Reply #13: ***Additional info on this at MyDD, including some responses to [View All]

[Nothing Without Hope]

RW spin. THere was an earlier story and now there is a followup that shows among other things just how little the company was required to pay in fines relative to the money produced by the minining operation:

http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/1/5/143947/4332
Republicans :: Thu Jan 5th, 2006 at 02:40:27 PM EDT
The Sago Mines: Negligence by the Republicans
by Matt Stoller

(snip)

The Sago mine generated $15.7 million (http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4309767) through the third quarter for the International Coal Group. The company has been fined $24,000 through 2005, and has paid $14,500 of that. It's pretty obvious that failing to ensure the safety of their workers is profitable for the International Coal Group.

(snip)

That's the reality of the Republican leadership. And let me just offer, to all principled conservatives out there, you may one day need the protection of the legal and political system against a large employer that has invested in political corruption, as the mining companies did. Keep that in mind. Acts of God happen, there's no doubt, but we have means in modern America to prepare for them and mollify their consequences. Let's not forget in reflexively defending a President who fails in his job. There will be other Republican Presidents in the future, and your credibility is on the line here with those people who will have to face the legacy of Bush every day of their Presidency.