With the gulf oil disaster now halted, at least for the moment, one wonders what the hell took so long (to be fair we've all been wondering that for a good month now). Almost everyone has been blaming BP (as they should), few have mentioned much about TransOcean and a good number of folks on the left and (especially) the right have been blaming the Obama Administration.
Now, to be fair, I also blame all three of these parties- the first two for causing the spill through what looks like negligence and a greedy oversight of obvious safety issues; and the administration for such a poor effort at cleaning it up. The administration claimed that BP was needed for the cleanup because it had the know-how and the equipment to deal with such an undertaking, which is probably true. But know-how and equipment don't necessarily mean you have to be in charge, just that you can execute the plan you're told to execute. E.J. Dionne, Jr. points out at The New Republic the poor choice of putting free enterprise in charge of disaster cleanup.
In Dionne's piece, a good point is made about the conservative critique of the government's role in this. For the past couple of weeks, conservative commentators like Sean Hannity have been complaining and complaining about the government's slow response to pleas from the likes of small-government enthusiasts like Bobby Jindal. What right do they have to do that, though? If the government would have swooped in on day one, told BP "this is how it's gonna be," mounted some large effort and started dealing with the cleanup, wouldn't these same people be complaining that government needs to get out of the way and let free enterprise do it- that entrepreneurs could do it better?
These are the same "commentators" who are still complaining about TARP and the stimulus package, while at the same time complaining about unemployment being high- as if by allowing our biggest corporations to close and not putting money into the economy unemployment wouldn't be even higher than it is today. You can complain about government being too big and about deficit spending all you like. You can say these things are ruining America. I may not agree with you, but I understand your concern. But you can't have it both ways. Either government should get out of the way and let free enterprise handle a situation or they shouldn't. Make up your minds.
Now, to be fair, I also blame all three of these parties- the first two for causing the spill through what looks like negligence and a greedy oversight of obvious safety issues; and the administration for such a poor effort at cleaning it up. The administration claimed that BP was needed for the cleanup because it had the know-how and the equipment to deal with such an undertaking, which is probably true. But know-how and equipment don't necessarily mean you have to be in charge, just that you can execute the plan you're told to execute. E.J. Dionne, Jr. points out at The New Republic the poor choice of putting free enterprise in charge of disaster cleanup.
In Dionne's piece, a good point is made about the conservative critique of the government's role in this. For the past couple of weeks, conservative commentators like Sean Hannity have been complaining and complaining about the government's slow response to pleas from the likes of small-government enthusiasts like Bobby Jindal. What right do they have to do that, though? If the government would have swooped in on day one, told BP "this is how it's gonna be," mounted some large effort and started dealing with the cleanup, wouldn't these same people be complaining that government needs to get out of the way and let free enterprise do it- that entrepreneurs could do it better?
These are the same "commentators" who are still complaining about TARP and the stimulus package, while at the same time complaining about unemployment being high- as if by allowing our biggest corporations to close and not putting money into the economy unemployment wouldn't be even higher than it is today. You can complain about government being too big and about deficit spending all you like. You can say these things are ruining America. I may not agree with you, but I understand your concern. But you can't have it both ways. Either government should get out of the way and let free enterprise handle a situation or they shouldn't. Make up your minds.
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