The Mike Brown of MSHA.
By on Jan 6th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
The Mike Brown of MSHA.
Bush’s former head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, David Lauriski, resigned after “60 Minutes” revealed that “the agency had improperly awarded no-bid, single-source contracts. Two of those companies had ties to Lauriski and one of his assistants.” A permanent replacement has yet to be confirmed.
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He sounds like a cross be Abramoff and Brown. Republican corruption has reached new heights. This is always the risk when you have a single political party running all branches of government. When a political party becomes so self righteous that it also refuses to admit or hold accountable it’s own members, using the lame “we’re still better than them and their sexcapades” excuse, then you get the convergence of the greedy, the inept, the foolish and corrupt all in one untidy little package.
January 6th, 2006 at 5:16 pmI’m going to start believing in God thanks to Bushco. Everything they touch turns to sh*t.
January 6th, 2006 at 5:22 pmThis has got to be Clinton’s fault.
/sarcasm=off
You have got to be kidding me. How deep does this shit go? I am really having a hard time keeping up with all of this stuff.
I used to have files on everything. I cannot download, read, print out and watch all of this stuff anymore. There is just too much corruption.
Bush said he was going to clean up Washington. I guess you can chalk that up as something he failed at also.
January 6th, 2006 at 5:24 pmBush doesn’t appoint anyone who isn’t a crony; no-bid contracts are the rule with the Bush crowd. Think Halliburton. The mine in Sago is under new management in recent months and perhaps they needed time to remedy things if they even intended to do so , but it is a non-union mine, I think, and safety is compromised when the safety of the workers is sacrificed for the bottom line of the owners.
January 6th, 2006 at 5:32 pmPeople in coal mining towns are traditionally blue-collar, under-educated, and have few local opportunities except working in the mines. They are victims of their circumstances and victims of the rich bastards who run everything with more than a little help from Washington.
Bush said he was going to clean up Washington. I guess you can chalk that up as something he failed at also.
Comment by Spudge_Boy — January 6, 2006 @ 5:24 pm
Well you know how Bush misspeaks alot?
January 6th, 2006 at 5:40 pmHe probably meant to say he was gonna clean up “in” Washington. this shows the repugs have been cleaning whole place of cash. =P
This is reprehensible… is there any bureaucracy untouched by Bushie’s cronyism?
January 6th, 2006 at 5:44 pmSolution to job safety is simple - if x workers perish in an an accident, then x members of management would suffer the same fate starting with the board of directors. Apply the same poplicy to government and we could clean up the current mess.
January 6th, 2006 at 5:44 pm#7, love it!
January 6th, 2006 at 5:51 pmIsn’t this fun watching them drag themselves down in a new way every day? Except for the people dying and stuff, yes, the rest of it is very gratifying.
And no, trolls, I do not mean that I am sooo happy just because it is the Republicans getting it in the eye, but I have to admit it warms the cockles of my heart to see a glimmering of justice far down the tunnel.
#7, Wayne, That idea deserves consideration.
January 6th, 2006 at 6:22 pmIt may be the only way to reverse this situation in business and in government.
Haven’t you heard of the 16 people Bush Recess Appointed just Wed?
January 6th, 2006 at 7:08 pmI emailed TP but no story yet.
Al Franken was talking about it on his show today.
Important positions, No qualifications the lot of them.
It’s a disgrace, and TP should really bring it to everyone’s attention.
Eric Hananoki was the author of the blog.
Considering that Republicans control the legislative agenda, don’t you agree that we should pressure Republican campaign contributors with consumer boycotts in order to force them to go to the Republicans to get legislation that we want?
If you agree then browse
http://www.boycott-republicans.com
January 6th, 2006 at 8:44 pmEither very stupid or very cock-sure.
Those in charge are doing one stupid thing after another as if they didn’t think that they will suffer any consequences.
You know what? I think they are right. They will not suffer any consequences and will continue to rule without bounds.
January 6th, 2006 at 8:56 pmI agree, Spudge. We need bulldozers just to skim the crust off this s**t!
SKdeA - be careful; that might be the ignition in the mine shaft!
I really hope that our legislative body is waking up; it’s not like we haven’t been calling. The only positive thing I’m seeing is that there are alot more Americans (including myself) who are realizing that action/involvement is absolutely necessary to wrestle our democracy back. It’s gonna be one hell of a fight, though.
January 6th, 2006 at 9:10 pmHere ya go, TrueBlue; we can be a little preemptive can’t we?
http://news.yahoo.com/ s/ ap/ 20060106/ ap_on_go_pr_wh/ bush_recess_appointments;_ylt=AtA2fWfg7SbdL5_Tei2jm0qs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010606K.shtml
Just reconfirms that Bush doesn’t believe in the Constitution or the division of power. Until he’s (and his administration) impeached, he’ll continue to use the Constitution as toilet paper because it’s “just a goddamned piece of paper”.
January 6th, 2006 at 9:24 pmAre you fcking kidding me? They literally make this shit up as they go. Oh my god. I am goin gto be ill. Bush has got to go. The Bush administration needs to go. The American people will gloss over this too. We live in a country ripe for they taking and Bush and friends are doing it right in front of America’s eyes.
