"This is the way the world ends/Not with a bang but a whimper" – TS Elliot
"It’s possible first half of this year will be slightly contractionary" – Ben Bernanke, 12:20 today
Let's admit it, Ben Bernanke is not a guy that inspires confidence…
Napoleon, who I quoted the other day as saying: "Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich" also said: "A leader is a dealer in hope." Ben Bernanke, as a typical extension of this administration, is no dealer in hope. Our current economic crisis is primarily a crisis of confidence (consumer confidence is at depression-level lows) but it stems from a crisis of leadership.
How did this happen to us? I'll tell you but many of you are not going to like it:
On October 16th 1962, John F Kennedy introduced the Kennedy Act, aimed at stopping the abuses of the oil companies by removing the distintion between repatriated profits and profits re-invested abroad, aimed to curb the tax abuses that were routinely pracitced by the industry. On January 24th, 1963, Kennedy presented a bill to congress that affected not only the companies with overseas investments, but all companies which, in one way or another, benefited from the privileged status of the oil industry. It called into question both the principle and the rates of the fiscal privileges, the improper use of tax dollars, and the depletion allowance. If adopted, it would undermine the entire system upon which the Oil Empire was based. The bill was blocked and Kennedy continued to push it but was murdered before he could get it pased.
Another President attempted to stem the tide of big oil and stop America's dependence on foreign oil saying:
"What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important.
"Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977– never. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation. The generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign oil will be stopped dead in its tracks right now and then reversed as we move through the 1980s, for I am tonight setting the further goal of cutting our dependence on foreign oil by one-half by the end of the next decade — a saving of over four and a half million barrels of imported oil per day.
"Point two: To ensure that we meet these targets, I will use my presidential authority to set import quotas. I’m announcing tonight that for 1979 and 1980, I will forbid the entry into this country of one drop of foreign oil more than these goals allow. These quotas will ensure a reduction in imports even below the ambitious levels we set at the recent Tokyo summit.
"Point three: To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our nation’s history to develop America’s own alternative sources of fuel — from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from unconventional gas, from the sun.
"I propose the creation of an energy security corporation to lead this effort to replace two and a half million barrels of imported oil per day by 1990. The corporation will issue up to five billion dollars in energy bonds, and I especially want them to be in small denominations so average Americans can invest directly in America’s energy security.
"Just as a similar synthetic rubber corporation helped us win World War II, so will we mobilize American determination and ability to win the energy war. Moreover, I will soon submit legislation to Congress calling for the creation of this nation’s first solar bank which will help us achieve the crucial goal of twenty percent of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000.
"These efforts will cost money, a lot of money, and that is why Congress must enact the windfall profits tax without delay. It will be money well spent. Unlike the billions of dollars that we ship to foreign countries to pay for foreign oil, these funds will be paid by Americans, to Americans. These will go to fight, not to increase, inflation and unemployment.
"Point four: I’m asking Congress to mandate, to require as a matter of law, that our nation’s utility companies cut their massive use of oil by fifty percent within the next decade and switch to other fuels, especially coal, our most abundant energy source.
"Point five: To make absolutely certain that nothing stands in the way of achieving these goals, I will urge Congress to create an energy mobilization board which, like the War Production Board in World War II, will have the responsibility and authority to cut through the red tape, the delays, and the endless roadblocks to completing key energy projects.
"We will protect our environment. But when this nation critically needs a refinery or a pipeline, we will build it.
"Point six: I’m proposing a bold conservation program to involve every state, county, and city and every average American in our energy battle. This effort will permit you to build conservation into your homes and your lives at a cost you can afford.
"I ask Congress to give me authority for mandatory conservation and for standby gasoline rationing. To further conserve energy, I’m proposing tonight an extra ten billion dollars over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation systems. And I’m asking you for your good and for your nation’s security to take no unnecessary trips, to use carpools or public transportation whenever you can, to park your car one extra day per week, to obey the speed limit, and to set your thermostats to save fuel. Every act of energy conservation like this is more than just common sense, I tell you it is an act of patriotism.
'Our nation must be fair to the poorest among us, so we will increase aid to needy Americans to cope with rising energy prices. We often think of conservation only in terms of sacrifice. In fact, it is the most painless and immediate ways of rebuilding our nation’s strength. Every gallon of oil each one of us saves is a new form of production. It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives."
That was Jimmy Carter on July 15th 1979. On November 4th 1979 Iranian "students" took over the US embassy and created an election year crisis that put Reagan and Bush in power. Bush, a business partner and long-time friend of the Saudis, served as Vice-President, then President for 12 consecutive years until his reign was undone by an abusive banking crisis that wrecked the economy.
Clinton tried to do something about energy but was hamstrung by the Republican Congress and we all know what happened to Al Gore – the question is, when are we going to wise up? Sometimes people see vast conspiracies of powerful people controlling our nation, not because it's crazy but because that is actually what's happening! How many coincidences can we brush off as this country spins out of control.
As Jimmy Carter also said in that same speach 30 years ago:
“Our neck is stretched over the fence and OPEC has a knife.”
