PRESS RELEASE
A Growing Movement
To Put BP into Receivership
June 3, 2010 (EIRNS)—Lyndon LaRouche yesterday reiterated the needed emergency solution for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis: "Expropriate the British sons-o'-bitches! Take over BP! They owe us!"
LaRouche's call has been paralleled by former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who called for putting BP under "temporary receivership" in his May 31 column. Reich argued that BP cannot be trusted, and that the U.S. government must have direct, total control to deal with the emergency. Former General Colin Powell spoke in the same spirit on May 30, when he said that the military should be deployed with "decisive force."
By nationalizing BP North America, the U.S. government will be ending the "trust us" game of years of looting, leading up to the current epic oil spill. Look at the scale of BP North America finances to be deployed: The assets of BP North America (also going under the brand name ARCO, from acquisitions of Atlantic Richfield and Amoco) stand at $240 billion, with liabilities of $136 billion. This then, leaves net assets of $104 billion. Of those assets, current (circulating) assets are $70 billion.
This amount is clearly in the right range to be deployed for conducting clean-up operations, compensation, and drilling control, in the spirit of "waging war" that people are rightly demanding in the Gulf of Mexico states and neighboring nations. The $70 billion even compares favorably to the estimate of $22 billion to cover costs and liabilities of the Gulf disaster, as put out recently by insurer ING, itself part of the Inter-Alpha Group of London-centered political-finance networks, involving BP.
A "Seize BP" Week of Action starts June 3, at 5 p.m. in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago, at corporate offices, and thereafter through June 11 at public sites and BP gas stations from Seattle to Baltimore. In New York City, the "Seize BP" demonstration will be at JP Morgan Chase World Headquarters, on Park Ave., because, as the organizers point out, Chase owns close to 30% of BP's public stock. A petition, and a "Case for Seizure" statement is given on the Week of Action's website, www.seizebp.org.
