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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (85201)	6/3/2010 6:19:55 PM
From: FJB	Respond to of 224713

Where you see a President who would not have been able to do anything even if he tried, I see a lazy person who does not care or try.

To: TimF who wrote (85201)	6/3/2010 6:24:17 PM
From: mph	6 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224713

What about Obama's failure to clear the decks for the measures requested by Jindal? My impression is that he brought everything to a grinding stop because he did not know what to do. While I agree with your general position that Presidents are not to blame for everything that happens on their watch, the fact is that Obama's ineptitude and lack of leadership probably prevented some proactive measures from being taken and resulted, at least to some extent, in increased damage. Sometimes Mr. Controller has to get out of the way. His major problem is that he thinks he's so f'ing smart that everyone must bend a knee in his direction. What a joke.

To: TimF who wrote (85201)	6/3/2010 8:52:15 PM
From: FJB	Respond to of 224713

BP set to lower US oil-spill cap news.bbc.co.uk

To: TimF who wrote (85201)	6/7/2010 7:13:41 AM
From: FJB	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224713

NY Times excerpt: Debates over the speed — or lack thereof — of the government response have also played out in Louisiana, where state officials spent much of May repeatedly seeking permission from the federal government to construct up to 90 miles of sand barriers to prevent oil from reaching the wetlands. For three weeks, as the giant slick crept closer to shore, officials from the White House, Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Environmental Protection Agency debated the best approach. They ultimately approved the use of only one barrier, called a berm, to be paid for by BP. Comparing the federal government's response to "telling a drowning man to wait," Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana asked: If one berm is safe, then why not the 23 others that he had requested? Slowly, the federal government approved more berms. From the start, BP had played down the extent of the problem in miscalculating the rate of the leak and in denying the existence of underwater oil plumes. By deferring to the company, federal officials underestimated the problem they were facing and thus what was needed to respond to it. It took more than a week after the explosion for the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, to declare, on April 29, "a spill of national significance" a legal categorization that was needed before certain federal assistance could be authorized. Because of such delays, critics have charged, more coastline will be hit, more animals will die, more habitats will be ruined and more money will be lost in tourism, fishing and real estate. And yet, the administration is limited in its ability to divorce itself from BP, because federal officials rely on the company for technology, personnel and financing for the cleanup. The relationship reached a turning point last week when the administration said the national incident commander, Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard, would start giving solo briefings. He will no longer share a podium with BP, which will offer its own briefings. That move, however, does not resolve the matter of who is actually in charge in the gulf — of ensuring safety and regulating the dangerous extraction of vast riches under the deepest waters there, as well as of handling the continuing emergency. nytimes.com