watertowndailytimes.com/artic…

If BO really cared, I mean really cared would we not be accepting help from skimmers regardless of what country the ship was flagged under. Not allowing a Saudi flagged (for example) vessel to help remove oil from the surface of the gulf. who or what does BO think he is protecting by not accepting this help?

BO said he would do everything possible to see that the cleanup was successful. Has he followed through with that promise or does he want to see the Gulf Coast disaster continue for his own political gains?

do you ever do your own Research? NO! you just watch fox,and listen to talk radio….you have inter net dude….use your goggle sometimes…..

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=…

No, it'll take him 25 rounds of golf to decide if the EPA should hold it up longer or not, another 25 rounds to count all the life vests on the vessel and another 25 to count the fire extinguishers, another 25 to………well….you get the point!

They've been doing it for a long while. here is an answer I posted just yesterday.

usgovinfo.about.com/b/2010/06/15/…

"In a June 10 press conference, Adm. Allen noted that foreign ships are already helping with the cleanup. "But we are using them," he said. "We are dealing with folks like Norway, the Netherlands, Canada and other places.
Anyplace that's got skimming capability that's available, we're willing to talk to them, and we actually have, in some cases, actually transferred the equipment down and will continue to do that."

While he stated that if required, the Coast Guard would grant Jones Act waivers, Adm. Allen noted that "Nobody's come to me with a request."

That's as of two weeks ago.

Edit: OK let's try this again. usgovinfo.about.com/b/2010/06/15/… if it doesn't work this time, let me know.

I've (along with many others) wondered that also…refused 13 countries, including the Netherlands, who have tons of knowledge and equipment for this kind of thing. I'm sure it has something to do with his personal agenda…….always an agenda.

If you actually are interested in the answer to your question, or in the Gulf cleanup, try doing some actual research. Here's what you'll find [spoiler alert] if you do.

There is no law and never has been restricting the participation of foreign ships in the cleanup. The law in question only restricts foreign ships from engaging in certain forms of trade at US ports. There are no foreign ships that have been barred from assisting in controlling the spill, and in fact a significant number are participating.

If, however, you're only interested in being a blind sheep robotically repeating talking points fed to you by Fox News, without the least concern over whether what you say and believe is actually true, then go on just like this. You're doing fine.

From the nonpartisan website Factcheck.org…

Is it true that Obama blocked foreign help with cleaning up the Gulf oil spill because he refused to waive the Jones Act, which requires all boats to be American made and crewed by Americans to work in U.S. waters, even though it has been routinely waived for similar events?

Some critics have charged — falsely — that Obama’s refusal to waive the Jones Act has kept foreign vessels from assisting in cleanup efforts.
In reality, the Jones Act has yet to be an issue in the response efforts. The Deepwater Horizon response team reported in a June 15 press release that there are 15 foreign flagged ships currently participating in the oil spill cleanup. None of them needed a waiver because the Jones Act does not apply. The Jones Act is a trade and commerce law that was enacted in 1920 as part of a larger Marine Merchant Act. It requires all trade delivered between U.S. ports to be carried in U.S. flagged vessels constructed in the United States and owned by American citizens. The law states its purpose is to develop a merchant marine for national defense and commerce.
Why was the Jones Act waived as part of the Hurricane Katrina response, and why hasn’t it been waived now? Katrina inflicted massive infrastructure damage, which restricted the availability of key resources. According to the Deepwater Horizon response team: "a Jones Act waiver was granted during Hurricane Katrina due to the significant disruption in the production and transportation of petroleum and/or refined petroleum products in the region during that emergency and the impact this had on national defense." The Deepwater Horizon spill has yet to affect infrastructure or oil and gas availability; the damage is environmental, and foreign vessels are approved for delivering resources and conducting offshore skimming. although the Jones Act is currently not applicable, the federal government has taken steps to expedite the waiver process should the oil spill response require a Jones Act waiver for trade and commerce.
Also, contrary to reports such as the one on "Fox & Friends," international assistance has been accepted. to date, 25 countries and four international organizations have offered support in the form of skimming vessels, containment and fire boom, technical assistance and response solutions, among others. a chart provided by the State Department shows that as of June 23 five offers had been accepted and 50 were under consideration — including multiple offers from a single country or entity. one offer had been declined: France offered a chemical dispersant that is not approved for use in the United States.
Each offer must be compliant not only with the needs outlined by the Unified Command, but also with U.S. safety regulations. The Unified Command provided us with this statement and information:
Unified Command, June 22: those offers of international assistance that were not accepted, while greatly appreciated, did not meet the operational requirements of the Unified Command. these offers have not been declined because they may be needed in the future as response strategies change. some challenges in accepting these offers included:

* Equipment failed to meet US requirements/specifications (i.e. dispersant not on approved list/containment boom made of non-approved material)
* Contingencies placed on the offers proved logistically impracticable when compared to other sources.
* In one instance, the offering country’s export laws prohibited delivery of the assistance
* Contingencies placed on the offers made it difficult for the Unified Command to meet the contingency

Also, all offers, except for a few, come with a serious price tag. The associated Press compared these offers with recent aid that the U.S. gave to some of these countries. The AP reported:

associated Press, June 18: U.S. disaster aid is almost always free of charge; other nations expect the U.S. to pay for help.

"these offers are not typically offers of aid," said Lt. Erik Halvorson, a Coast Guard spokesman. "Normally, they are offers to sell resources to BP or the U.S. government."

Reports claiming that the federal government has refused help are not only incorrect — foreign assistance has been utilized — but are also misleading: purchasing resources and expertise is vastly different from accepting "foreign aid."

I know it's hard to tell if this fool cares or is just plain stupid he hides it so well doesn't he??? But asking for help is something he really isn't familiar with as he has never been in charge of anything before or has any experience in decision making but it was overheard he did reach out to the pirates in Somalia to see if they were busy and was considering offering cleanup jobs to the prisoners at gitmo as he knows they aren't doing anything but remember he has a lot on his plate and this oil spill just might be over his pay grade and he's been busy trying to find a job for Blago and the pervert Al Gore that's right all that and still has time to lose some golf balls// Wow Kenya believe that idiot is still the President??

Is Obama allowing foreign flagged vessal to aid in oil spill cleanup yet?