Labor Safety to Labor Unions, Politics Hurt Oversight
by Big Dog on Aug 26, 2007 at 12:58 Uncategorized
A recent article at the Huffington Post by one of the wacko writers, oh wait, it was Huffington herself, discussed the Utah mine disaster and how lax occupational health rules that were eased by, who else, George Bush, were to blame for this and many other work mishaps. I don’t know if the rules of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have been lightened by this administration but I am pretty sure that the toughest rules in the world would not have prevented an accident that some believe involved a tremor. I will not deny that the mining industry has had some serious problems with its safety record but it is insane to believe that a spiffy clean safety record could prevent a natural event that triggered the cave in, if that indeed is what caused it. Suppose some painters were working in a building and there was an earthquake and the building collapsed and killed them. Should Bush (or any person) be blamed for a lack of safety? It is illogical to think this way and amounts to nothing more than politics as usual for Huffington and her brood of ding-dongs.
I am unsure if the claims by Huffington are accurate but I know that OSHA has a ton of directives and regulations that apply to the workplace and worker safety. 29 Code of Federal Regulations (particularly the 1910 series) lays out the rules for all kinds of workplace safety programs and how compliance is expected. There are a lot of workplaces and it is certain that OSHA does not have enough people to routinely inspect workplaces. It is more likely that inspections result from a concerned worker making a call or filing a complaint. Even so, there are some things that fall directly on the shoulders of the employees themselves. Wearing hearing and eye protection, proper safety equipment and other personal protective equipment and doing things according to standard procedures are all things that the employee must do. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that their people follow the rules but I have seen far too many injuries related to worker error to discount the idea that stupidity keeps emergency rooms busy and makes ER doctors wealthy. None of this oversight or supervisor involvement would have helped the Utah miners, that is unless their supervisor could see the future and know that a cave in was going to happen.
Interestingly, Huffington decries lax worker safety under Bush but has not addressed the Democrat’s attempts to remove 2 million dollars from the Office of Labor and Management Standards. This office has been ramped up after years of lax enforcement under President Clinton. Seems this office has been real good at finding illegal practices of labor unions and has recouped 101 million dollars for labor union employees. With this kind of success against labor unions the Democrats can only do one thing and that is to cut funding so that their mob buddies in labor unions can continue illegal operations unabated. House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D.-Wis.) (a guy I dislike more as I hear more about him) is trying to cut the budget, mostly because they have been successful. Of course, success in this arena hurts the Democrat’s friends in labor and that just can not be tolerated.
Perhaps Ms. Huffington would like to spend some time writing about this instead of trying to put the blame for miners on George Bush who can no more trigger tremors than he can direct hurricanes.
I also think that perhaps the Democrats should either rethink their position of being honest and transparent or get Webster to rewrite the definition of those words. With their ability to rewrite history, a few definitions should be a cake walk.
Source:
TownHall (Robert Bluey)
Sometimes unrelated trackbacks to: Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Is It Just Me?, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Nanotechnology Today, Nuke’s News & Views, Webloggin, Phastidio.net, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, , , Stageleft, Faultline USA, Walls of the City, The World According to Carl, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Tags: Commentary, Link Fest
The Geopolitics of Conservation…
Allow me to paraphrase a Brazilian officer: “to you the Amazon’s a rainforest. To us it’s a jungle, and we’ll cut it down if we want to.”…
Treason At HuffPo!…
What else do you call Martin Lewis’ direct call for the overthrow of the Constitutional principle of civilian control of the military by having a general relieve the President of his constitutional role of commander-in-chief during time of war? Though…
Hangings, Executions and other good stuff…
Iran has hanged up to 30 people in the past month amid a clampdown prompted by alleged U.S.-backed plots to topple the regime, while the EU urges Texas to end executions. Iran: (here via here) Many executions have been carried…
Dems Disenfranchise Florida…
In an attempt to control the primary dates of the states, the DNC has declared that Florida delegates selected this January will not be seated at the 2008 presidential nominating convention. The Democratic National Committee, threatening to take the to…
Not Our Job…
No wonder we have a problem with border jumpers and drug smugglers breaking American law and sneaking into the US — it isn’t the job of the Border Patrol to stop them. At least not according to Carlos X. Carrillo,……
When Fake News is Presented as Truth by the Main S…
Its a mystery to me as to why the Old Media insists on reporting the amateurish propaganda that comes out of the middle east while ignoring reporting any news stories that promote the best interest of the United States. Its a very strange phenomena t…..
Americans, Iraqis interact at historical monument…
It has been more than 10 years since any Iraqi native has been allowed to visit the Ziggurat of Ur, which is the most dominant landmark on Ali Base, because during the reign of Suddam Hussein the installation was used by the Iraqi army….
GoT TapE?…
Forget passports ..it’s high time we institute mental health exams and sanity tests for passengers.
……
Owen Wilson Hospitalized Following Possible Suicid…
The National Enquirer later revealed that he had been found by a family member after he had sliced his left wrist and taken an undetermined number of pills. His condition was listed as very serious and his prognosis grim. He has sense been upgraded a…..
When Castro Dies comes the real revolution…
When Castro finally does die though, that will not be the end, but the beginning of a revolution. Very few people know this but before Castro liberated Cuba…
Encrypted, Game-Theoretic Methodologies…
Linear-time modalities and replication have garnered tremendous interest from both researchers and computational biologists in the last several years. In fact, few mathematicians would disagree with the emulation of digital-to-analog converters….
More cartoon “Dhimmitude”: Newspapers refuse to print Opus cartoon Mocking Islam…
I have avoided the use of this term in the past as it is pejorative and far too convenient for my tastes.
But more and more, the ass kissing of Muslim hyper-sensitivity has been irking me, so I see no reason to continue ignoring it for what it is.
…
9th Circus Court Strikes another blow to those darn Christians…
Darn those Christian kids, expecting they can assemble and associate like the chess club or the Anime Club.
What were they thinking? Were they expecting some constitutional protection or something?
Leave it to the 9th Circuit Circus Cou…
The Knuckleheads of the Day award…
Today’s winners are the Makkal Osai newspaper and Malaysia’s Internal Security Ministry….
Confirmed: Gonzales Has Resigned as Attorney General…
Alberto Gonzales resigned on Friday.
……
Interesting Story about an Armenian Enclave in Azerbaijan …
Or a People Long Suffered…