Should the US Government have materials/teams ready to respond to any potential emergency of any scale?

That really depends on if you believe in Jefferson's concept of "The Commons." There are things that make sense to be able to respond to because of the economy of scale and common shared risk. Four fire trucks in a small town to address any potential fire is more efficient than all 1,000 residents owning one fire truck to protect against their own misfortune. Everyone pays into 'The Commons' and overall social structure improves and thrives. Libertarians reject the idea of The Commons in preference for concepts like rugged individuality.

However, there are situations where private industry or citizens have specialized risk. The Commons (government) should require these specialized risk groups to comply with certain procedures which reduce the risk to others and have their own ability to respond. It is silly to have the government employ geologists and engineers who specialize in the nuances of XYZ when issues arising from XYZ are rare or minor. They would spend most of their time sitting around waiting for something to happen. Instead, they should be in private industry, being productive. Manufacturers have spill prevention plans so they can deal with small spills without having the HAZMAT crew mobilize. When risk and responsibilities are delegated and divided like that, society as a whole functions more efficiently.

No. The U.S. government should move us away from the industries and corporations that have the potential to cause emergencies of scale, but it won't and it can't.

Those industries and corporations have owned and controlled all governments since Eisenhower.

Its certainly not a bad idea for Local, State & Federal Governments to prepare for such events, even if they occur far far more infrequently than things like terrorism, natural disasters etc. With saying that, if you are just attempting to stall a viable National Energy Policy..get over it.

The US Government should be prepared to respond to potential emergencies that are foreseeable and threaten vital national interests.

Not necessarily. There is much monday-morning quarterbacking here. The concept is easy to see, seeing as how there was no quarterback anywhere on the field.

As these are federal waters we have clear jurisdiction. There was an obligation to manage. Managing means more than a speech and sending a couple of lawyers. At the very least, it means a marshalling of resources and talent. This duty was even recognized by the most liberal of media. Now it's eye wash and posturing, and.....more speeches.

Yes , it should be the main focus of this disaster, instead of politics and cap and trade, with Russia and China also drilling in the Gulf, we need a National Emergency Response Team to combat oil spills, the next spill may have one of these countries involved and we can run up and down the beach all day screaming CHINA.CHINA, like Obama screaming BP, BP,BP, while he sit there and let all the oil hit the shoreline , even turned down help from several sources , both foreign and domestic***********************************************************************************************

It should be part of the cost of doing business to be take precautionary measures and adequately plan for disasters. Not the taxpayers problem

That's what the National Guard is for when not deployed overseas.

In theory that is what FEMA is supposed to do. When you are corrupt bureaucrats to the equation then things become complicated.