January 6th, 2006 at 10:49 pmNo s**t, Spudge. Just when I think it couldn’t get worse, it does! What’s it really going to take to clean up this disaster? Sort of makes Katrina look like a dust devil (no offense to the victims of the hurricane. Of course that’s included in with Bush’s ineptness and cronyism). We’re not (in) America (Kansas) anymore!
January 6th, 2006 at 11:00 pm#14, Lisa and #15, Spudgeboy — Jeezuschrist!! I just read the news report. Bush&Co are totally out of control — as you say, they make it up as they go. They are whores. Corrupt perverts who must be taken down.
January 6th, 2006 at 11:07 pm#11,
Excellent idea, but unfortunately it is not realistic. Most of the poeple who patronize those businesses have no idea, and don’t want to know. Maybe the new credit card laws will get some people interested.
January 7th, 2006 at 12:34 amAs an African-American, who has been “made it” in corporate America, by my own hard work/merits, I’ve heard comments about being a quota and reverse discrimination.
Exactly what do you call it when Bush appoints people like Harriet Miers, Mike Brown, and dozens of other political appointees who are far from qualified?
I’m no fan of affirmative action. I think a person should sink or swim, based on their education, intelligence, merits etc., but when I hear conSServatives attack affirmative action and or C+ GPA president speak of hard work, the importance of education, patriotism, etc…..it makes me want to vomit.
January 7th, 2006 at 7:25 amAll of the comments on here sound like a bunch of bullshits from people who just blurt things out w/o any thinking. That’s one of the reasons the country is in the shape it’s in now.
January 7th, 2006 at 7:42 amI can’t wait for another 3 years to pass so I can finally hear the end of you frickin cry babies complaining about Bush. And I can bet if a Republican get elected to office we’ll be listenming to you cry some more for at least another 4 years. Get a life Bush haters.
January 7th, 2006 at 8:51 amBill and Steve…. take off your blinders and join the rest of those who can see what is going on without the prejuidice of politics or religion coloring their glasses.
January 7th, 2006 at 9:53 amYou people kill me. I imagine the lightening strike was his fault too?
It was a freakin accident you MORONS!
January 7th, 2006 at 11:16 amEddie, don’t think anyone is disputing that it was an accident. Rather they are saying that if proper actions had been taken to see that if the more than 230 violations that the coal company had last year had been remediated, perhaps the OUTCOME of the ACCIDENT would have been different. If the working men and women of this country have no union (and that mine I am told had none) then who is to be looking out for them? By their actions, the people in government who were overseeing the safety of these fellow Americans should be under the microscope for scrutiny of dereliction of duty it would seem.
January 7th, 2006 at 11:40 am…the curse is working…
January 7th, 2006 at 11:45 amYou people kill me. I imagine the lightening strike was his fault too?
It was a freakin accident you MORONS!
Comment by Eddie #23
I’m astonished that you spelled the word “MORON” correctly. But then you’ve probably had a lot of practice with it since Bushite inbreds like yourself have adopted it as your surname…
That mine had (depending on whom you’re listening to) btwn 100-to- 208 safety violations. Because the Bushite regime is so anti-labor, anti poor/middle working class, anti-regulation, anti-union, anti-environmental and ANTI-AMERICAN, those violations were ignored- even though this mine has changed hands at least four times within the last few years.
Hey Eddie, do you own your own home?
If you did you’d know that you couldn’tsell your home with minor safety violations, but corporate scumbags were allowed to not only buy and sell this mine with again upwards of 200 safety violations, but were allowed to send workers down into that death trap…
how would you feel if one of those 12 dead was your father, brother, or son? Oh that’s right it probably wouldn’t even faze you, as long as your gods Bushiva and l’il dick are safely ensconced in your white house from hell atop their inbred inspired pedestals…
Eddie, why do you hate our democracy?
What makes inbreds like you betray your country in order to worship and serve two of the most vile, undeserving, cowardly, corrupt sh*theads like Bushiva and L’il Dick?
Are you serving in Iraq? If not, why not?
Why don’t you move to a country where you can live under a facist king? I’m sure there’s room for you…
January 7th, 2006 at 12:05 pmWell, ya know big papa, it took 22 previous entries before he found it in the dictionary. Let’s see, there’s A, B, C,…hmmmmmm; that gives me an idea M!
It’s hard to use the dictionary when the cerebral cortex is lacking!
January 7th, 2006 at 2:13 pmWhat can you say?
I’m from the UK and we’re seeing the same kind of cronyism and total contemptuous disregard for any kind of reaction/uproar/backlash from the electorate.
We too have a government which was elected on promises of “cleaning up the sleaze” of the previous lot, yet whose performance is just as tainted by scandal and deals.
It seems par for the course now: business leaders, politicians etc of whatever persuasion seem to have worked out that the best way to feed from the trough is to ensure they get to control it and they seem to believe they have some God-given right to a bigger share of the cake than anyone else and that it is fine for them to use whatever means possible to ensure the gravy train keeps going for them and their cronies.
