Juxtaposing The Politics Of The Jones Act To The BP Oil Spill In The Gulf

In listening to all the blather among the facts on the oil spill, we have been introduced to the Jones Act; I must confess that as an attorney, I am not familiar with the Jones Act intimately because I did not take Maritime Law. From my cursory research, the Jones Act enacted in 1920, is so named because it was sponsored by Senator Wesley Jones.

The act was undertaken to protect merchant marines who were working without the protection of benefits and the Jones Act was enacted to address these shortcomings in the benefit arena. Seminal provisions of the Jones Act include: ships operating in our waters must be built, owned, and operated by a crew that is at least 75% percent citizens; the acct also provides death benefits; and anyone employed as a merchant marine who spent 30% of his  time on a ship is eligible for the benefits provided by the Jones Act.

The Jones Act and its efficacy or lack thereof is being discussed because some say that we are refusing help from our foreign brothers and sisters who have the experience to fight oil spills. Specifically, we are told that the skimmers, which will be used to skim the oil off the once pristine waters of the gulf, and which the foreign countries have in abundance, are ready to be deployed.

This is where politics come into play again to the detriment of our welfare. The unions do not want the Obama administration to give a waiver to the foreigners with expertise in cleaning up the oil spill and our president is beholden to that voting block too. What is a president to do when the radical environmentalists and the unions’ respective agendas detrimentally affect the action of an administration on such an important issue? I am not going to fault the Jones Act because it was necessary then when it was enacted and it is now - but a waiver is sorely needed if it can put a sizeable, conspicuous dent into the cleaning up of the spill.

The house should not be left burning because the firemen available and those with the expertise do not meet some antiquated criteria found in some act. No one is advocating the death of the Jones Act, but that is why there are waivers and Executive Orders to address that devastating event, which happened some sixty plus days ago in the Gulf. Unions and death benefits for our merchant marines are all good – but we can chew gum and walk at the same time. Surrender the waivers Mr. President, believe me the unions and the environmentalists will still vote for you – they have no where else to go.