Americans need oil. The US military relies upon BP for its supply of oil. Yet, it is a privately owned foreign corporation. BP should be acting in America's best interests. The problem seems complex. Yet, many things seem more complicated than they are. The US government should nationalize BP.
There are too many public-private partnerships, and publicly dependent corporations. Regulations have been tried, but regulators keep getting corrupted. The only real solution is to nationalize the industry. Congressionally-mandated rules, FOIA requests, and governmental processes can bring effective discipline to out-of-control companies.
You must look beyond the free-market propaganda. You have probably heard of the rights of corporations, or the rights of capitalists. The abilities and means of governments are derided. This idea is not new. The Divine right of kings doctrine said kings get a right to rule from God. Those who attempted to limit royal prerogative were derided as taking away the King's God-given rights. The people were said to be too stupid to govern. Aristocrats have defended their right to rule in similar terms.
I believe democracy. Our nations critical issue should be decided democratically. Not by private corporations. When mega-corporations are necessary they should be run under the auspices of government. They are too big to respond to the interests of individual citizens. We need democratic pressure to make these companies responsive the needs of Americans. The leaders of these companies should be elected.
Large corporations are stealing vast sums of money, and hording it. The same is true with BP and with the too-big-too-fail banks. These companies hire very few people. Often, the big corporations will buyout smaller companies and fire people, or drive smaller companies out of business, resulting in layoffs.
Small companies are where the innovation is within our economy. For small businesses, there are real markets that work. Big corporations are bureaucratic entities, which need additional oversight. It is time for them to reigned in.