The mine disaster was in all probability an accident in that it was not a deliberate act of sabotage or terrorism. Unless it turns out to be one of those “acts of God” that all too conveniently let the culpable, the corrupt and the inept off the hook, no doubt it will turn out to be the case that it was an accident that could have been prevented, or at least mitigated, by proper actions/decisions/safety spending etc.
For those posters who feel that the “common” people shouldn’t winge about politicians or business leaders perhaps they might like to do a search on Google for “Buffalo Creek Flood” (just another example of many of what happens when a company appears to operate a culture that says “we don’t give a s**t for your citations about safety”).
We had the Aberfan disaster a few years before Buffalo Creek. Seems nobody learnt from it, or at least deemed it necessary to apply the lessons.
I’ve just been watching a rerun of a programme on the Challenger disaster. You could weep for the sheer waste of those bright young lives and the hopes they carried. Why did they die? Same old story: sloppyness, industrial/political/management pressure overriding the clear signals of a problem and the huge concerns of the engineers.
Did any heads roll? Did they hell! A few “early retirements” (bet it didn’t crimp their pensions too much), but nobody actually blamed for closing their eyes/blinkering themselves to a very real danger. NASA forced hold a 2 year review to teach itself to do what it should have done in the first place.
Don’t hold your breath guys: this culture of sleaze and contempt for the “lower life forms (ordinary people)” runs deep in those who would rule us either directly through political means or indirectly through industry/commerce.
They don’t dig coal, they don’t till the soil, they don’t work in auto plants, hospitals, marts etc because they were made for better things. They “work†in those parts of the economy/political arena where you can create vast personal wealth and influence by moving paper/fixing deals/creaming commissions/arranging self-rewarding pay and perks schemes etc and all done without having to go anywhere near real ordinary “sweat of the brow†work as is expected of the rest of us to keep the system running for their benefit. You think any of them who climb onto that system have any interest in bringing it down?
How to fix it? God only knows and just at this moment He ain’t telling.
Peter
January 7th, 2006 at 3:52 pmbush is trying to turn the u.s. into a third world country…where lawlessness and corruption are the rule in the state…i happen to believe in conservativism but he believes and practices is a bastardized version. The guy cant even come up with coherent sentences and he’s out there trying to be the education president. Everything he comes up with smells of double speak. step one….give control of house and senate to democrats..step two impeachment proceedings..step three…war criminal court at the hague…..thats the legal procedure to remove this clown
January 7th, 2006 at 5:00 pmNo bid contracts are a red flag for corruption. They should not be allowed and legislation should be passed to address this big hole in our democracy. The excuse for Halliburton was that “no other company could do the job.” No kidding, would you compete for a job when you knew it was all about “no bid contracts” it drives the honest people away and leaves crooks.
January 7th, 2006 at 5:08 pmIt was amazing to see hard working people vote these guys back in to office. Wake up. They only have themselves to think about - rewarding friends and leaving the public with more arrogant imcompetents to run important positions.
I agree bbg. I also believe that we should have a healthy mixture of conservativism with liberalism. A friend’s husband said years ago we would be a third world country within 10 years and the way it’s looking now, he could very well be right.
Rather than being a ’superpower’, I would much rather see this nation be the ’super example’ in human rights, ethics, and justice to name a few catagories. But I really don’t think we’re mature enough, as a society, to accomplish that.
January 7th, 2006 at 5:35 pmGiven the rampant corruption, I’ll settle for ethics at this point!
Steve: “I can’t wait for another 3 years to pass so I can finally hear the end of you frickin cry babies complaining about Bush. And I can bet if a Republican get elected to office we’ll be listenming to you cry some more for at least another 4 years. Get a life Bush haters.”
A-hahahaHHAAAA!!! Sucks to be you, hahaHAHA! BBUUUSSSHHH
B-u-u-s-s-h-h.B-u-a-a-a-…. baaaaaa. baaaaaa
January 8th, 2006 at 12:36 amI bet the Kool Aid drinking Mandible feels so proud is itself because it could write a response in the middle of the night while most were asleep, thinking it got the last word in. Like kickin a dead dog; getting the rush of taking on something when it’s down. Yeah. The epitomy of spinelessness; a slithering reptile in the mud. Good work, Mandible; you make the Republican Party proud! You are the shining example of their representation and mentality!
January 8th, 2006 at 11:57 ambush is trying to turn the u.s. into a third world country…where lawlessness and corruption are the rule in the state…
Comment by bush-b-gone #29
Let’s get one thing straight bush-b-gone, the lawlessness and corruption will be tolerated ONLY if perpetrated by the elitist class (Bushiva, L’il Dick and co.), NOT the little people.
Do not try lawlessness and corruption at home, as it is for professional (corporate/political) use only.
Any attempts to engage in lawless, corrupt behavior by any individual earning less than twenty million a year, or is not politically connected, or performing “official’ services for same will cause said offender to garner severe legal sanctions…
January 9th, 2006 at 9:08 amI’m going to start believing in God thanks to Bushco. Everything they touch turns to sh*t.
Comment by Gus the Loving OBGYN #2
….the curse is working….
January 9th, 2006 at 9:09 amThe good ol USA is being bushed whacked again
January 9th, 2006 at 10:43 am