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Seven Killed, At Least 19 Missing Twenty-Five Dead, Four Missing In Massey Coal Mine Disaster

By Brad Johnson on Apr 5, 2010 at 11:34 pm

Seven miners were killed and another 19 are missing “after an explosion rocked a Massey Energy underground coal mine” in southern West Virginia this afternoon. The explosion took place at 3 pm at Massey subsidiary Performance Coal Co.’s Upper Big Branch Mine-South between the towns of Montcoal and Naoma. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow dedicated the beginning of her program to covering the disaster, interviewing veteran Charleston Gazette reporter Ken Ward, Jr., and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) by telephone. Listen to Ward reporting on the tragic details slowly emerging from the mine:

This Massey disaster is on the scale of the 2006 Sago Mine disaster which killed 13 people, the worst coal mine disaster in the United States since the Farmington Mine disaster of 1968, which killed 78 miners. “It’s very emotional, very powerful, very awful, and finally very Appalachian,” Sen. Rockefeller told Maddow. He concluded:

Of all the glory of West Virginia characteristics of fighting and climbing hills all the time, this is the tragic part.

Watch the interview:

This tragedy is the latest deadly disaster to involve coal baron Don Blankenship’s Massey Energy. In 2006, two miners died in a fire at Aracoma Mine after Blankenship personally waived company policy and told mine managers to ignore rules and “run coal.” “In the past year, federal inspectors have cited Massey and fined the company more than $382,000 for repeated serious safety violations involving its ventilation plan and equipment at the mine run by subsidiary Performance Coal Co.,” the Associated Press reported. “The violations also cover failing to follow the ventilation plan, allowing combustible coal dust to pile up, and having improper firefighting equipment.”

Update

7:12 AM, Tuesday: The Associated Press reports that the death toll is now twenty-five:

It is the most people killed in a U.S. mine since 1984, when 27 died in a fire at Emery Mining Corp.’s mine in Orangeville, Utah. If the four missing bring the total to 29, it would be the most killed in a U.S. mine since a 1970 explosion killed 38 at Finley Coal Co., in Hyden, Ky.

Media

Tea Party Movement As Popular As Socialism

By Guest Blogger on Apr 5, 2010 at 7:44 pm

Our guest bloggers are John Halpin and Ruy Teixeira, Center for American Progress senior fellows and co-directors of the Progressive Studies Program.

The numbers don’t lie.

The percentage of Americans viewing “The Tea Party movement” favorably: 37 percent. The percentage of Americans with a positive image of “socialism”: 36 percent. (Both sources, Gallup).

pic1

pic2

Although the question wording is not exactly the same, the point is obvious. You can find roughly 4 in 10 Americans who will give a positive rating to just about anything in politics that they know little about.

Health

Insurers Report Consumers Gaming The Individual Mandate In Massachusetts

By Igor Volsky on Apr 5, 2010 at 7:00 pm

The Boston Globe reports that “[t]housands of consumers are gaming Massachusetts’ 2006 health insurance law by buying insurance when they need to cover pricey medical care, such as fertility treatments and knee surgery, and then swiftly dropping coverage“:

In 2009 alone, 936 people signed up for coverage with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts for three months or less and ran up claims of more than $1,000 per month while in the plan. Their medical spending while insured was more than four times the average for consumers who buy coverage on their own and retain it in a normal fashion, according to data the state’s largest private insurer provided the Globe.

The typical monthly premium for these short-term members was $400, but their average claims exceeded $2,200 per month. The previous year, the company’s data show it had even more high-spending, short-term members. Over those two years, the figures suggest the price tag ran into the millions.

This is precisely what keeps insurers up at night — the fear that an inadequate individual health insurance mandate would allow some people to game the system and purchase coverage only when they need it. This creates a death spiral by which healthy people jump in and out of coverage, leaving insurance pools populated with costly sick people. Austin Frakt argues that Massachusetts can fix this problem by establishing an open enrollment period and allowing insurers to exclude coverage for preexisting conditions for six months, something Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has already proposed.

Critics will undoubtedly argue that the Massachusetts experience could doom the success of the national mandate. And while there is some question about whether or not the penalties for not buying coverage are high enough to detract free riders, I suspect the success of the mandate will also heavily depend on the public education campaign promoting coverage and the simplicity of the actual enrollment process.

Fortunately, Families USA’s Ron Pollack is all over it. Along with America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), and several other industry partners, Pollack is heading up a 50-state health care reform implementation effort called Enroll America to encourage everyone to sign up for coverage. The campaign will pay particular attention to the 5% of Americans who are eligible for coverage but are not expected to enroll and “will work to create an easy application process for benefits, including access to enrollment at doctors’ offices, pharmacies and government agencies that provide other benefits like food stamps.”

All this is a good start to enticing individuals who don’t think they need coverage to sign up for insurance. Still, lawmakers will undoubtedly have to make their share of changes to the health law (just like Patrick is doing now) to ensure that coverage is both affordable and accessible.

