The Failure of Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force

"Venezuela Signs Gas Deals With Foreign Companies Venezuela signed agreements today with OAO Gazprom of Russia, Italy's Eni SpA and other foreign companies for offshore natural gas projects that will require $19.7 billion in investment over eight years.

Webmaster of Wake the Flock Up commentary:

"But, but, but, that's OUR oil!" -- Official White Horse Souse

Okay, all kidding aside, whatever Dick Cheney's Secret Energy Task Force thought they were doing, THEY HAVE FAILED MISERABLY.

The conquests of Afghanistan and Iraq have failed to produce access to cheap oil, and the desperation invasion of Iran will not likely produce any better result, plus runs the risk of direct war with the Russian Republics. Aside from bankrupting the United States, the ill-considered and reckless military adventures have shown the world that the US has lost its once fearsome ability to project power. As a result, nations we depend on for our current energy needs are now starting to return their backs on the US and sell their oil where it is in their own best advantage to do so. Even Iraq, despite the continuing American occupation, has canceled the no-bid oil contracts with western oil companies and started to sell their oil to Russia and China.

The United States is dying. The over-leveraged economy that long ago turned its nose up at manufacturing and has survived this far purely on momentum from long-vanished days of prosperity not only cannot support more war, but teeters on the edge of being able to support itself. The same men that assumed that the nation could invade its way back to cheap energy now pretends that the economic woes can be made to magically vanish by dumping the costs onto the taxpayers. I am certain they believe it. They must believe it, for to not believe it means having to admit failure. And these men cannot admit failure; their egos will not allow it. They see themselves as leaders and shapers of history. But history is shaped as much by failure as by success.

The plain fact is that between Wall Street and Washington, more money is owed than you (and your children and your children's children) can ever pay back with a lifetime of slavery. No matter how hard you work, this government will simply go on borrowing more. That has been their pattern up to now; only fools will think the government will change. The agenda all along has been to keep us on the hook. What they did not expect was the hook getting too big and heavy.

So, you are back to that choice I warned you about years ago. You can work yourself into an early grave trying to save the unsaveable government, or you can stop tossing good money after bad, cut your losses, and let the government sink of its own debts and corruption.

For most of us, we are past that choice. The government and Wall Street have run up more debt than we can pay, no matter how willing (and dumb) we may be. The government refuses to accept that reality, and things will no doubt get very ugly in the near future as the government tries to flog us all hard enough to lift just one more stone to the top of the pyramid before it collapses out from under us all.

These are the men who gave corporations tax credits to move high-paying jobs to other countries, but you will never convince them that this was the initiating event in the meltdown of the economy. already their egos are forcing them to find scapegoats, whether it is short-sellers, absence of regulation, too much regulation, or those pesky useless eaters. They have to find someone to blame, and since you are the most defenseless, look for them to blame you, just before they hand you the bill."