Originally published September 23 2005
Bush's claims of "zero tolerance" over Katrina exploitation hypocritical, columnist says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
In a recent article for Common Dreams News Center, Derrick Z. Jackson says that President Bush's professed policy of "zero tolerance" for the exploitation of the Hurricane Katrina disaster is pure hypocrisy, since his administration is allowing Big Oil to exploit the American people throughout this tragedy.
We are not referring to the people you currently see in endless footage, crashing through storefronts and wading through chest-high water with clothes, food, and pharmaceuticals.
The nation has on its hands a disaster so profound that we have not even begun to seriously count the bodies in the floodwaters.
Members of the Red Cross, the Coast Guard, the National Guard, police agencies, and firefighters are sacrificing time and risking lives to save lives.
In the midst of this charity, big oil looted the nation.
The pumps instantly shot past $3 a gallon, with $4 a gallon well in sight.
In a thinly disguised attempt to act as if it cared about the people wading in the water, Chevron has pledged $5 million to relief efforts.
Of the world's seven most profitable corporations, four are ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and Chevron.
It and the other three corporations had combined profits last year of $72.8 billion.
ExxonMobil is also the world's most valuable company, with a market value, according to Forbes magazine, of $405 billion.
Everyone knows that Bush does not really mean what he says about price-gouging at the pump, since he just gave energy companies the bulk of $14.5 billion in tax breaks in the new energy bill.
In Bush's two elections, oil and gas companies gave Republicans 79 percent of their $61.5 million in campaign contributions, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
If Bush really meant what he said, he would call for a freeze or cap on gasoline prices, especially in the regions affected most dramatically by Katrina.
It is not pleasant to see anyone loot a store.
But ExxonMobil and big oil are looting the nation, and no one declaring martial law on them.
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