If You Think Oil Is Expensive Now, Wait Until Your Congresman Pumps Your Gas

The oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico rages on. The details are spotty at best. In an interview on MSNBC, oil expert Matt Simmons pointed out that the YouTube video everyone has been fixated on with oil pumping out is not the source of the large second plume of oil that is the size of Maryland and Delaware. He said "we've been focusing on a leak the size of a mouse and behind that mouse is a leak the size of a tiger."

That tiger is getting hungry and is ready to wreak havoc on coastlines and ecosystems throughout the Gulf of Mexico and potentially the eastern seaboard of the United States. Possibly even further. Soon, we'll be approaching two months worth of oil gushing into the gulf. Tourism is being slaughtered. Economies are being destroyed. Jobs are being lost. Some reports are suggesting that the oil dispersant called Corexit is helping to keep much of the oil underwater, out of sight, and to a lesser degree, out of mind. Only time will tell.

Click to Play Robert Ian's GoldSeek Radio Commentary  Download mp3

Even with all the discussion about the oil catastrophe and the damage it is beginning to cause, there is, for all intents and purposes, a news blackout on what is really happening. There's only a handful of video feeds that are available. It's impossible for any citizen to investigate ground zero first hand. Virtually everyone, including the media, are reliant upon the official story and the official images, whatever those might be on any given day. Everyone is being showered with the effects of this catastrophe while at the same time being shielded from its true causes.

According to an article at oilprice.com, it was estimated early in May that this disaster could exceed $1 trillion dollars in economic losses, making whatever liability caps being discussed by the administration, whether it be $75 million or $10 billion, a drop in the bucket relative to the damage that is likely to unfold.

The danger to all of us in this rapidly unfolding scenario is that a) we'll never truly know the cause of this event. Was it negligence? Technological failure? Mother nature? Or something far more sinister? We'll only have the official version of what we're supposed to believe. And b) the solutions being openly discussed, I am afraid, will be extrapolated to other industries and possibly the economy in general. Namely, nationalization. We've already had covert, partial nationalization of several industries since the economic collapse began, by way of government bailouts and guarantees, including banking, housing and automobiles. Now it looks as though overt nationalization of industries, starting with oil,  could become the preferred method of dealing with the continuing economic collapse.

Make no mistake about it. The oil catastrophe in the gulf must be dealt with swiftly and decisively. There are no guarantees that BP could (or should) remain in business. At some point, we've got to shatter this myth of "too big to fail" when in reality these entities are "too big to bail". Bailout, that is.

The problem is obvious. The reaction is predictable. Let's be very careful with prescribed economic solutions. In the quest to solve this problem and minimize damage, let's not compound the economic ramifications by seriously entertaining such catastrophic solutions as nationalizing industries. For its at moments like this, when our guard is down and our anger is up, that politicians take a mile, when we only intended to give them an inch.

If you think oil is expensive now, just wait until your congressman is the one pumping your gas.