Climate Progress

The war against carbon starts now

By Joe Romm on Apr 5, 2010 at 6:33 pm

Part 1: The Carbon War Room starts to bust barriers in shipping

Carbon War Room

Readers are always asking what can been done to cut carbon beyond pushing for the bipartisan climate and clean energy jobs bill.   I’m launching a new series aimed at the kind of serious action people can push for at a local and state level — and even at a national and global level — without waiting for politicians.  After all, the biggest, most money-saving strategies to cut carbon are already profitable (see “McKinsey must-read: U.S. can meet entire 2020 emissions target with efficiency and cogeneration while lowering the nation’s energy bill $700 billion!“)

The impetus for this new series is my interview today (below) of Jigar Shah, the uber-innovative clean energy financing guru who founded Sun Edison and now heads the new nonprofit, the Carbon War Room.  The objective of CWR, founded by entrepreneurs like Sir Richard Branson, is to “ensure a prosperous future for all on the planet by developing a post-carbon economy.”  The operational approach is to “bring together successful entrepreneurs in collaboration with the most respected institutions, scientists, national security experts, and business leaders to implement the change required to avoid catastrophic climate change.”

The Carbon War Room has “identified 25 battles across 7 theaters that are material to winning the war against climate change. Each battle accounts for over 1 billion tons (or more than 2%) of global anthropogenic CO2e emissions annually.”   The figure above represents CWR’s “Theaters and Battles,” with filled in green circles representing an “Op in Progress” and the dotted circles a developing Op.  For instance, one area CWR has already start on is shipping, a too-neglected sector that has huge emissions and but only medium-sized market barriers, which they are addressing with Operation Rock The Boat“:

Read more

Politics

Michigan Militia plans ‘open carry’ gun tea party to ‘take the stigma out of the word militia.’

By Lee Fang on Apr 5, 2010 at 6:25 pm

Michigan Militia tea partyThis Saturday, on April 10, the Michigan Militia plans to host a tea party “open carry” gun rally. The Militia, which is a successor to the violent anti-government Michigan Militias of the mid-’90s, has come under criticism since the FBI raids of the Hutaree, a Michigan-based Christian militia that had planned to murder police officers. The Michigan Militia cooperated with the FBI to arrest the Hutaree and claimed that although they “had occasional contacts with the Hutaree militia,” they “had never trained with them.” Mike Lackomar, a spokesman for the militia, defended the planned “open carry” rally and again tried to distance himself from the Hutaree:

“This event primarily tries to take the stigma out of the word ‘militia,’ and provide information on what we are and who we are,” Lackomar said. “It lets people meet us and see what we’re all about.” [...] “I want it to be perfectly clear,” Lackomar said. “(The Hutaree) are not us, and we are not them, and we did not agree with their philosophy.”

However, according to their own website, the Michigan Militia boasts of being joined by their “friends” in the Hutaree shortly before leaving their training session to eat fajitas back in 2007. In a photo gallery published by the Michigan Militia in 2008 (now deleted), they posted pictures of the Hutaree with the caption: “Like ghosts through the woods, The Hutaree close on their objective.” The tea parties, anti-government militia groups, and far right elements of the Republican Party are slowly merging. Gun right advocates are planning rallies on the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing around the country, with even Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) slated to speak at one of the events.

Yglesias

Endgame

By Matthew Yglesias on Apr 5, 2010 at 6:14 pm

Back to the end of the path:

— This apparent massacre in Iraq exposed by WikiLeaks ought to be getting more journalistic attention than the RNC’s stripper tab.

— Exciting new homeless shelter coming to my neighborhood.

— Institute for New Economic Thinking will ensure that in the future all thinking is done by men.

— The problem with mentorship.

— Having a daughter seems to make people more conservative, though the posited causal explanation seems wildly implausible to me.

— Cory Doctorow is really mad about the iPad.

She and Him “Don’t Look Back”.

Security

DHS Inspector General: No Assurance That Deputization Of Immigration Law Is ‘Achieving Its Goals’

By Andrea Nill Sanchez on Apr 5, 2010 at 5:45 pm

police2Last Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general released a stinging critique of DHS’ 287(g) program, a controversial initiative which allows local police to enforce immigration laws. Immigrant and civil rights activists have long claimed that the program leaves all brown-skinned residents vulnerable to racial profiling and other civil rights abuses, regardless of their immigration status. The inspector general’s assessment largely concurs with observations made by groups on the ground and goes further in pointing out that the program is inefficiently administered and failing to meet its goals:

With no specific target levels for arrest, detention, and removal priority levels, and with performance measures that do not account for all investigative work and criminal prosecutions, ICE cannot be assured that the 287(g) program is meeting its intended purpose, or that resources are being appropriately targeted toward aliens who pose the greatest risk to public safety and the community. [...]

