There is a meme that I am starting to hear from the Republicans and the Democrats that have become wholly owned subsidiaries of the oil industry. It is the idea that there will be massive job losses from the suspension of deep water drilling in the Gulf and elsewhere. Rule one in any Republicans play book; keep the issue isolated so you never see the big picture. This is because any time you look at Republican policies in the larger context they fall completely apart.

There are about 1.3 million jobs in oil production in the United States. Roughly 25% of them are in Louisiana. This is due in large part to the very friendly environment to oil development that exists in the state. Depending on what study you look at the Bayou State is either the 3rd or 1st most corrupt state in the nation. Its corruption is not a partisan thing; it is an equal opportunity corrupt state with the likes “Dollar” Bill Jefferson and Sen. David Vitter. Can there be any doubt that large amounts of oil industry money have been part of this corruption.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

Corruption is not always completely bad for the people of a state. Being able to buy the legislature in Baton Rouge has brought a lot of jobs to the state. The problem is, of course, the perspective. As long as we just look at one industry it looks like a pretty good deal. When we pull back and look at the state in general there is real problem.

There are twice as many jobs in fishing and tourism in LA as there are in oil production. As long as the oil industry did not have a major catastrophe then there was no conflict. Now that we have seen that BP really had no idea how to handle a disaster of this magnitude (their sworn statements on the applications to the contrary, but we’ll get to that can of worms in another post) it is clear they are not really a net benefit to jobs.

As Obama may be proposing the first real and positive change at the Federal level to address the extraction industry in a very long time, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-Oil) continues to demand more drilling.

Let’s face it. The Kagan nomination is a huge blow to civil liberties — and part of a pattern of the Obama presidency.

At least St. Al is sticking to his guns … unlike certain figures who shall remain nameless but whose names contain the letters like “B” and “O”.

Since Oil Corporations reap record Profits when everything “goes Right” –

Shouldn’t they also be responsible when everything “goes Wrong” too?

When Murphy’s Law strikes again — as it always does – will the Oil Drillers be READY to stop the environmental damage, caused by THEIR mining operations?

It’s NOT like they can’t afford it …