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Changing the subject is not a good argument. We're not talking about other industries - or traffic fatalities for that matter.
And what good is providing current injury statistics without also providing comparitive injury statistics of a period prior to the Bush Administration?
That, too - however - would be comparing apples to oranges. I am not alleging that Bush's policies have significantly changed the trend in mining injury rates since UMSHA came into being (in the late 60's, I think). I simply don't know if this recent accident (which I believe are the only mining deaths during the last 5 years) have affected the statistics one way or the other.
What I have heard evidence of is lax enforcement of health and safety regulations, and the abysmal safety record of Sago Mine. You can discuss other things if you care to, but that is not a refutation of my allegations concerning UMSHA policies under Bush.
I will freely admit that the dollar amount of fines that UMSHA issued under Clinton, and Daddy Bush, and Reagan, and Ford and Carter were absurdly low. But the fines are hardly the only enforcement tool that UMSHA has at its disposal.
We do not even know yet whether the Sago Mine explosion was due to negligence. But at a facility with such a horrible record of safety violations (or do you care to argue those facts?), one has to make certain assumptions ... and one might also reasonably question why such a facility was allowed to continue to operate.
Like it or not, health and safety in the mining industry is under the purview of the federal government. The buck stops with Bush, especially when policies have changed since he came into office.
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