LET IT NOT BE SAID THAT HE IS NOT WITHOUT COMPASSION
From my favorite White House parody site, whitehouse.org:
http://www.whitehouse.org/news/2006/012306.asp
West Virginia, two days ago, passed "sweeping" reforms in the area of mine safety legislation. The new reforms dictate that mines implement communication and detection technology to make communication between miners above-ground and miners working below the surface easier. Of course, this technology has been available for years, and has been in place in many other states. When a spokesman for West Virginia's governor said, "this technology is readily affordable and easy to implement," he apparently didn't realize (or maybe he did) the irony of his statement. The only reason W.Va. would know that the technology was readily affordable and easy to implement is because for over ten years it has acted like the mayor in Jaws, with the only difference being that the mayor in that town claimed to have a reason for not wanting to close the beaches after a shark attack ("if people can't swim here, they'd be happy to swim at the Hamptons, or at Martha's Vineyard, or at Horsehit Beach"). What was West Virginia's reason for not wanting to implement the technology? Yes, money, I know (never mind that the state feeds off the federal trough like a pig at Karl Rove's toilet), but seriously: were they actually thinking, "Well, if people don't get trapped in mines and die here, they'll go do it somewhere else, and we can't have that?" It's not like the mining companies would have moved to other states had West Virginia earlier implemented the safeguards - the other states already had the safeguards and it's cheaper to do business in West Virginia.
Of course, when the Chairman of the Mine Safety and Health Administration was called to testify before Congress yesterday, he walked out midway through the meeting. Arlen Specter threatened him that some day, the Senate may possibly ask for possible unanimous consent to possibly call him back to possibly have an informal chat, off the record.
The Secretary and Assistant Secretary of OSHA were both on Bush's MSHA before being appointed to their respective posts. I guess this gives new meaning to the term, "when there's smoke, there's fire."
http://www.whitehouse.org/news/2006/012306.asp
West Virginia, two days ago, passed "sweeping" reforms in the area of mine safety legislation. The new reforms dictate that mines implement communication and detection technology to make communication between miners above-ground and miners working below the surface easier. Of course, this technology has been available for years, and has been in place in many other states. When a spokesman for West Virginia's governor said, "this technology is readily affordable and easy to implement," he apparently didn't realize (or maybe he did) the irony of his statement. The only reason W.Va. would know that the technology was readily affordable and easy to implement is because for over ten years it has acted like the mayor in Jaws, with the only difference being that the mayor in that town claimed to have a reason for not wanting to close the beaches after a shark attack ("if people can't swim here, they'd be happy to swim at the Hamptons, or at Martha's Vineyard, or at Horsehit Beach"). What was West Virginia's reason for not wanting to implement the technology? Yes, money, I know (never mind that the state feeds off the federal trough like a pig at Karl Rove's toilet), but seriously: were they actually thinking, "Well, if people don't get trapped in mines and die here, they'll go do it somewhere else, and we can't have that?" It's not like the mining companies would have moved to other states had West Virginia earlier implemented the safeguards - the other states already had the safeguards and it's cheaper to do business in West Virginia.
Of course, when the Chairman of the Mine Safety and Health Administration was called to testify before Congress yesterday, he walked out midway through the meeting. Arlen Specter threatened him that some day, the Senate may possibly ask for possible unanimous consent to possibly call him back to possibly have an informal chat, off the record.
The Secretary and Assistant Secretary of OSHA were both on Bush's MSHA before being appointed to their respective posts. I guess this gives new meaning to the term, "when there's smoke, there's fire."
posted by EnterCenter at 11:50 AM
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