264 R TREE ARCHIVE (74.105.214.2) papaFi ( 2012-11-14 20:49:27 )
And no one believed me when I said GM would soon be bankrupt as well... or that the same would happen to General Growth Properties (the biggest owner of mall properties in America).
But again, that's exactly what happened.
I've spent three years of my life studying these new events. At first, like you, I didn't believe it was possible. But... after spending more than $100,000 on this research and after spending month after month researching this topic, I'm now certain it real.
It's going to change everything about the way America works. Most of the changes will be tremendously positive. But there's a huge political risk to what's happening… and you deserve to know about it, the good and the bad.
I'm talking about the oil and natural gas boom that's occurring right now in America.
You see, it has been decades since America witnessed a bona fide oil boom.
Most people won't recognize what's happening today – because they've never seen anything like it. They won't understand how this will change politics in America. They won't understand how it will change our economy.
That's why… to know what's going on today… we first have to take you back in time…
WHAT A REAL OIL BOOM LOOKS LIKE
It's 1901.
Most of the world still lives in darkness. Kerosene, for lighting, is still a luxury. That's why you bought, “The Big Hill” in Texas.
It's a huge salt dome. Locals say there's no oil in it -- or in the dozens of salt dimples just like it that dot the Texas landscape.
Drilling was very difficult at first due to very little rock and several hundred feet of sand. This made the hole prone to caving in. Curt Hamill, one of your drillers, came up with a revolutionary solution to the problem. Instead of pumping water down the hole to remove the sand and rock, he used mud. The mud stuck to the sides of the hole and prevented it from caving in.
On January 10th, 1901, a blast of natural gas followed by a towering geyser of greenish-black crude shot up more than 150 feet out of the derrick… you hit pay dirt -- The Lucas No. 1 Well. It produced more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day – more than all of the other wells in the United States, combined. So many wells were drilled around it, they called it “Spindletop.” And since that day in 1901, mud has been used in almost every drill hole around the world.
In fact, so much oil flowed out of Spindletop the price of oil fell to three cents a barrel. The economic impact was unprecedented. The world's navies switched from coal to oil. So did the railroads. And Spindletop fueled a revolution in transportation, making gasoline cheap and widely available. In 1900, there were only 8,000 cars in America. By 1916, there were 3.5 million.
The wealth created during this oil boom imbued Americans with a new sense of destiny and power. They responded to a demagogue uniquely suited to capture their imagination. Fresh from his exaggerated triumphs in the Spanish-American war, Teddy Roosevelt seemed to be the picture of America's new strength. He was a cowboy. He was a roughrider. Americans loved him…
Ironically, Teddy Roosevelt used this massive new political power to attack the very institutions that created America's sudden prosperity. He helped pass law after law attacking large oil companies, like Standard Oil, for example.
The Standard Oil Company has, largely by unfair or unlawful methods, crushed out home competition... It is highly desirable that an element of competition should be introduced by the passage of some such laws… – Theodore Roosevelt, May 4, 1906
He lobbied Congress to pass the Hepburn Act, which for the first time gave the federal government the right to set maximum railroad rates and prevented railroad owners from giving “free rides” to their friends and supporters. He created the Food and Drug Administration to oversee food safety. He created the Department of Commerce to aid unions.
His most radical ideas were known as the “Square Deal.” His plan called for the imposition of an income tax (something that during his presidency was still barred by the U.S. Constitution.) The “square deal” might sound familiar to you. Similar political programs were offered by every Democratic candidate for decades. FDR's program was called the “New Deal.” Harry Truman's was called “the Fair Deal.” Lyndon Johnson's was called ‘The Great Society.' All of these programs were designed to give more power to the government… to increase taxes on the “rich”… and to redistribute the income or the benefits according to political patronage. This is just socialism dressed up to sell to Americans.
It's the exact same rhetoric you hear today from Obama.
Now, whether or not you think these so-called progressive policies are good or bad is a political question. It's a matter of opinion. It probably depends on where you sit financially. If you don't pay taxes, you probably love these ideas. If you do pay taxes, you probably resent them.
But whatever your politics, just consider this: Teddy Roosevelt was elected as a conservative Republican. His own party stood against his progressive ideas. Nevertheless, powered by a huge oil discovery – Spindletop – and a booming economy, the people of the United States began to demand their government do more and more things. Our sudden wealth and prosperity changed the political mood in the country. We were now rich enough to do more… to help more people. And the government, thanks to its oil riches, could now take on big business and win.
It's hard to believe how popular these views became… and how they transformed Teddy Roosevelt's presidency. He became almost a mythical figure… the most popular sitting president the U.S. had ever seen. He was, in a way, more like a European dictator than a U.S. statesman. This power would eventually lead him to run for a third term – something that had never been done before – in 1912.
But by then, most of his ideas had already been taken over by the Democrats, whose candidate Woodrow Wilson, would go on to become the most liberal president the country had ever seen. He changed the Constitution to pass an income tax. He set up the Federal Reserve and moved America towards paper money. He implemented the direct election of U.S. senators, transforming America from a limited republic to a democracy. And ignoring the advice and the precedence set by George Washington and our other founders, Wilson sent our troops to fight in one of Europe's endless wars. He claimed, preposterously, that World War I would make the world safe for democracy. (Americans have been dying for that same impossible goal ever since.)
Just imagine what Teddy Roosevelt might have accomplished if, like Wilson, he'd been a Democrat.... or if he'd merely run for office in 1908, instead of letting Taft (his hand-picked successor) take office. It's realistic to believe Teddy could have won the presidency at least three times… just as his cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt would do beginning in 1932. But… the key point to consider is… where did this power come from? Why did Americans suddenly embrace a massively more powerful government, led by a charismatic demagogue?
The answer is, of course, oil.
The oil Spindletop produced changed the entire world – forever. The massive increases in production dramatically lowered prices for oil around the world, enriching the lives of millions of consumers. Americans who backed Spindletop became some of the richest people in the world. Gulf Oil, Texaco, Amoco, and Humble Oil all trace their origins back to Spindletop.
With this incredible wealth came hubris, great ambitions, and political power. It was an oil boom that created Teddy's Roosevelt's prosperity and his political power. And it was an oil boom that created his cousin's too…
Let me show you.
It's 1930.
You've just sat down at a backyard poker game, hosted by a Texas gambling legend – H.L. Hunt. As he rakes in the