Today on CNN James Carville softened his criticism of Obama's handling of the spill. Now he seems to be towing the Administration's line, which is to shift all anger and frustration toward BP and the oil industry as a whole.
Meanwhile, Karl Rove wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal in which he echoed what I've been saying from day-one, that this Administration's response to the spill is a worse case of government impotence than the Bush Administration suffered after Katrina. Rove also pointed out the fact that by law federal decision-making in response to Katrina had to take a back seat to State and Local decision-making. The disaster area with Katrina was on state property. In the case of the spill, in which the disaster occurred on federally leased land, the federal government had the sole responsibility to take charge. The federal government overseas the lands and waters that belong to every American, and these lands and waters include those offshore to the edge of the continental shelf.
~seabgb
3 comments:
Why should the American people be forced to clean up BP's messes? Reeks notoriously of corporate 'externalities' to me.
Instead, I hope our government has the force of character to revoke BP's undersea mineral rights as punishment, and maintain the embargo with military force, if necessary.
Don't you find it just the slightest bit odd, that the Republican party, stalwarts of 'personal responsibility' and 'small government', are stepping-in to opine that the /government/ ought to have acted sooner? Ought this not rightfully dismissed as purely partisan rhetoric?
I'm not saying that the government should be responsible for cleaning up BP's mess or that we should let BP off the hook for what happened. But I expect my government to protect my environment and my health in the same way I expect my local fire department to put out a fire in a neighboring factory, regardless of how that fire is set. I'm sure, in Rove's case, his comments are indeed politically motivated, but that doesn't make them entirely wrong. There is a lot our government could have done and should be doing to enable a faster and more effective response. NO matter what we do, we can always send the bill to BP. To sit around and wag a finger at BP and tell them to clean this up just because they caused is self-destructive. imho...
Post a Comment