Recently in Political Category
Disclosure: I'm a BP shareholder.
I've been watching the Oil leak
since it started and I'm alarmed at what has happened; not because
I'm a shareholder but because of the damage caused. BP needs to pay
for the cleanup, I know this and it has cost me money in lost
capital, BP knows this and so does half the world so why are we
seeing ever increasing British bashing from the United States over
this event.
For instance: Barack Obama is on record for using the old name of BP, “British Petroleum”, why would he do this? I'm sure his advisers know when the name changed and the implications of using it even if he doesn't. Fox news are quick to say things like “BP, formerly known as British Petroleum”, why are they saying that? BP is BP and has not been calling itself British Petroleum for some time. The level of bashing is getting out of hand and the papers in the UK are seeing this as an outright attack on the British. The news this morning was about three things, the World Cup, David Cameroon in Afghanistan and the US bashing the British over the oil slick.
The facts are that BP is a multinational company and the US own a large chunk of it:
The rig that exploded was owned by an American company and it was American people operating it. Bashing the British achieves nothing and will only harm relationships between the two states. The UK and the US have been staunch allies for years and we've spent many more billions together than what it will take to clean up the mess in the Gulf of Mexico. My fear is that some cretins will be allowed to deflate what is a solid relationship that will take much longer to repair that the oil slick. John Napier, CEO of Royal and Sun Alliance has put it much better than me in the following letter.
Barack Obama and the US public are
right to ask BP to withhold the dividend until we know the extent of
what has been done. I know the implications of this for the pension
funds and other investors but hey, we bought BP shares, it's a bit
late to complain now. We took the risk so we'll pay the price, that's
how this stuff works and Barack Obama has a duty to
make sure that BP can pay for the damage. However, the anti British
rhetoric needs to stop because it achieves nothing and will only damage what is a fantastic relationship.
Oil sticks but grudges and ill feeling sticks much longer and will cost us all far more than the billions it takes to clean up the Gulf.
Darren Foreman was kind enough to point out an article detailing Gordon Browns Legacy on the BBC today:
On a serious note Gordon was the Chancellor of the exchequer that allowed Tony Blair to basically spend spend spend his way to popularity. He sold the gold reserves for a quarter of what they where worth a few years later. But, to top it all off he has managed to increase total tax as a percentage of GDP from 39.3% in 1997 to 42.4% in 2006, going to a higher level than Germany. So the nation is now within 8% of actually working for the governement. How sad is that. I will soon be an employee of the state who happens to go to work for less than 50% of what I actually earn. No matter how you butter it, Big (read Natzi or Communist) government is just around the corner. When a government needs 42% of it's national output to fund what it does the nation being run by that governement is in serious trouble.
I am rather please with this: I took the Political Compass Test and I got the following result.
If you are wondering what the above means the following diagram will give you an idea of where I stand compared to some famous characters.
It makes me sick!
I walk past the Unison building every morning and for the last few days there have been several beggars stood outside asking me for more money.
It galls me to think that the beggars posing as workers think they deserve more money. Damn few of the rest of us are getting anything. In fact we are all TAKING A PAY CUT. Thats what it means when times are tough. But Oh No, if you're in a union, in particular if you are in the public services you can bend us all over a barrel. Didn't anyone teach these people economics 101.
1. You force the government to give you a pay rise.
2. The government still needs to pay for hospitals, police, roads etc
3. They raise taxes and print a few billion notes to cover costs.
We're all feeling the pinch. Petrol is up, food is up, gas is going up and the private sector is suffering. What makes these unions think they deserve the money more than anyone else. They don't!
I sincerely hope I am not alone in thinking that Gordon Brown should tell them all to grow up. I'm sick of pampered public sector workers thinking they're having a harder time than anyone else in the country. Their two day strike has cost some families two days more childcare. Did they think about this, I would imagine that the ones organizing the strike have and the more pain they can inflict to get what they want the better.
My personal opinion is that anyone striking for more pay in the current climate should be positively encouraged to find alternative employment elsewhere (fired).
It's time society and government stood up to unions, that are nothing more than self interest groups and lobbyists, shafting the rest of society. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against an honest gripe and workers putting down tools, but this is taking the piss.
