A Time to ask Questions

As we watch our government work in several major areas, I wonder about the driving philosophy. Is it "Get something done that we promised or want for our progressive agenda, or, should it be "Get it right the first time"

Does our government already have enough power, resources, law, technology to carry out its responsibilities and get it right the first time or are they politicizing several dreadful situations.

I worked at New York Telephone in another life time where we created the Quality Institute. Among its driving philosophies were "Close enough is not good enough unless you are meeting the customers' expectations. And Do it right the first time". Both of these ideas were cost effective and achieved high customer satisfaction to say nothing about getting the job done!

The Oil Spill
It seems that the only relief is the relief wells due in August. We all understand that accidents happen and that it appears the BP will pay for the consequences.

Why are the various agencies not taking advantage of available help to speed up containment and clean up?

*First, the Environmental Protection Agency can relax restrictions on the amount of oil in discharged water, currently limited to 15 parts per million. In normal times, this rule sensibly controls the amount of pollution that can be added to relatively clean ocean water. But this is not a normal time.

Various skimmers and tankers (some of them very large) are available that could eliminate most of the oil from seawater, discharging the mostly clean water while storing the oil onboard. While this would clean vast amounts of water efficiently, the EPA is unwilling to grant a temporary waiver of its regulations".

Next, the Obama administration can waive the Jones Act, which restricts foreign ships from operating in U.S. coastal waters. Many foreign countries (such as the Netherlands and Belgium) have ships and technologies that would greatly advance the cleanup. So far, the U.S. has refused to waive the restrictions of this law and allow these ships to participate in the effort.

The combination of these two regulations is delaying and may even prevent the world's largest skimmer, the Taiwanese owned "A Whale," from deploying. This 10-story high ship can remove almost as much oil in a day as has been removed in total—roughly 500,000 barrels of oily water per day. The tanker is steaming towards the Gulf, hoping it will receive Coast Guard and EPA approval before it arrives.

In addition, the federal government can free American-based skimmers. Of the 2,000 skimmers in the U.S. (not subject to the Jones Act or other restrictions), only 400 have been sent to the Gulf. Federal barriers have kept the others on stations elsewhere in case of other oil spills, despite the magnitude of the current crisis. The Coast Guard and the EPA issued a joint temporary rule suspending the regulation on June 29—more than 70 days after the spill.
* Paul Rubin WSJ 7/2/10

Energy Legislation
Let's pray that the cynics are not correct that the administration is using this tragedy to push for a new energy bill. After all, we know that" no good crisis should go to waste".

Speaking of an energy bill, if the administration fails to cap carbon emissions by creating a tax for exceeding, it will not reduce emissions or begin getting us off fossil fuel dependence. We listen to Warren Buffet why are we not listening to T Bonne Pickens?

Financial Industry Regulation Legislation
The jury is out as to whether the Frank-Dodd bill will do the job it is intended to do. Regardless. It's worrisome that the driving philosophy is that the government needs more over sight to avoid another crisis. Well folks that simply ain't the truth. The Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the SEC and the rest of the gang had all the rules and laws they needed to keep control of the "Greed Group". These government agencies simply did not use their powers and failed to do their jobs. No new regulations will remedy that so one wonders why the rush to pass a bill even before the president's Commission appointed to determine the causes of the melt down will not finish its work until December?

What is at play here? Politics? Fear? Is our government going in the right direction and if so why these nonsensical out comes?

Have a great 4th of July and may God/Goddess bless and watch over us.