Governmental Petroleum

First there was Governmental Motors, then ObamaCare. Now we have the president of the United States telling a foreign oil company to transfer $20 billion from its stockholders to Americans who feel aggrieved by the oil that has been spilled in the Gulf of Mexico. The occasional journalist is bold enough to refer to this as 'extra-legal.' A more honest term would be 'extortion'.

Not much has been said lately about Mr. Obama's notion that BP ought to pay the wages of the 25,000 or so workers thrown out of work as a direct result of Mr. Obama's moratorium on offshore drilling, but the $20 billion slush fund will be administered by an American, appointed by the president, and there's no question in my mind that checks will be written to the men whom the president has thrown out of work. In other words, money that used to belong to BP stockholders will now be paid out to Exxon employees.

Hugo Chavez must be slack-jawed with admiration and envy. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford