It’s sad but true, it seems the US had been acting like a ball hog over the last few months continually refusing international assistance with the oil spill. But why? While labor unions across the United States pressured our president to keep the oil spill clean-up jobs in house, the tragic enviromental state in the Gulf of Mexico has gotten significantly worse.
Obama’s campaign had approximtely 60.7 million dollars in contributions from the Service Employees International Union alone. Under pressure to pay back the bread crumbs dished out during the 2008 campaign trail, President Obama allowed over two months to pass before lifting the Jones Act and accepting help from other countries. The Jones Act, also known as the Merchant Marines Act of 1920, was constructed to strengthen the health of the United States marine industry. It requires that the 75% of the staff aboard American ships are comprised of American citizens, and restricted shipping and trade within America to be carried out by American and American flagged ships. The act was last overidden by the Bush administration in 2005 after hurricane Katrina.