Oil spill: Nah, we don't need any help

Today's controversy is the fact that Thad Allen said that no one to date has requested to waive the Jones Act. Carol Browner this morning said, "Oh, no one has requested to waive the act." What is this act, you ask innocently, wondering what this has to do with the oil spill? This act was passed in 1920  which stated that only US ships would be used in US waters:

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (P.L. 66-261) is a United States Federal statute that regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports.

Section 27, also known as the Jones Act, deals with cabotage (i.e., coastal shipping) and requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. 

So apparently the Dutch government offered us help 3 days after the oil well exploded. What did our government, The One, say in response? "I can't answer this question now. I have a party to go to." 
Ooop. No. Sorry. 
   What The One said was that we didn't need (Houston Chronicle) their help.
Needless to say, this has led to criticism in the blogosphere (Ace):

Nah. Obama had already been informed the leak would take weeks and weeks to fix, and it was better, I guess, to let it leak and destroy the coastlines if doing so would keep the story underreported and thus merely environmentally disastrous, but not politically disastrous.

Better to pretend there's not a problem, and let the problem destroy the Gulf, than to admit the problem and take action about it, which draws attention to it. 

Remember. TODAY reporters are still asking why the Jones Act hasn't been waived and why no one has even asked to allow foreign ships into US waters to assist with the cleanup. 
    Hey, the US isn't going to be isolationist anymore, right? It's a global marketplace/economy/village, right? 
    So why, WHY won't we accept help? Why are there numerous booms sitting unpurchased in a Maine warehouse?  
   Health care, anyone?