Tea bagger bus company sued over blaze that killed 23 seniors

[BurtWorm]

These are the dudes who believe in unfettered capitalism. And this is the result of their beliefs.

Original reporting by Lindsay Beyerstein (of Majikthise):

http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2009/09/tea-bagger-bus-company-sued-over-blaze-that-killed-23-seniors.html

|||Today 12:26 PM|Lindsay Beyerstein

One of the featured corporate sponsors of the Tea Party Express had to pay millions of dollars to settle lawsuits for its role in a bus fire that killed 23 seniors fleeing Hurricane Rita in 2005.

The BusBank, a Chicago-based charter company, a "Tour Sponsor" of the Tea Party Express, a rolling protest sponsored by the Our Country Deserves Better PAC under the supervision of former Republican state legislator Howard Kaloogian, now a PR exec for the GOP-linked firm Russo, Marsh & Rogers.

BusBank is also arranging to ferry Tea Baggers to their 9/12 march on Washington to voice their demands for unfettered capitalism. (Update: Commenter Casual Observer asks if there's a Dick Armey connection here. There is. Dick Armey's FreedomWorks Foundation is the premiere sponsor of the 9/12 march.)

In 2005, a bus carrying seniors fleeing Hurricane Rita burst into flame outside of Dallas, immolating 23 nursing home residents. Investigators later found that the bus was: driven by an undocumented migrant without a valid U.S. driver's license, lacking adequate fire extinguishers, and not registered to operate in Texas. When the bus had mechanical problems before the crash, the driver took it to an unqualified mechanic who failed to notice the critical fault--an unlubricated axle that eventually melted and caught fire.

BusBank (aka Global Charters) hired the subcontractor, Global Limo. BusBank boasted on its website that it had a "rigorous operator certification process" to ensure the safety of contracted bus drivers. BusBank used Global even though the subcontractor had a long record of federal and state safety violations, had entered bankruptcy, and was being sued.

BusBank's association with Global appears to have been more than a one-off, Global Limo's owner Jim Maples even listed Global Charters as his employer when he gave $5000 to the RNC in 2004.

BusBank CEO Bill Maulsby blamed insufficient federal oversight, "We're not safety experts," he said. "We clearly need to depend on the federal government."

...

[Ian David]

1. Unrec. Keep this quiet. We WANT the Teabaggers to get on The Death Busses. n/t

[BurtWorm]

2. (Good point,) Never mind!

:patriot:

[fascisthunter]

3. That's Horrible.... figures they'd be behind this fascist outfit

[pnorman]

4. "We're not safety experts," he said. "We clearly need to depend on the federal government."

Did he actually SAY that? Fucking Big Gob'ment tool

pnorman

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. They only depend on the federal government when they need someone to blame.

Nothing new there.

[BurtWorm]

5. kick

[Vidar]

6. K&R

[dothemath]

7. Wouldn't it be great if ................

"BusBank is also arranging to ferry Tea Baggers to their 9/12 march on Washington to voice their demands for unfettered capitalism. (Update: Commenter Casual Observer asks if there's a Dick Armey connection here. There is. Dick Armey's FreedomWorks Foundation is the premiere sponsor of the 9/12 march.)"
*************************************************************************

BusBank had a bus big enough to hold Dick(head) "fact of the matter" Armey and every teabagger in the country? And they all got on it and started riding and riding and riding - until it caught fire?

Just sayin' ....................

[tanyev]

8. Maybe this is where Sarah got the idea for death panels.