The Obama team has to be concerned now that another voice on the left has voiced its concern with Obama deferring to BP during the crisis. This is a think tank that is considered to be closely linked to the Obama administration though perhaps they are also now the "left of the left" as some might say in the White House. It's a good overview of the problem and how the administration could take charge. Choosing a high profile leaders is well overdue and BP dropping money into an escrow account which the US government will oversee is another excellent idea. We all know there are limitations due to the special nature of this disaster but there is also so much more Obama could and should be doing.
BP is required as the responsible party for this apocalyptic disaster to provide full and instant funding for the response by the federal, state, and local governments and their contractors. BP personnel and equipment being used for disaster response in the Gulf should be put under governmental control during the crisis.Perhaps as troubling is the change in public opinion as the crisis drags on. The leadership gap that we continue to see on issue after issue has not been missed by the public. It's hard to say how or when this problem will be fixed but there does not appear to be much progress in overall management with this administration. More puzzling is why so many Americans still think BP should remain in charge of the cleanup but this does come back to the continuing problem of poor messaging.
BP’s funding should come in the form of an escrow account that draws on BP’s $100 billion in capital reserves, without limit. The federal government should require BP to use its first quarter 2010 profits — $5 billion – to establish the escrow account.
In the five weeks since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig sent hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, Obama had largely escaped political fallout. But as BP attempts yet again to seal the leak, a new USA Today/Gallup Poll finds a majority of Americans unhappy with Obama's handling of the spill. According to the poll, 53 percent rate Obama's handling "poor" or "very poor"; 43 percent believe Obama is doing a good job.
Yet the poll also finds that the public tends to blame others in the mess more than it blames the White House. Asked broadly about the federal government's role, 60 percent rated the response "poor." BP got the lowest marks: 73 percent of Americans gave the company's handling of the spill a "poor" rating. Still, a whopping 68 percent say BP should remain in charge of the cleanup.
