printREGULATION WRECKS. The point was made in “When Palin Agrees With Olbermann,” with reference to the Federal law limiting liability under which BP was operating. The regulation wrecking Ball is still swinging over the Gulf. In particular, The Jones Act. The scandal is beyond the grasp of such stupidity as is exhibited by “Hollow-Wood”:
“Foreign companies possessing some of the world’s most advanced oil skimming ships say they are being kept out of efforts to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf because of a 1920’s law known as the Jones Act — a protectionist law that requires vessels working in US waters be built in the US and be crewed by US workers.
Joseph Carafano of the Heritage Foundation has been studying the matter and wonders, ‘Are we accepting all the international assistance in the maritime domain that we can, and is the Jones Act an impediment to that?’
The Coast Guard and the Administration are quick to point out that some foreign technology is being used in the current cleanup effort. Including:
– Canada’s offer of 3,000 meters of containment boom
– Three sets of COSEQ sweeping arms from the Dutch
– Mexico’s offer of two skimmers and 4200 meters of boom
– Norway’s offer of 8 skimming systems
But that is largely technology transferred to US vessels. Some of the best clean up ships – owned by Belgian, Dutch and the Norwegian firms are NOT being used. Coast Guard Lt. Commander, Chris O’Neil, says that is because they do not meet ‘the operational requirements of the Unified Area Command.’ One of those operational requirements is that vessels comply with the Jones Act.
‘Yes, it does apply,’ said ONeil, ‘I have heard no discussions of waivers.'”
[SNIP]
“A Jones Act waiver” is not something the state workers involved in the pitiful clean-up—his Admiralty Thad Allen included—are eager to obtain.
The We-Are-The-Best-In-The-World chauvinists ought to take note: America is no longer cutting edge. But The Golden Calf will get us there again, right?
This is horrifying; remember that it is not just technology that gets the job done, but technical expertise is important as well. By that I mean high-level engineering skills, not merely operational facility with equipment. If we are not making use of the expertise accompanying the technology that foreign companies provide we aren’t doing nearly enough. National pride should have no place in this effort.
Interesting post. I had heard that the main obstacle was that many of the workers would not be union. If that were the case then Obama would absolutely not sign a waiver because he is bought and paid for by the unions. If the reason is what is posted above, then whoever is impeding a cleanup should be put in jail for negligence. This certainly sounds like an out of date law. Let’s not forget that the left loves this disaster and will milk it for as much government control as they can get.
The leak in the gulf is a classic systems engineering problem. If we had a good systems engineer who had some authority he would have to do the following 1) work the WHOLE problem, 2) the leak solution must be worked in parallel with the clean-up problem, 3) provide the necessary resources do to the job (foreign or American now is not a good time for “pride of authorship”), 4) prioritize when there is competition for resources, and 5) work the legal problems ahead of time.
This phantom engineer must stop the finger pointing as it wastes time and demoralizes those who are really working the problems. Finally this individual must have the strength of his convictions to go toe to toe with whoever is standing in his way. The phrase that comes to mind is “politics be damned” let’s get the job done. Personally I think more than a few politicians need to be told to either help or get the h— out of the way!
Also this individual must not bow to the “golden calf”! And by all means get the Jones Act waivers in place!
Was this really an accident?
Anyone worthy of the title ‘President’ would have ignored the law with the public statement ‘the law is an ass – I am not’. As it stands now, they’re both full of shit.
This is a perfect example of federal government’s myopic bungling. And, these are the people who are going to handle health care for 300 million people.
I have no idea of any justification for this (Jones Act) limitation on freedom of the seas and commerce other than selfish, monopolistic greed. I am sure Sistah Sarah will blame this all on the evil Democrats although it was the Republican Congress of 1920 that passed it and a Republican Congress of 1954 that passed the Cargo Preference Act (never let facts stand in the way of a good finger-pointing!). The act might not be playing the primary role in the mess in the Gulf – but its existance (like the Davis-Bacon pro-Union act on federal construction projects) is an embarrassment.
Greed is the primary reason that most of the world’s ships fly flags of convenience. The Jones Act seems to have been an attempt to force some of the world’s ships to comply with U.S. maritime laws and safety regulations. (I’m now puzzled as to why cruise ships registered in Liberia are allowed to sail from U.S. ports.) Oddly enough, regulating seaborne international commerce is one of the few things that the Constitution actually empowers Congress to do.
On the subject of limited liability, I’d be careful what I wished for. Were you to take away limited liability, the oil companies would quadruple the price of gasoline to finance insurance polices for astronomical sums. The insurance executives would spend a large part of their windfall on whiskey and harlots, waste the rest on some Wall Street Ponzi scheme, and file bankruptcy upon receipt of the first claim.
I’ve heard Anderson Cooper’s “reporting” on the spill on CNN and he continues to make me sick with his over-emotional responses. Yes, the Gulf is a tragedy, but even reporters like Cooper should know how to exercise some emotional restraint. Here’s how to do that, from a tragedy I still remember, although I was a youngster at the time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K8Q3cqGs7I&feature=related
Don’t worry folks! Henry Waxman is on the job. He will grill “Big Oil” ceo’s about the disaster in the Gulf. He will question BP CEO Tony Hayward to explain decisions made by the company days before the rig explosion. Shouldn’t Waxman at least know something about drilling rigs and valves so he can understand what he is talking about?
We all know this is a political play by a disgusting little man from that bankrupt state called California.