Sirotablog: Bush ignored explicit warnings in 2002 about mine safety

[cal04]

EXCLUSIVE: Bush ignored explicit warnings in 2002 about mine safety
The tragic news about the death of 12 mine workers this week has brought up all sorts of questions about the Bush administration's record protecting mine workers. Back in 2002, I was working for the House Appropriations Committee. At the time, you may recall there was a big mining accident in Western Pennsylvania. President Bush held a big photo-op to pretend like he cared - but he never responded to the fact sheet that House Democrats put out questioning why he had made so many cuts to mine safety programs. You can view this fact sheet in Microsoft Word right here (I still have it from my time at the Appropriations Committee) It was released to the media and the administration on August 5, 2002 - the same day Bush did his big photo-op.

In case the administration claims it didn't remember being warned, check out this excerpt from the big Chicago Tribune story from 8/6/02:
"We call on the Bush administration to fully fund the Mine Safety and Health Administration to ensure that coal mines are inspected more thoroughly and that the mine act is enforced more stringently," Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers Association, said in a statement. "It would be cynical to portray himself as the hero of mine safety by simply doing photo ops," said David Sirota, spokesman for Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee.

Democrats also released a report from the Labor Department's inspector general--the agency's in-house watchdog--concluding that the Mine Safety and Health Administration was "unable to complete statutorily mandated inspections of ... mine operations," in part because of a lack of inspectors.

At a Senate subcommittee hearing last month, lawmakers were told that the Jim Walters Resources mine in Brookwood, Ala., where 13 miners died last September, had 31 outstanding safety violations that went unchecked because of a lack of government inspectors.
The mine workers union also has criticized Bush's choice of Stanley Suboleski, an executive at coal operator Massey Energy, to serve on the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. That agency judges disputes over alleged safety violations.

more
http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=977893D7-FE7D-6B92-8BBA0C149F0739A7

[peaches2003]

1. Hugs and tears

Will the Dems begin to exploit this right now or will they simply allow Bush to fly to WV with tears in his eyes, read a speech, and have his photo op hugging the widows and children?

[Staph]

4. Bush visiting the widows and children??

No chance -- the coalfields of West Virginia are pretty solidly Democratic. If he dared to show up, it wouldn't be pretty.

[FreedomAngel82]

6. I wonder if they know about this

[Cha]

2. There's always going to be something

happening that is a result of the bushits ignoring their job and campaigning and photo-oping around the country.

Better get pickles outta the brine and let her clean this up.

[welshTerrier2]

3. workers versus stockholders - workers lose again

the least important story coming out of this tragedy seems to be the one getting the most coverage ... we see the cheering families as they first got good news; then we see their grief as the truth became known ... the focus is on how this mistake could have happened ... how could the company and then the media get it so wrong ... the bottom line is that the errors were not made intentionally ... the reporting was inept; not criminal ...

what is criminal is that the powerful energy lobby was stronger than the labor lobby ... i know nothing about mine safety but it seems crazy, sort of putting profits ahead of people, to not always have a "front door" and a "back door" in every mine ... is it commercially viable? i guess that shouldn't really be the issue ... preserving life is not an "extra" when cost cutting is the objective ...

so, there are at least four issues that Democrats should raise from this tragedy ... the first is a detailed look at mining safety regulations ... the second is a broader look at how worker safety is often compromised to squeeze out a few extra bucks for the shareholders ... the third is a detailed look at industry lobbying efforts and what effect the lying lobbyists had on "easing regulation" ... and finally, there's the issue of class warfare ... this is a classic case of investors versus workers ...

the Democratic Party often presents itself as the party of labor ... well, there are four issues related to this mining disaster for them to strut their stuff ... how many of these issues are they likely to raise??

[applegrove]

5. When the methane clears - you have to hope some corporate asshole

looses their charter to be a corporation or their mining right. They don't seem to understand anything but profitability. So you make is very risky to the corporation to be lax - or it will happen again.

[cal04]

7. I posted it on Congressman Conyers blog and Owens

is getting involved
OWENS BLASTS BUSH for WEAKENING SAFETY PROTECTIONS FOR MINERS

“It was outrageous for the President to assure Americans yesterday that the federal government was doing everything in its power to assist West Virginia in the face of the Sago disaster,” Owens stressed. “For the past five years, Bush appointees at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) have systematically reversed critical safety protections for miners and cut the budget for enforcement. This has reduced chances of shutting down unsafe mines and significantly heightened the risks of mining disasters and fatalities,” Owens underscored. “Keep in mind that Sago was cited for more than 205 safety violations last year and was clearly endangering miners’ lives,” Owens added.

http://www.house.gov/owens/pr010406.htm

[applegrove]

8. Indeed the stock-holders who vote in lax management need to pay

for this.

The charter should be taken away from them to be a corporation.