Matthews: Obama Needs to 'Nationalize' Oil Industry! (and execute BP Executives)

NewsBusters ^ | May 17, 2010 | Geoffrey Dickens

[Zakeet]

Last week an agitated Chris Matthews tried to hold Dick Cheney accountable for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and this week Matthews is demanding action from President Obama, as the Hardball host pushed the President to nationalize the oil industry to solve the problem. On Monday's Hardball a visibly angry Matthews demanded Obama go after BP: "Why doesn't the President go in there, nationalize an industry and get the job done for the people?" and pointed out that in China they would have a much harsher response to BP: "They execute people for this. Major industrial leaders that commit crimes like this."

Matthews even took aim at the entire capitalist system, as over video of the oil slick, he sarcastically mocked: "Everybody says 'Capitalism is great. Unbridled free enterprise is great.' Look at it! This is great, isn't it?!" [audio available here]

The following Matthews outbursts were aired on the May 17 edition of Hardball:

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Welcome back to Hardball. We continue to see more fallout over that disastrous rig explosion, an oil leak, down in the Gulf of Mexico. The chief electronics technician on the Deep Water Horizon rig told 60 Minutes that there were known problems in the blowup preventer in the weeks leading up to the accident. An Associated Press investigation shows that the Minerals Management Service didn't live up to its own inspection policy and today the top government official who overseas offshore oil drilling for the Minerals Management Service announced his retirement. So how much fault lies with the BP and the other companies associated with the rig and how much blame lies with the Minerals Management Service of government for lax oversight. Kate Sheppard sits with me now. She's an environmental reporter for Mother Jones and Abrahm Lustgarden is with Propublica.

Abrahm let me ask you this question first of all. I have a hunch that the reason they don't want to fix this mess down there is because they would admit who did it, if they fix it. Nobody is, if this was a nuclear bomb ready to go off we'd be down there. I am so...I don't even want to talk about it, I get so mad at this oil company. Why aren't they fixing it? First of all.

ABRAHAM LUSTGARDEN, PROPUBLICA: Well I think they're doing the best they can, honestly. I mean drilling at the bottom and operating at the bottom of the ocean or 5000 feet down, maximizes the, the technological capabilities of the oil industry. It's been likened to space exploration and I think it's quite similar. So at this point, they may, they may want to hide blame, but at this point I don't think there's much motivation, not to fix the problem if they know how to do that.

MATTHEWS: Really? You know, I have a suspicion I'll go back to it again. I don't think they're doing their best. I don't think the government is doing its best. Why doesn't the President go in there, nationalize an industry and get the job done for the people? There's a national interest in this, not just a BP interest. We're letting BP fix a national problem.

...

MATTHEWS OVER VIDEO OF OIL SPILL: In China, it's a more brutal society, a more brutal society, Kate, but they execute people for this. Major industrial leaders that commit crimes like this. Failure like this. This is a serious, serious problem. It is not over. It continues to destroy a part of our planet basically. Part of our habitat, our American habitat. And everybody just sits and watches television every night. "And so that's interesting." And you see guys are still drawing their paychecks, still making their profits. The oil industry has been ballooning in profits this year and nobody is doing anything about it except - what are we Vatican observers now? We just watch? It is maddening that our government is - Everybody says "Capitalism is great. Unbridled free enterprise is great." Look at it! This is great, isn't it?!

...

MATTHEWS: Back in 1973, I investigated the oil pipeline industry on land. 220,000 miles of pipeline. One inspector for the federal government because the federal government believed in self-regulation. Industry self-regulation. It looks to me the way we're looking at this, you guys, is that we still count on the industry to prevent the problem and to fix it. Is that the way we look at it as a government? As a country?

...

MATTHEWS: Okay when's it gonna stop? When is the President blow the whistle? When they fill up the Gulf of Mexico with oil? When is the President gonna say we are no longer watching and waiting and seeing how BP is doing?

...

