In 1920, congress wasn't much smarter than the current bunch. They passed what is know as the Jones Act, The Merchant Marine act of 1920,or The Cargo Preference Act. Under the strictures of this act most American trade had to be carried by American ships manned by American ( Union ) seamen. Shortly thereafter the US merchant marine largely disappeared and heretofore American ships were registered in Panama and other foreign countries.
The Jones Act has severely impacted the response to the gulf oil disaster. Many available ships such as skimmers are in the area but cannot be used. President Bush waived the act during the Katrina disaster. President Obama could have done the same.However,this would have offended his labor union support and he has failed to issue the waiver. His failure to do this has exacerbated the damage in the gulf.
This hardly seems like the time to play politics.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Good post Dad - I was not aware of this and agree it is not time to play politics.
Hmm... I see you are still listening and believing everything Fox News says...
Check out the following link:
http://mediamatters.org/research/201006110023
To sum it up: The Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act of 1920) only regulates ship travel between U.S. ports. Bush waived it after Katrina to move oil from one American port to another. But the Jones Act says nothing about bringing in foreign vessels for emergencies so there’s no need for a waiver. In fact, they have been bringing in foreign rigs.
Tommy, I hope you are not defending the government's (or Obama's) response to this disaster! I listen to Fox, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and others. Not one has been very positive about the government's role to date. The Washington crowd is so busy trying to make this a political victory that they have failed to do anything proactive (and no, meetings and press conferences are NOT proactive) -- this bullet is directed toward both Democrats and Republicans. However, the Dems are clearly in the majority in every branch -- they have been able to CRAM some very unpopular bills down our throats, so WHY CAN'T THEY ACT NOW WHEN IT REALLY COUNTS AND IS IMPORTANT AND CRITICAL!!!! And again, hosting BP at meetings and pointing fingers is NOT MEANINGFUL OR IMPORTANT right now.
Nancy, you constantly think I am one of the "Obama is Jesus and can do no wrong" people. Not.
So... hard as it is, lets stick to the point. What Dad posted was a straw man argument made by a Fox COMMENTARY, with incorrect facts and very obviously an axe to grind.
I would be interested to hear what type of response YOU think the government could have made that would have met with rave reviews across the broad spectrum of news channels you surf.
While the sources and precision of your argument may be a little off-balance (I make no claim as I am not as abreast this issue as Tom Jr), I cannot disagree that this is no time to play politics.
Which is very clearly exactly what is going on down there. It's enough to make you sick, really.
Post a Comment