Morning Bell: Did the Federal Government Enable the Gulf Oil Spill?

Conn Carroll / May 17, 2010

An “angry” President Barack Obama lashed out at those he feels are responsible for the Gulf oil spill Friday, telling reporters in the Rose Garden: “You had executives of BP and Transocean and Halliburton falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else. I will not tolerate any more finger-pointing or irresponsibility.” But as CBS News‘ Chip Reid points out: “Mr. Obama’s been president for nearly 16 months. Does he get at least a little piece of the blame?” Pointing to President Obama’s staunch defense of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Reid answered his own question: “Not a bit. … He portrayed his administration as valiantly fighting the good fight against the oil companies from day one. …So while the president is pointing the finger of blame, he’s also working hard to make sure that over time the finger doesn’t do a 180.”

In the President’s mind the federal government apparently can do no wrong. The leading answer to every problem our nation faces is bigger, stronger, and more intrusive government regulations. But a closer look at the facts surrounding the spill shows that it was an already overly oppressive regulatory legal framework, coupled with lax enforcement, that created the mismatched incentives that led to the disaster. (more…)