George W. Bush Caused Mine Collapse
In case you were wondering how long it would take Democrats to blame George W. Bush for the deaths of the coal miners in West Virginia, the answer is, predictably, a matter of minutes. No word yet on Mama D’s next press conference telling us how Bush blew up the mine like he did the levees in New Orleans.
From today’s Boston Globe story,
Jubilation, then horror
Democrats say the Bush administration’s enforcement of mining safety and environmental regulations must come under scrutiny. The administration has called for cuts to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and the agency has shed about 120 coal-industry enforcement jobs since 2002, according to statistics compiled by Democratic congressional aides.
After President Bush took office in 2001, the administration pulled back a series of regulations proposed under President Clinton, including the requirement to upgrade miners’ emergency respiratory devices and to add more mine rescue teams.
Three years ago, the White House wanted to increase the legal level of breathable dust that miners could be exposed to, but it backed away in the face of congressional opposition. And Democrats have criticized Bush administration officials for going after relatively small fines against offenders; of the 208 citations issued at Sago Mine, nearly half carried the minimum fine of $60, and none amounted to more than $900.
Aside from the naked partisanship, does anything jump out at you in this exerpt? The adminsitration “pulled back a series of regulations proposed under President Clinton”. Hmmmm, that seems to ring a bell…regulations proposed by Clinton…hmmm…they weren’t inacted, only proposed. . Hmmm….
This wouldn’t have been during his pathetic final hours in office would it? You remember don’t you? Clinton spent his final evening in office pardoning international cocaine dealers and billionaire tax cheat Marc Rich, wife of Clinton crony Denise Rich. What else was Clinton busy doing? He was rewriting numerous environmental regulations in his final hours because he knew the new administration, the Bush administration, would have to reverse them upon taking office. It was a parting political gift for the limping Democrat party he and his cigar left behind.
Remember one of the first kerfuffles of the Bush administration? He wanted to increase the amount of aresenic in our water supply, allegedly. The enviro wackos went nuts, Democrats said it was a sign of his awful enviro policies. Well, we soon learned that the standard that had been in place for years, 50 parts per billion, was lowered by Clinton on his final night in office, to 10 parts per billion. Bush didn’t actually want to have more arsenic in our water, he simply wanted to maintain the 50 parts per billion standard that had stood for years, until the final evening of the Clinton administration. If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe the LA Times,
WASHINGTON–EPA Administrator Christie Whitman on Tuesday rescinded a Clinton administration decision that would have significantly reduced the amount of arsenic allowed in the nation’s drinking water.
Outraged environmentalists said the move, combined with other recent actions, signals a new tendency by Bush administration officials to appease industry rather than safeguard public health and the environment. Current regulations allow arsenic at a level of 50 parts per billion in tap water.
The Clinton administration ruling lowered that level significantly, to 10 parts per billion. Congress required the EPA to set a new standard for arsenic in tap water in 1996, but the Clinton administration issued its ruling in the last days of the administration, along with a flurry of other eleventh-hour rule changes.
I wonder how many of these “eleventh-hour rule changes” had to do with regulation of coal mines?
FACTS ON MINE SAFETY
Coal mine production reached the highest levels in history in recent years. In 2004 coal mining fatalities were near the lowest level in history with 28. Even with the recent high production, MSHAâ??s accident reduction efforts helped to keep the annual fatality totals nearly 50% lower in recent years compared with totals recorded in the early 1990s.
1. Clinton’s last year in office, 2000, there were 48 deaths in coal mines. In 2004, there were 28
2. The injury rate in 2000 was 6.64, in 2004 it was 5.00
3. Citations for safety violations in 2000: 58,285; Citations for violations in 2004: 64,635 (this would indicate to me more rigorous enforcement under Bush, especially after having cut back on coal industry enforcement jobs as the Democrats claim. Sounds to me like the Clinton administration was asleep at the switch)
The moral of the story….Democrats cannot be trusted. Democrats are all about partisan politics. Democrats have ZERO agenda for America. Democrats will continue to blame George Bush for everything that goes wrong in this country. He will get credit for nothing. He could cure cancer tomorrow and they would criticize him for taking too long, or for ignoring AIDS because he is hostile to gays.
Sometimes this stuff is just stupid partisan politics, and other times it just pisses me off. This is one of those ‘other’ times.
UPDATE: Here is what the Daily Kos is running with,
The Republican Mine Disaster: Blood on their Hands
January 4, 2006 2:34 pm 
Excellent article. You use facts that actually contain sources that can be identified. lol. Thank you for all your help. Keep up the great work.
The Fiction Age
There was a story released last night about the 13 miners trapped in West Virginia that was incorrect. It was devastatingly incorrect, but was it the fault of the media? Apparently, not this time.
It wasn’t the fault of the “media?” Yes, if you take the “time to listen to the CNN “interviews” with random people who claimed the 13 miners were “alive” you will see that Mr. Cooper of CNN was the first to incorrectly “report” this unsubstantiated “rumor” as fact. The “fact” is that the elite media cannot be trusted to report truthfully (who, what, when, where, and why)and make it up as they go along. Some call it sensationalism. Others refer to it as agenda driven journalism. In this case, it is an example of ineptness at the highest levels. This exemplifies why more Americans dont’ trust the elite media (CNN is at the top of the list) and is tuning them out. Those who claim the New Media blogosphere lacks adequate “filters” fact checkers” and “editors” to ensure authentic news and information should instead examinie how the Big Media conglomerates have abnegated their responsiblity to accurately report the news. They are the ones who are so desperate for ratings and viewership that they are willing to do anything to achieve it including making up the news as they go along. Put a fork in em!
