Robert Reich: "It's time for the federal government to put BP under temporary receivership, which gives the government authority to take over BP's operations in the Gulf of Mexico until the gusher is stopped. This is the only way the public know what's going on, be confident enough resources are being put to stopping the gusher, ensure BP's strategy is correct, know the government has enough clout to force BP to use a different one if necessary, and be sure the president is ultimately in charge."
"If the government can take over giant global insurer AIG and the auto
giant General Motors and replace their CEOs, in order to keep them
financially solvent, it should be able to put BP's North American
operations into temporary receivership in order to stop one of the worst
environmental disasters in U.S. history."
Meanwhile, TPM notes BP just hired a former press aide to Vice President Dick Cheney to head its public relations efforts.