're proposing to the Virginia citizens will turn negative resulting in a huge state deficit. Imagine the embarrassment Mr. McDonnell will feel when faced with having to grovel for Federal assistance or go to the Virginia taxpayer.

Conclusion: Neither of these good and fiscally conservative capitalists can honestly afford the risks associated with offshore drilling. You can't be a fiscal conservative and make such a potentially costly mistake because you simply can't pay for it if the unthinkable, the current reality for Louisiana, happens again. Let's all be honest on this topic, screw the politics because our world is depending on it.