Gulf Coast now “Open For Business.” Unless, of course, you mean oil business

Savior-In-Chief Barack Obama mandated on Saturday that the Gulf Coast is now “open for business.” So just how “open” is it?

Well, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar still has his boot on the throats of America’s evil oil barons and offshore drilling is still illegal, so it seems that that the President may be overstating his case.

The White House should refer back to a Yahoo News story from July 27 that cites some very interesting economic predictions.

According to AFP:

A study by Louisiana State University finance professor Joseph Mason estimates the six-month moratorium, which ends in late November, would cost more than 8,000 jobs in Gulf states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Nearly 500 million dollars in wages will be wiped out by the deepwater drilling ban, as will be 2.1 billion dollars in economic activity and some 100 million dollars in state and local tax revenues.

But the impact of the moratorium would not stop there, the study warned.

At least 12,000 jobs could be lost nationwide, and with them would go around 200 million dollars in federal tax revenues.

We’re eagerly awaiting the President’s explanation of his comments. But we’re pretty sure the “business” he refers to is probably nothing more than another government-sponsored bailout program.

– Written by Rainer Fehrenbacher

Source: AFP