Dear President Obama, We cannot begin to tell you the depth of our disappointment with the lack of integrity, capability and response that has led to and followed the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The fatally-flawed system and greed-based decision making both on the parts of BP and the regulatory systems to which they are supposed to adhere have been so grossly mismanaged so as to allow a disaster of this magnitude to occur. And yet, after six weeks BP has still not been able to stem a crisis of its own making and You and the good people of our Country continue to sit on our hands and wait. But this disaster is not waiting and we beg you to wait no longer. We are not engineers, Mr. President, nor we oil barons or politicians. We are working class people, parents, and concerned citizens. Here is our advice to you. 1. Declare the Gulf of Mexico a disaster. It is time for you to take charge and lead our people in dealing with this crisis. BP has proven over and over that they are not capable of handling this on their own. Moreover, it is ridiculous for us to rely on those who got us into this mess to get us out. If you really want to bring CHANGE to our Nation, here is the place to start. 2. Begin immediate, large-scale, 24-hour-per day efforts to fix the source of the problem, and clean-up efforts both at sea and on land. Why do we not have fleets of ships siphoning oil out of the gulf? Why do we wait for it to come ashore? Where is the Coast Guard, the Navy and the Core of Engineers? What about the millions of Americans who need jobs? Put our people to work. We have bailed out the auto industry and the banking industry and now that there is a tangible emergency, why do you wait? Create a task force, and do it quickly. 3. It is time for BP to pay the piper. If we would prosecute and incarcerate an NFL player for killing pit bulls, what should be the criminal charges for killing ecosystems? Investigations provide little but lip service and a chance for those who profit, the opportunity to lie. This requires more than a slap on the wrist and time for us to cool off while they accumulate next year’s bonuses. The regulatory systems must be changed and adhered to and those who break these laws must be swiftly prosecuted. The CEO of BP needs jail time, period. And the company needs to pay every penny it costs to clean it up. Please, Mr. President, We urge you to proceed with great haste. Our Country and the World are waiting, more embittered by the minute, for someone to take a stand for our environment and livelihoods. Please do something. Sincerely, Laura Olivieri and...