Reich Responds to Skocpol

[ProSense]

Reich Responds to Skocpol

Josh Marshall | June 4, 2010, 5:29PM

Robert Reich responds to Theda Skocpol on what the president should do ...

I like Theda Skocpol and consider her a friend, but she's got this one backwards. It's not "political lunacy" for the president to take charge of this mess. It's political lunacy for him not to. Would she propose that if a military contractor accidentally fired off a missile, or a the owner of a nuclear reactor accidentally allowed it to melt down, or a food processor accidentally sent off deadly bacteria into America's food chain, that the President should not take control because he couldn't "fix" these disasters right away? Or he shouldn't get involved because the political right might subsequently use his efforts to reinforce its message that the government doesn't work?

<..>

This is the worst environmental disaster in American history. It defies common sense for the President to delegate its solution to the same corporation whose negligence in all likelihood created it. The public deeply distrusts BP, with good reason. Its record to date has been cutting corners to make profits. Yes, BP's expertise may be necessary now. But how can we believe BP is using all the resources at its disposal to stop the leak? (A petroleum engineer told me earlier this week that BP has some two dozen tankers in the Gulf that could be siphoning off the oil, and has shut down work on the second relief well in order to cannibalize parts from it for the primary kill effort.) How can we trust that decisions BP continues to make - such as the use of toxic dispersants - properly weigh risks to the safety and health of Americans? And as BP continues to pay out dividends to its shareholders, how can we trust it will have enough capital to pay all the costs of cleanup, not to mention the costs to businesses and individuals of the devastation it's wrought?

For the President to stand apart from all this - to merely set up a commission to study how it happened and instruct the Justice Department to inquire into the possibility that civil and criminal fines may be appropriate - is both poliltically unwise and against the public's interest. I fear Americans will come to see it as a dereliction of duty.

"poliltically unwise and against the public's interest"? I seriously do not follow Reich's thinking.

[ProSense]

1. No comment? n/t

[damonm]

2. Dude, when you're right, you're right...

and Reich is absolutely 180 degrees wrong on this.
I normally like the guy, but he's taken some serious stupid pills on this issue.

[ProSense]

4. Thanks, but

I'm not a dude.

:)

[damonm]

5. I stand corrected.

Just justifies the old adage about assumptions...

:spank:
"Thank you, Ma'am! May I have another?"

[babylonsister]

3. Mr.Reich, who can we trust with the knowledge and equipment

to fix this massive problem? Not the government or President Obama, because they are not in the oil biz last I checked.

So do tell... besides wagging your finger, who exactly can fix this? We'd all like to know.

[depakid]

6. Yep- let's just delegate all of the duties to the corrupt corporation that caused the problem

and then point fingers and pretend we don't have any responsibility any of their behaviors- or for what goes wrong. And let's set up a commission! That'll show 'em.

Reich is absolutely correct- the administration once again appears complicit- in some respects incompetent and more and more- impotent. They're going to end up paying a political price for all of this as the catastrophe continues to unfold and all of the facts come out.

As well they should.

[Cha]

7. I'm with Theda.