MATTHEWS: Maybe we should take the BP executives and the board down there a mile and have them sit down there until they fix it. Maybe they'll come up with something. The idleness of the mind here. They have all the money in the world and all the brains in the world to make the money on the oil, ballooning profits now for a quarter, after quarter. Ballooning profits. We're just seeing, watching it. And now we're watching them take their time solving this. But, you're, you're very compliant here for environmental watchdogs, Kate. I don't understand you guys. You, you seem to understand their predicament. It's a mile down. Well they went down a mile to get the oil.

...

MATTHEWS: Well millions of people in the American right who sit around say there's no such thing as mankind destroying his environment through climate change or whatever. There's an example of what we're doing right now. We can destroy our habitat on this planet and it's the only one we've got.

[alrea]

Why doesn't the President go in there, nationalize an industry and get the job done for the people? There's a national interest in this, not just a BP interest.

Matthews needs a reality waiver from Obama.

[fightinJAG]

It seems to me he is getting more and more desperate for some kind of viewership. I do believe he believes his own moonbat schtick. But I also think he is calculating that he’s got to go somewhere new to try to get at least one or two more viewers so that he can live to broadcast another day.

[SECURE AMERICA]

Hey assface Matthews. You want to live in a Communist Nation then move to Chavez’s Paradise!

[chiefqc]

Hey Matty, get off your knees and wipe your mouth off.

[SECURE AMERICA]

Just the other day I read a letter to the editor of our local paper from some clown who says all the Christian gun owning fascists are going to me locked away in prison forever starting very soon.

So 3/4 of our Military and Police Forces and Citizens are going to be locked up? BY WHO?
Second point. Bring it on!

[USS Alaska]

When the nbc takeover by Comcast is completed {sometime in the Fall} chrissy boi toy will be looking for a new cable network to spew his bile.

Comcast wants profits, not spitters.

[MiltonFriedmanFan]

You have to realize that Obama was the second coming of Camelot to all these 60s era hippies. It has all came crashing down after only a year and they cant cope with it. They are lashing out at ghosts of Nixon and the silent majority.

[Haiku Guy]

Comcast wants profits, not spitters.

You expect him to swallow?!? That would violate his standards of journalism!

[DrC]

“Why doesn’t the President go in there, nationalize an industry and get the job done for the people?”

This would have been laughable at the beginning of the Obama administration. At this juncture, it is ludicrous. Does Matthews seriously believe the U.S. government would be more competent to run BP than it has been at running Medicare (unfunded liabilities=$89T), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (net losses to be dumped onto taxpayers=$300B IIRC), the USPS (net losses also measured in billions), or cash for clunkers (net cost of $20,000 per vehicle swapped for one with only slightly better gas mileage)?

[Anti-Bubba182]

He is getting crazier all the time.

[RoadTest]

Chris Matthews = Marxist

[OkiMusashi]

As usual, the mechanics of what Chrissy proposes are impossible. The private ownership of royalty interests combined with the ol’ “Just Compensation” thingy in the 5th make “Nationalizing the Oil Business” in this free country impossible.

In order to “nationalize the oil business”, you’d have to “buy” all privately held royalty in the country.

Such money does not exist and, if printed, would inflate money out of existance.

Dream on, Chrissy.

[MHGinTN]

Um, scum like Chris Matthews don’t view this as a problem which confiscation won’t fix ... you’ve seen Maxine Waters’ approach no doubt. Well, that is the wet dream of commies called ‘Democrats’.

[MHGinTN]

In case you haven’t seen Maxine’s naked commie revelation: do a Youtube query for the Maxine Waters/socializing video.

[MHGinTN]

Here's the video as present through Brit HUme's Report: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrA9zj94NuU

[Shery]

This same man would bastardize anybody who tried to establish the death penalty for murder here in America!

[MrB]

“We’re makin’ a list, we’re checkin’ it twice!”

[WayneS]

Just the other day I read a letter to the editor of our local paper from some clown who says all the Christian gun owning fascists are going to me locked away in prison forever starting very soon.

Did the letter writer happen to mention how "they" were going to get the guns away from the "Christian gun owning fascists"?