"Why haven't skimmers been brought in from around the world to scoop up more of the oil?"
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"Why haven't skimmers been brought in from around the world to scoop up more of the oil?"
Um, didn't I mention a few weeks back about how Saudi Arabia used a flotilla of supertankers to scoop up the oil from a (somewhat) secret massive offshore spill back in the 1990s. People are still asking where is that level of response, including Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Eugene Robinson:
The issue isn't what Obama is feeling, it's what he's doing. Why haven't skimmers been brought in from around the world to scoop up more of the oil? Why isn't the defense of the coastline being run like a military campaign, with failure not an option? Why is the answer to every question essentially the same -- "We've repeatedly asked BP to get that done" -- when we're dealing with a crisis that has to be seen as an urgent matter of national security and the public welfare?
It's not like that outside help isn't available. It is:
The Post reported Monday that the administration has received offers of assistance from 17 nations. Sweden has volunteered to send three ships that can each collect about 15,000 gallons of oil an hour. Norway has offered to send nearly a third of its oil-spill response equipment. Japan has offered to send some boom, which authorities on the scene complain is in short supply.
The Swedes, the Norwegians, the Japanese and most of the other would-be Samaritans are still waiting to hear from the U.S. government or BP. Last week, according to The Post, the administration did ask the European Union to help with any specialized equipment it might have. But meanwhile, oil has penetrated the marshes of southern Louisiana and is lapping onto the beaches of Alabama and Florida. The main spill is spreading, and hurricane season is upon us.
That's pretty lame, if true. I know some on the right are claiming that this has something to do with the unions -- maybe at one point, but I think it's more a combo of incompetance and the notion that America is too proud to beg. Except that it's not begging when the world offers you help for a crisis that's too big for any one nation -- even the United States -- to handle alone.
Hopefully President Obama will address this tonight. He can't swim down there and stop the oil, but he can do this, and then he (and Congress, of course) can pass a recovery package for the Gulf, and then he can work toward that energy policy that will,, among other things, stop the spewing of oil and other pollutants from Louisiana to the Great Salt Lake to right here in Pennsylvania.
"and staffing with industry cronies the regulatory authorities of the US government, and which was a primary cause of this oil disaster" The regulator of this rig is the MMS. The person in charge came aboard after Bush left. MMS falls under the Dept of Interior, whose Sec was appointed by Obama. Massive talking point fail.— RG- "I was referring to the general ideology of "getting gubmint out of business"" Yes, if only we could have state run businesses. nothing bad would ever happen then. Cough, Chernobyl, cough. Who knew the commies were trying to drown government?— RG
@BillHicks://And what law would that be, General?/// The law in which WIll is referring to, that prevents foreign aid, is called the Jones Act, or the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. It requires that all coastal shipping in the US and all goods transported by water between U.S. ports, be carried in U.S.-flag ships built in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. It is protectionism, pure and simple. But, unlike past presidents in times of emergency, Obama has repeatedly said no to waiving Section 27 of the act, which would allow foreign ships and crews to assist with the clean up. So here you have a clear case where "gubmint" is IN the business with a regulation that is hampering the recovery and cleanup efforts. That knife with which you try to cut, Bill, it slices both ways.- "And what law would that be, General? I was referring to the general ideology" Ever notice that, when pressed on specifics , lefties can't actually point to deregulatory laws and instead refer to vague generalities?— RG
"///Which is the logical development of right wing policies of the last 30 years./// Yet, we're talking about a law that was passed by a democratic congress." A Democratic Congress from 90 years ago? Don't see how that is relevant.- "A Democratic Congress from 90 years ago?" And not waived by a Democratic president with a Democratic Congress today.— RG
- "The regulator of this rig is the MMS. The person in charge came aboard after Bush left. MMS falls under the Dept of Interior, whose Sec was appointed by Obama. Massive talking point fail." As usual RG you can't read. Despite your attempt to reduce this disaster (oh, I'm sorry, "accident", as you put it) to an either/or viewpoint, it is in fact both parties fault, as I pointed out. The Republican ideology of "government is bad" of the last 30 years which led to the current crisis, enabled by spineless Democrats and appointees with links to the oil industry they are supposed to regulate (Ken Salazar). Yes, the head of MMS and the Secretary of Interior are both appointees by Obama and have both been horrid, mainly because they kept in the same Bush cronies of the previous administration who were in bed (literally ) with the oil industry.
- "Yes, if only we could have state run businesses. nothing bad would ever happen then. Cough, Chernobyl, cough. Who knew the commies were trying to drown government?" So government regulation=communism. Hysterical viewpoint RG. In both senses of the word. Again your attempt to reduce the issue to a black and white objectivist viewpoint fails.
- "The Republican ideology of "government is bad" of the last 30 years which led to the current crisis" Meanwhile, in the real world and not talkingpointsville, Republicans continued to grow government over those 30 years. So I find your claims lacking in factual basis. Accidents happen and regulations tend to be highly inefficient.— RG
- "So government regulation=communism" Strawman. Chernobyl shows that complete gov oversight can still lead to disaster. "Again your attempt to reduce the issue to a black and white objectivist viewpoint fails." I'm happy that you googled Ayn Rand and pciked up the term objectivist, but a) I'm fairly certain you don't grasp the term too well, and b) I've never read Rand.— RG
- Will, for a change I completely agree with you. When people talk about this being Obama's Katrina (even though I think FEMA did what it was supposed to in that disaster and much of the blame really belongs to the LA Governor) it is exactly this that they are referring to. There is a lot that could have and should have been done that wasn't.— Mirror
"Chernobyl shows that complete gov oversight can still lead to disaster." How can you compare the USSR and US in this way? Thats like comparing Japan's reaction to a failing economy with our reaction. Come on RG, you cant have it both ways.— Les Ismore- "Meanwhile, in the real world and not talkingpointsville, Republicans continued to grow government over those 30 years. So I find your claims lacking in factual basis. Accidents happen and regulations tend to be highly inefficient." RG again with the conflation of facts. Republicans did grow government in the last decade. What they did NOT grow is regulatory agencies, which were cut and defanged. Reducing government oversight and scaling back regulation is exactly what led to the BP disaster. Your laissez-faire utopia has been found to be wanting, own up to it. Oh and by the way, 2 countries with the strictest environmental and government oversight of offshore drilling-Norway and Canada-have not had a disaster of this magnitude. Wonder why.
- "What they did NOT grow is regulatory agencies, which were cut and defanged." Regulatory agencies budgets grew during this time. Check the Dept of Interiors budget. Yes, regulators were "defanged", its why the federal code book grew by thousands of pages under Bush.— RG
- ""So government regulation=communism" Strawman. Chernobyl shows that complete gov oversight can still lead to disaster. A strawman you raised. Comparing Chernobyl to this disaster is an apples to oranges comparison. The USSR was not exactly a font of complete government oversight. And the Deepwater Horizon disaster could have been prevented, or at least mitigated, if someone at the switch of MMS had been awake. Admit it RG, this disaster happened because there was no government oversight, which is exactly the way the right wingers in charge wanted it (and which you seem to prefer). Even the attempt to require deepwater wells to have a remote blowout preventer switch installed (as is required in Norway) was deemed by Dick Cheney as "too expensive" at $500,000. It is very likely this switch would have prevented this disaster. I know it is hard to admit it, but your ideology is what has failed here. As to Ayn Rand, you should read her. Her "philosophy" (I use that term loosely) fits in snugly with your ideology.
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