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The refusal of Dutch help is due to section of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920[1], also colloquially known as the "Jones Act." Basically, like Wikipedia says,

The refusal of Dutch help is due to section of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920[1], also colloquially known as the "Jones Act." Basically, like Wikipedia says, anything going by water between two US ports, or to/from the same US port, with no stops at an international port in between, must go by way of US-flagged ships. The Dutch ships that can do the cleaning would obviously be going from Louisiana to the Gulf and then back Louisiana, or from Louisiana to the Gulf and then to Mississippi, etc. That would be a violation of the Jones Act. There have been waivers[2] granted in the past, but very rarely. Some are advocating for a Jones Act waiver[3][4], but that's considered unlikely, due to a mix of politics, business, and possible stubbornness. 1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920 2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920#Waivers_of_Shipping_Act_provisions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920#Wai... 3 - http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19655 http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19... 4 - http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/7043272.html http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/7043272....

hga 16y ago
To use a quote frequently attributed to the founder of the Democratic party, "One man with courage makes a majority." (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson#Misattributed http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson#Misattributed) As [2] notes, waivers have been used as recently as Katrina for national emergencies, which this most certainly is. It's hard for me to imagine that any pressure group could politically get away with resisting a long term waiver if the spotlight was turned onto them, and it's hard to see why they'd do it in the first place, since this is a unique situation where there's more than enough work to go around for all. But let's cut to the chase, has Team Obama even tried?

hga 16y ago

To use a quote frequently attributed to the founder of the Democratic party, "One man with courage makes a majority." (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson#Misattributed http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson#Misattributed) As [2] notes, waivers have been used as recently as Katrina for national emergencies, which this most certainly is. It's hard for me to imagine that any pressure group could politically get away with resisting a long term waiver if the spotlight was turned onto them, and it's hard to see why they'd do it in the first place, since this is a unique situation where there's more than enough work to go around for all. But let's cut to the chase, has Team Obama even tried?