…An emphasis on civil rights and civil liberties was not formally included in the 287(g) application, review, and selection process…287(g) officers at several program sites were not knowledgeable about the asylum process, immigration benefits, and victim and witness protections. An appropriate level of knowledge in these areas could minimize processing errors and reduce the risk of wrongful detention and deportation. ICE needs to take measures to increase competencies in these areas.

In early 2009, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) also released a report slamming ICE for failing to provide local police participating in the 287(g) program with clearly defined objectives or a consistent system of supervision. “Contrary to the objective of the program,” the GAO report found that participating local police were removing immigrants for minor violations amidst rampant allegations of discrimination and racial profiling instead of curbing serious crime committed by “removable aliens.” Napolitano responded by announcing new objectives and guidelines aimed at “providing uniform policies” that prioritized the deportation of immigrants who commit serious crimes. The new inspector general report indicates that despite recent improvements, little has changed and “significant challenges in administering the 287(g) program continue to exist.”

Last year, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called on Obama to terminate the 287(g) program, indicating that “no amount of reforms, no matter how well-intentioned,” will address the program’s misuse. Now, even the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is calling on the President and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to end the program. “Immigration lawyers hear reports everyday that immigrants are afraid to talk to the police and to report crimes,” said Bernie Wolfsdorf, President of AILA. “Nothing is more debilitating to American values than abuses committed by local police who are the very essence of law enforcement and protection of our communities.”

The inspector general’s report came on the wings of a recently leaked DHS memo indicating that U.S. immigration authorities have set controversial new deportation quotas which differ from repeated pledges made by Napolitano to focus first and foremost on undocumented immigrants that pose a danger to public safety. Top ICE officials have denounced the memo and acknowledged that it was “inconsistent” with the views of DHS and the Obama administration. In a blog post, Joan Friedland of the National Immigration Law Center wrote that “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chief John Morton asked to be judged on ICE’s record, not on rumors.” However, Friedland points out, “that’s just why I’m concerned.”

Politics

Family at the center of Florida’s battle over gay adoption attends the White House Easter Egg Roll.

By Amanda Terkel on Apr 5, 2010 at 5:31 pm

The White House held its annual Easter Egg Roll today, which featured thousands of families from all across the country. The White House “distributed 3,000 tickets to local students and 4,000 tickets to military families.” Another “250,000 tickets were requested,” leading to a total of approximately 30,000 attendees. One of the families at the event was Frank Martin Gill, his partner, and their children. Gill is at the center of the constitutional battle challenging Florida’s ban on gay adoptions. In 2008, a judge deemed the ban unconstitutional and allowed Gill to adopt the two boys — whom they had been fostering after the state took the children from their abusive birth parents — although now “the state appealed that decision and the family is awaiting a ruling from Florida’s Third Court of Appeals.” In an interview with a Miami NBC station, Gill said that receiving an invitation from the Obama administration to the event was “a pretty strong statement” against discrimination. As the Huffington Post notes, “In 2006, the Bush administration invited more than 100 gay parents to the Easter Egg Roll and some conservatives accused gays and lesbians of trying to ‘crash’ the event.”

Related Posts

Yglesias

Jindal Blackmails Louisiana AG Into Joining Lawsuit to Overturn the Affordable Care Act

By Matthew Yglesias on Apr 5, 2010 at 5:28 pm

Jindal, Caldwell, and Landrieu

A set of far-right academics, think tank types, and media figures have long promoted the idea that judges ought to throw out existing constitutional law and instead insist on using judicial review to essentially mandate libertarianism at the federal level. This has never been something that practical conservative politicians or actual conservative judges have been very interested in. But during the debate over the Affordable Care Act, the notion that the individual mandate was unconstitutional took hold in the conservative echo chamber. And right-wing media has become such a closed loop, that it’s now difficult for conservative politicians to do anything other than pretend to believe that this argument has some merit.

Thus far, however, the actual lawsuits leveled by state attorneys-general have all been by Republicans, giving the whole thing a partisan air. But my colleague Amanda Terkel points out that former rising star Bobby Jindal has devised a solution to the problem—blackmail:

In a subsequent address to employees of his office, the Attorney General said the decision was made more out of the necessity of saving jobs in his agency than any real hope—or desire—of overturning the health care law.

One employee said Caldwell, in a candid admission, claimed that a deal was made with Jindal. Under terms of that agreement, the governor would not make additional cuts in the attorney general’s budget if Caldwell joined in the litigation. Caldwell agreed to be the “token Democrat,” he said, so that he might save additional job cuts by an administration whose state goal is to reduce the number of state employees by as much as 5,000 per year over three years.

And now right-wing media will inform the right-wing audience that the lawsuit it bipartisan, making it even-more-difficult for right-wing politicians to avoid hopping on the bandwagon. This elite signaling will further convince people that the ACA is unconstitutional. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when this intellectual bubble is burst by contact with actual legal practice.

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