Frustrated lawmakers lashed out at the nation's mine safety chief Wednesday over his handling of last month's deadly collapse at a Utah coal mine, saying the agency had yet to learn from four major disasters in the nation's coal mines over the past two years.
Senators grew increasingly exasperated with Mine Safety and Health Administration chief Richard Stickler as he struggled to provide answers as to why possible warning signs at the Utah mine were ignored - including a previous seismic bump 900 feet from the collapse site. Lawmakers also wanted to know why the rescue operation suffered so many setbacks, despite a recent major overhaul of the nation's mine safety laws.
"What the hell does it take to shake up this agency?" asked Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to the applause of union members in the audience. "What is the problem at MSHA? What the hell is the problem at MSHA?"
The rest is here ...
Just a guess, but I think I know the answer to that.
This fiasco is what happens when you put people in charge of government functions who believe in their heart of hearts that "GOVERNMENT is the PROBLEM".
If you believe that government is the problem, then you have no vested interest in fixing it. You want to do away with it as much as possible. You want to do away with regulations because they impede corporations. But the mine disaster in Utah is what happens when mine safety is left to the corporations.
I've said it before and I am compelled to say it again: there's a big difference between "there are problems with government" and "government is the problem". The difference is that the former is the approach of the left side of the aisle, progressives, liberals and Democrats (in general) while the latter is the attitude of the right, conservatives, and libertarians who feel that the elimination of government all functions is a positive.
When you put people in charge of government who truly believe "government is the problem" then you get Katrina, the Sago Mine Disaster and Giuliani judgments that place New York City's disaster command center in the most likely "ground zero". You get "My Pet Goat" responses to crisis situations.
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