ABC News reported on Friday:

Sixteen barges sat stationary Thursday, although they had been sucking up thousands of gallons of BP's oil as  recently as Tuesday.  Workers in hazmat suits and gas masks pumped  the oil out of the Louisiana waters and into steel tanks.  It was a  homegrown idea that seemed to be effective at collecting the thick gunk.

"These barges work.  You've seen them work.  You've seen them suck oil  out of the water," said Jindal.

So why stop now?

"The Coast Guard came and shut them down," Jindal said.  "You got men on  the barges in the oil, and they have been told by the Coast Guard,  'Cease and desist.  Stop sucking up that oil.'"

A Coast Guard representative told ABC News that it shares the same goal  as the governor.

"We are all in this together.  The enemy is the oil," said Coast Guard  Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer.<div><script type="text/javascript">adsonar_placementId=1280609;adsonar_pid=59750;adsonar_ps=-1;adsonar_zw=165;adsonar_zh=220;adsonar_jv='ads.adsonar.com';</script><script src="http://js.adsonar.com/js/adsonar.js" language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"></script></div>

But the Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal  found frustrating.  The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were  fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble  contacting the people who built the barges.

 "It's like this huge committee down there," Riley said, "and every  decision that we try to implement, any one person on that committee has  absolute veto power."

The coast guard needed to confirm the presence of fire extinguishers and life vests? Wouldn’t a visual inspection work?

Or even better. Do you remember the political wranglings in 2004 after the Tsunami in Asia? India did not want foreign aid for a while and some people maligned them left and right. Well, we are doing the same thing now (from last Monday):

Crucial offers to help clean up BPs oil spill came from Belgian,  Dutch, and Norwegian firms that . . . possess some of the worlds most  advanced oil skimming ships. But the Obama administration didnt  accept their help, because doing so would require it to do  something past presidents have routinely done:  waive rules imposed by the Jones Act, a law backed by unions.

"The Obama administration declined the Dutch offer partly because of the  Jones Act, which restricts foreign ships from certain activities in  U.S. waters.  During the Hurricane Katrina crisis five years ago, the  Bush administration waived the Jones Act in order to facilitate some  foreign assistance, but such a waiver was not given in this case."

Obama is now using  BPs oil spill to push the global-warming legislation that BP had  lobbied for.  Obamas global warming legislation expands  ethanol subsidies, which cause famine, starvation,  and food  riots in poor countries by shrinking the food supply.  Ethanol  makes gasoline costlier  and dirtier, increases ozone  pollution, and increases the death  toll from smog and air pollution.   Ethanol production also results  in deforestation,  soil erosion, and water pollution. Subsidies for biofuels like  ethanol are a big source of corporate welfare: BP has lobbied  for and profited from subsidies for biofuels . . . that cannot  break even without government support.

I like the due process of law, but I also like to have a clear map of what is happening. Are we cleaning up oil or starving people?

And, finally, a friend shared a link to a clip from MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show: