U.S. safety officials leave mine hearing, anger Specter (Walks Out)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06023/643066.stm

The nation's top mine safety official walked out of a Senate hearing into the Sago Mine disaster today, angering subcommittee chairman Arlen Specter, who had asked him to remain another hour to answer follow-up questions.

David G. Dye, Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health in the Department of Labor, slipped out a back door of the hearing room today after telling Sen. Specter his agency, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, was busy dealing with two other mining accidents today. Mr. Dye's exit also followed angry questioning by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who pointedly asked Mr. Dye if "cronyism" between officials of the coal industry and MSHA had affected enforcement of safety laws.

The Sago mine, in Upshur County, in West Virginia's northern region, exploded Jan. 2, trapping 13 men, killing 12 of them. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education held hearings today into Sago, summoning federal, company, state, industry and union officials to explain what might have happened and why.

"We must try to determine what is wrong at MSHA, and contemplate how to make sure the leadership of that agency does its job," Sen. Byrd said in his opening statement.

[Gman]

1. More arrogance

The arrogance knows no bounds

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. two more accidents? Does that make 5 in three weeks?

And Bush was proud in 2002, when he appointed these guys and promised to take government off the backs off the mining industry.

[jody]

5. Bush succeeded but he put mines on the backs of miners.

:puke:

[yurbud]

3. You would think more republicans in Congress would be pissed

at the Bush exec branch not going along with even the pretense of oversight.

[Pithy Cherub]

6. It was hard work for republicans to build the worst culture of corruption

in the history of the United States. They were way too busy being Porky Pigs at the Abramoff trough to care about the country. Evidence abounds in the federal government that republicans were intent on making themselves and each other rich to care about the common good and the country!

[wordpix]

18. repukes don't like oversight--they prefer "market forces"---unless it's

THEIR high-paid positions on the line.

In that case, they come to their repug friends in Congress/the executive for a billion dollar bailout. Wouldn't want to give up the mansions, you know.

[lovuian]

4. FEMA and now MHSA NO ACCOUNTABILITY NONE Zip

Nada NOPE... How can we keep this BS going... this is what brought down the English Empire

Greed and no accountability...

[54anickel]

9. OSHA not far behind....more business cronies

Bush Nominees for Labor Safety Slots Have Questionable Records

http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=2521

Oct 25, 2005 - In two nominations to Department of Labor positions charged with overseeing workplace health and safety issues, President Bush named two men known for advocating business interests, in lieu of people with any known record of promoting worker protections.

The mid-September nominations of Edwin G. Foulke to be assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, plus Richard Stickler for the parallel mine safety and health assistant secretary slot, have received little attention so far, but surfacing information appears to indicate that both men are beholden to corporate interests.

As a partner with Jackson Lewis, a South Carolina law firm specializing in business law, Foulke penned several items challenging workplace safety regulations, including a five-page essay published by the South Carolina Bar trashing federal ergonomics standards that had been in the making since the late 1980s and were put into place at the end of the Clinton presidency.

Though Foulke is his law firm’s head of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance, organized labor considers Jackson Lewis a union-busting law practice. Among the more notorious anti-labor activities the firm has been involved in were an attempt to undermine negotiations at a Borders book store and two separate lengthy, expensive union-busting campaigns against nursing home and home health care workers in New York facilities.

[wordpix]

19. add no environmental accountability, either. Here in CT, there are so few

federal dollars coming to the state for environmental programs that we have TWO people at DEP working on aquifer protection. For the whole state! Same thing for rivers, lakes, ponds, of which we have many in this state.

Drinking water? Who cares? It's not making BushCo any money, so forget it!

[lovuian]

22. exactly and I bet that department gets big bucks too

this stuff is important to the US people Water work Disasters and Safety... this is what the US citizens expect from the government and its not getting...

[54anickel]

7. Administration Neglected Coal Mining Safety

Serveral good embedded links in this article -

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/04/coal-mining/

snip>

The mining explosion should call attention to the Bush administration’s inadequate enforcement of federal mining safety regulations. Mining safety in the U.S. has improved dramatically since the Mining Safety and Health Act was signed in 1977. By the time that President Clinton signed the International Labor Organization’s Convention 176 concerning safety and health in mines, mining deaths dropped from 425 in 1970 to 85 in 2000.

Phil Smith, the communications director for the United Mine Workers of America, said that while citations have been issued, the fines assessed for safety violations are too small to force large corporations to make improvements. “The problem with the current laws is enforcement.” According to an AFL-CIO analysis, the Bush administration cut 170 positions from federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and has not proposed a single new mine-safety standard or rule during its tenure.

And there’s a reason for that. The Washington Post reported that West Virginia coal firms raised $275,000 for Bush.

Last September, Bush rewarded the coal industry by placing coal industry veteran Richard Stickler in charge of MSHA. Stickler spent about 30 years as a coal company manager with Beth Energy. Mines managed by Stickler were marked by worker injury rates that were double the national average, according to government data cited by the United Mine Workers union.

[rodeodance]

13. recommend

[54anickel]

24. Sad how, once again, people were conned into thinking they were

saving their jobs by voting against their own best long term interests.

From the $275,000 Bush contribution link:

snip>

The fill rule is one of several key changes to coal-mining regulations that have been enacted or proposed by the Bush administration, which took office promising to ease bureaucratic burdens for the coal industry and expand the nation's energy production. To administration officials and mining companies, the changes are simply clarifications that eliminated ambiguities in the law. To environmental groups, they are the administration's payback to an industry that has raised $9 million for Republicans since 1998. The coal industry is a political force in West Virginia, a vital swing state whose five electoral votes for George W. Bush helped put him over the top in 2000.

snip>

While the capital costs are enormous, so is the payoff to the industry. Traditional mines extract about 70 percent of the coal from an underground seam; the recovery rate for mountaintop mines approaches 100 percent. The new mines also require far fewer workers -- sometimes only a few dozen per mine. Still, those jobs are high-paying and highly coveted, and the mines themselves continue to generate billions of dollars for local economies. For those reasons, many state politicians and even labor unions embrace the technique.


snip>

But the comprehensive approach went nowhere. Negotiations between the EPA and industry officials on proposals for limiting the size of valley fills stalled and then stopped altogether as the presidential election of 2000 approached. The court ruling that questioned the legality of valley fills was overturned on appeal. Meanwhile, West Virginia coal executives had begun to stake their hopes on an administration change in Washington. The state's coal firms raised $275,000 for Bush. Many West Virginia coal miners, fearing that Democratic contender Al Gore's environmental policies would eliminate coal field jobs, joined prominent business leaders in campaigning for the Texas governor.


Come on, what did they think the coal companies were going to do - outsource the jobs? Look what joining those prominent business leaders got them now. It's such a sad commentary on the short-sightedness and dare I call it greed of the general public. They've been conned into believing what's good for the company is good for me. Just can't seem to see the possible consequences beyond the weekly paycheck.

[rodeodance]

14. " Bush rewarded the coal industry by ,"--might have known.

[neuvocat]

8. I see this and then I remember...

that shot that Bush made at Clinton about restoring honor and dignity to the White House.

[roseBudd]

10. Clicked through to register a page view for site traffic n/t

[democrank]

11. Why hang around at a hearing when

you don`t give a damn about the subject matter? It was just about coal miners....not oil executives....coal miners.

[rodeodance]

12. recommend

[Doremus]

15. recommend n/t

[depakid]

16. Doesn't take a genius to see what's wrong

A high school kid could figure it out IF THE LYING AMERICAN MEDIA would stop exploiting these tragedies and report on how the Republicans have systmatically dismatled worker safety laws all in just about every industry.

Personally, I don't blame Republicans- they're just doing what they always do- and what they've always done. In Spector's case- feign some outrage and then pretend to do something (which will never be implemented).

I BLAME THE MEDIA EXECUTIVES AND THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR THEM. That's who ought have a day of reckoning- and one day, if or when things get bad enough- some of them just might.

[FSogol]

17. Zero accountability from this administration.

This should be the main Democratic talking point.

Fire the cronies.

[wordpix]

20. another issue here no one's onto is: this is a fossil fuel that's getting

harder to come by, with deeper mines becoming necessary.

Why the hell don't we switch to solar, wind, biofuels and conservation?
Duh

[Kelvin Mace]

21. And just what are Mr. Dye's qualifications for his job?

http://opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=Dye&txtState=MD&txtZip=&txtEmploy=&txtCand=&txt2006=Y&txt2004=Y&txt2002=Y&Order=N

$2000 contribution to Bush in 2004

He certainly doesn't have any mine safety training.

http://www.msha.gov/media/press/2004/NR041119.asp

<i>Dye came to the U.S. Department of Labor in June 2001, where he served as deputy assistant secretary for the Employment and Training Administration. He later served at MSHA as its deputy assistant secretary for policy beginning in May 2004.

Previously, he worked in separate assignments as chief counsel to the House Resources Committee, the House Agriculture Committee, and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Before that, Dye served as counsel to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Later, he worked as director of external affairs for the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration and as counsel to the chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission.

Before coming to Washington, Dye served as the professional staff to two committees of the Alaska Senate-as special assistant to Alaska's lieutenant governor and as a regional and urban planner with the Alaska Department of Community and Regional Affairs.

Dye received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1970. He graduated from the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, N.H., in 1979. </i>

[tavalon]

30. Qualifications?

He doesn't need any stinkin' qualifications. He's doin' a heckuva job! Ask Bush.

[barb162]

23. This drives me nuts! The mine safety guy could be a good guy

interested in safety while SEc of Labor Chao is forcing all these safety measures to be revoked the last 5 years. Chao should be sitting there answering questions. Same thing with OSHA. Fire the inspectors, lower the fines, cut the budget,cut down on the rules, soften the rules and then when something bad happens, question the people who perhaps were screaming for stronger rules and more inspectors in the first place. I don't know whether this guy is a Bush appointee or not or if he's another FEMA Mike Brown incompetent moron or if he is an old line, safety first guy.

[54anickel]

25. Valid point. Why wasn't Richard Stickler on that panel? eom

[Judi Lynn]

32. Bush appointee. As someone pointed out, he's doing the same

level of "good work" Brownee made famous.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao has announced that deputy assistant secretary David G. Dye will be the acting assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health effective Nov. 20, 2004. "David is a seasoned leader who will ensure that MSHA continues to put the safety and well-being of our nation's miners first," said Chao. "We look forward to working with him during this transition period to build upon this Administration's strong safety record, which includes the lowest number of industry fatalities and injuries-and the highest number of proactive safety initiatives-in years."
(snip/)

http://www.msha.gov/media/press/homepagephotos/2004/20041130.asp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Proving every day, they've got no shame.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

26. Unitary Executive Branch

.

[jarab]

27. Always a subpoena and always under oath. The ticket. eom

...O...

[HuffleClaw]

28. you can just walk out of a senate hearing?

that really shows contempt.

"Mr. Dye's exit also followed angry questioning by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who pointedly asked Mr. Dye if "cronyism" between officials of the coal industry and MSHA had affected enforcement of safety laws."

so, his poor feelings were hurt? did his wife cry?

[leesa]

31. They own them, don't they? Our government officials allowed

themselves to be bought like two-bit whores, what right do they have to get angry if they decide to walk out?

[tavalon]

29. Boy, I bet Mr. Magic Bullet Theory

is feeling pretty stupid and used about now, eh? Spector is way too arrogant to appreciate being used as a right wing shill unless he chooses it himself.

It might just be time for a little popcorn. :popcorn:

[stop the bleeding]

33. If people really looked at this they would see "Michael Brownie's"

all over the place in this business - it is just a matter if the MSM chooses to talk about it or not.