Gregg J
People running and screaming in joy. Church bells ringing. Company officials saying everyone was saved. You are really stretching here to make the media look bad on this one.
That story was national news and it was a story that people were watching live. For more than 2 hours everyone thought they were alive. Of course the media is going to cover that, and they should have.
But you can’t really consider this a huge black mark on them. The mining owners definitely (they knew 20 minutes after the miscommunication and waiting several hours to correct it. That is just a horrible decision.)But a live news feed and getting the scoop from a company source saying they were alive is not the media’s fault.
Yell at the media for being woefully inept in covering the war. Despise them for their “if it bleeds it leads” mentality. Mock them for not being objective. But dumping on them for this is about the same as the whacko liberals blaming Bush for a terrible accident (nice article Kevin.)
I’ve worked in the coal fields for 25 years. I worked for a major railroad. I’ve known many miners and their families. I’ve attented too many funerals of people I knew that were killed in mines.
For the Media, the Democratis and various other slime balls to use the 13 dead miners to score political points is totally out of line. The American people will see and note this. Media, Other slime bags, take note. Your conduct is being watched.
I’ve worked in the coal fields for 25 years. I worked for a major railroad. I’ve known many miners and their families. I’ve attented too many funerals of people I knew that were killed in mines.
For the Media, the Democratis and various other slime balls to use the 13 dead miners to score political points is totally out of line. The American people will see and note this. Media, Other slime bags, take note. Your conduct is being watched.
I’ve worked in the coal fields for 25 years. I worked for a major railroad. I’ve known many miners and their families. I’ve attented too many funerals of people I knew that were killed in mines.
For the Media, the Democratis and various other slime balls to use the 13 dead miners to score political points is totally out of line. The American people will see and note this. Media, Other slime bags, take note. Your conduct is being watched.
This is not related to the mine disaster topic and is more of a general comment. How, exactly, are these two “new media” guys any different than the Bush administration cheerleaders that populate Fox News? These guys constantly rail against the liberal bias in the media, yet didn’t The New York Times sit on the eavesdropping story for a year at the request of the administration? If the “liberal” media were really out to get the administration, they would call for the impeachment of the criminal George W. Bush for his war crimes in Iraq and illegal wiretapping of American citizens. And a final comment - wake up all you rightwingers! Bush is eroding our freedoms under the guise of “national security” and you guys happily defend and allow it.
John, you’re full of shit.
Now that is not nice. John has his opinion and we spend too much time already calling each other names.
John, the difference here between the folks running this site and Fox news is that the people running this blog do not need to be subjective. This is one big opinion piece, and a very well done one at that. Kevin constantly includes facts from other sources. Do I always agree with him? Nope. But often times he does have a point.
I agree that the website is very well done, and I respect the authors for the effort they have put into it. To my point, if you’re a dedicated conservative or liberal, your world view is shaped and distorted to the point where every issue is spun to fit your predetermined set of beliefs. I mean, is everything that comes out of the mouths of Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi ridiculous to these authors? And it works both ways. Liberals are just as guilty. When the authors first described themselves as members of the “new media”, I was excited because I thought this meant they would elevate themselves above the propaganda from BOTH sides in the mainstream media. Instead, they seem to present the same Republican talking points that dominate Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and other supposedly subjective outlets. To me, this is not so much “new media” but more a new outlet for the same ideologically driven viewpoints.
John,
I appreciate your listening and your feedback. Just a couple of points, between Gregg and myself we cover a wide swath of political opinion. Gregg is a true blue conservative, I am a typical northeast Republican, more moderate on social issues. Did you hear us go at it over gay marriage?
http://www.punditreview.com/2005/11/08/pundit-review-radio/
We have hammered Bush repeatedly on the radio, on immigration, for failing to control spending and most importantly, for abdicating the bully pulpit on Iraq and the economy.
We call it as we see it. Perhaps you missed my post titled The GOP Congress is a Disgrace,
http://www.punditreview.com/2005/11/21/this-gop-congress-is-a-disgrace/
To me, what makes the ‘new media’ so great is that it serves as a counter balance to the MSM. Even with all of the impact blogs, talk radio and other ‘new media’ outlets have had, they are dwarfed by the influence of the MSM. For the first time, the average person can fight back. That is what we do.
Thanks again.
kevin
[...] As I noted in my post when the WV accident first occurred, the left would not be able to resist the compulsion to run with this,George W. Bush Caused The Mine Collapse. This was as predictable as it was laughable. [...]
[...] Pundit Review chips in (sorry guys, I must have deleted your trackback — it’s hard to get good help these days), and revisits their very good post on fatalities and safety from early January. [...]
home loan…
home loan…
Student Loan for College…
Student Loan for College…
[...] The Sago coal mine tragedy happened one year ago. One of the most popular Pundit Review posts of 2006 was this one, George W. Bush Caused Coal Mine Collapse. BizzyBlog’s Tom Blumer was all over this story last year, and he takes a look back. [...]