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Robert Samuelson complains inordinately about how the Obama administration is hurting oil and gas companies by not encouraging exploration. Sounds horrible. But what he is really saying is that our national government hesitates to provide monetary incentives (welfare) to giant oil companies. They already make huge profits off of our purchase of their products, and are provided favorable leases on government land.

Giant corporations preach against programs that help people in need. To them, and to many rich people, “welfare”, funds to assist people and families in need, is very bad. However funds, tax credits, and favorable breaks, like very cheap fees for leasing federal lands, is wonderful. Is it the role of our federal government to support business and not citizens?  I certainly hope not.

During previous administrations our government encouraged the oil companies with numerous incentives. We provided tax breaks, exploration grants, cheap leases of government land for oil exploration and production. Why is that not enough now? Is Robert Samuelson suggesting that the companies will decide not to conduct dependable business without another government program?

Our federal budget is limited, especially now. Too many giant corporations are looking for more government handouts. We need to revise our policy. We need government incentives that provide jobs, not profits. We need programs to rescue our economy from the mess that was made by huge financial corporations who were seeking more profit and selfishly ignoring the public good.

Another of Samuelson’s complaints was that we should reduce any funds for “green” energy and apply it to oil and gas instead. To me that is very short sighted. Samuelson claims that green sources will not replace the oil and gas we need for automobiles and trucks. He is probably correct in the very near future, but with a real technological push, green sources such as solar, could fuel batteries that could power our vehicles. If we do not make such efforts a goal, we will certainly fail to reduce our use of petroleum. And if we do not reduce our use of petroleum we will at the mercy of other countries. Personally, I think being at the mercy of oil exporting nations is a very dangerous concept.