c. 70 days behind Bush...

Obama is finally preparing to let some foreign countries help clean up the spilled oil.

After Katrina, Bush accepted foreign help in three days.

(no subject)

http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2010/06/coast_congressman_fuming_over.html

“As oil spread as close as 1½ miles from Jackson County’s coast Saturday, U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor [ a Democrat ] called the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster “incompetent.”

“I’m having a Katrina flashback,” said the Bay St. Louis Democrat after an aerial survey of the Mississippi Sound and barrier islands Saturday morning. “I haven’t seen this much incompetence since Michael Brown was running FEMA.”[snip]

Taylor said U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who heads the spill response, should fix problems that include a lack of direction and equipment.

“Vessels of Opportunity do not identify themselves,” said Taylor. “There is no way to communicate with them.

All those boats are running around like headless chickens. None of them are skimming for oil. It is criminal. Between the amount of money, the amount of wasted effort, there shouldn’t be a drop of oil in the Mississippi Sound, but because of this incompetence, it is there.”

What does a president have to do? Certainly there is no need for a president to “suck up the oil” with a straw. There is no need for a president to dive miles down to shut the oil gusher. The job is to lead. The job is to put in place competent people. The job is to get the job done, not devise new excuses with flowery words to explain the problem. The job is to lead. With Obama, the job is not getting done:

“Taylor said U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who heads the spill response, should fix problems that include a lack of direction and equipment. “If he doesn’t get off his butt and fix this, yes,” said Taylor when asked if he was saying Allen should be replaced.[snip]

“It is criminal what is going on. This doesn’t have to happen, and it is not like I said ‘go fix it.’ I gave them a detailed plan how to do this two weeks ago. They are not doing any of it.”

Taylor’s plan, like the state’s, called for a multilayered response that relied heavily on skimmers to collect oil south of the barrier islands, at the island passes and within the Mississippi Sound.

“I’m absolutely furious,” said Taylor. “If the president of the United States can’t find somebody who can do this job, then let me do it.”