Editorial from Investors Business Daily.
Excerpt:
The federal government’s response so far has consisted largely of scapegoating BP and ignoring its own responsibilities and lack of preparation, railing against Big Oil, while Congress makes plans to quadruple the federal gasoline tax, ostensibly to finance cleanups.
Never let a good crisis go to waste when there’s a chance to make big government bigger.
“We’ve been frustrated with the disjointed effort to date that has too often meant too little, too late for the oil hitting our coast,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said on Day 36 of the spill.
As of Tuesday morning, he was still waiting for the federal government to provide millions of feet in booms and to approve an emergency permit for a state plan to dredge and build new barrier islands to keep the oil from reaching the marshes and wetlands.
Jindal, who is so desperate for the islands that he says he’ll build them himself even if it means going to jail, states: “We need more booms, more skimmers, more vacuums, more jack-up barges that are still in short supply. Let’s be clear: Every day that this oil sits is one more day that more of our marsh dies.”
The leftist media was on Bush 48 hours after Katrina for “not doing enough”. But they’ve given Obama a pass for 37 DAYS (as of Thursday). Is that consistent? Well, it’s consistent with their enormous bias against conservatives.
I normally would not think that Obama should be blamed for this at all, because it’s not the federal government’s job to rush in and rescue states. But Jindal is no fool, and he seems to think that there are specific things that Obama should be providing. So why isn’t Obama providing them, and why doesn’t the media care about the environment now that Obama is President?
WINTERY KNIGHT 
As Krauthammer points out, and I quote on my blog, Obama does justly deserve criticism.
“Moreover, Obama has never been overly modest about his own powers. Two years ago next week, he declared that history will mark his ascent to the presidency as the moment when “our planet began to heal” and “the rise of the oceans began to slow.”
Well, when you anoint yourself King Canute, you mustnt be surprised when your subjects expect you to command the tides.”
King Canute better get it together.
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LOL! Charles Krauthammer is on fire these days.
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I’m not saying that Obama shouldn’t be criticised much more given what he claims to stand for, but the difference in the media reactions might be due to the fact that not a single human being has lost their life in this spill, and hardly any houses have even been damaged. Around 1,800 people lost their very lives from Hurricane Katrina, and 80% of New Orleans was flooded. I think a bit of perspective is needed when comparing the two tbh………
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Perspective? When an abundance of sealife starts dying because they’ve all been choked out by the oil, the people that live in these coastal regions that depend on them could lose everything they have…they depend on the gulf for their livelihood and this “do-nothing” approach that Obummer’s taking right now sure isn’t helping anything. Do the aftermath.
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Yes, perspective when comparing the two. You missed out that last part. I agree with you that this is going to be terrible for that local economy, but compare that to all the loss of life, loss of homes, shops and businesses that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and you can see a clear difference, that’s all I’m saying.
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I was working with the Red Cross during Katrina and Rita. The presidential visits pretty much shut down our relief efforts due to security operations. A US president needs to stay away from emergency operations to let folks working on the problem get their jobs done. What I expect from the Feds on a fiasco like this is analysis, planning, and improved policy for the future. A sitting US President simply has no capacity to stop the leak!!!
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well said!
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