Thursday, June 08, 2006

45 - Right-Wing Policies Kill America's Coal Miners

I repeat quite often that right-wingers invariably cause increased human misery, suffering, pain and death. Today I'll present a perfect example of precisely the type of such havoc that ensues when right-wingers achieve power.

We've recently witnessed the dual tragedies of the Sago mine explosion in January, which killed 12 West Virginia coal miners, and then the Harlan County mine explosion in May, which killed 5 Kentucky coal miners. Many of the miners survived the actual explosions, but died from lack of oxygen.

Mine disasters happen, right? Nothing the right-wing did to help cause these, correct?

Wrong.

Right-wing actions have significantly increased the likelihood of mining disasters, and decreased the likelihood that miners will survive such incidents.

There are four main areas where Bush administration actions have created conditions which inevitably lead to more disasters and lower survival rates for the miners:

--cutting the budget, staff and enforcement efforts of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA);

--appointing mining company executives to oversee their own industry;

--opposing stronger mining safety and health regulations, even rolling back some of them

--and last but not least, punishing MSHA employees who try to correct dangerous mining conditions.

You'll hear interspersed throughout the podcast, family members of miners who were killed, along with the United Mine Workers union president and two Congressmen who are trying to legislate protection for the miners.

Jack Clark 3:36 PM [+]   7 comments
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