The country was riveted to their television screens multiple times in 2006 and 2007 when the media descended upon mines across the country like Sago and Crandall Canyon to see if rescuers could save several miners trapped in what was claimed to be an earthquake (though that is under dispute). When hope ran out people demanded action, they wanted the President to come to the mining community's aid and make sure that the tragedy we saw wouldn't happen again. Remember that? Well guess what's happened since?
From the AFL-CIO:
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao missed the Dec. 15 deadline to issue new federal rules for better trained mine rescue teams at the nation’s coal mines. The Charleston Gazette reports:
The rules are still not finalized and are sitting at the White House, under review by the Office of Management and Budget.
In 2006, spurred by what would become the highest coal mine death toll since 1996—including the deaths of 19 coal miners at the Sago, Aracoma and Darby mines in West Virginia and Kentucky—Congress passed and President Bush signed the MINER Act that mandated several mine safety improvements, including rescue teams.
The June 2006 mine law gave the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) 18 months to finalize the new rescue rules. It took the safety agency 15 months to write the proposed rules and now the Bush administration says it can’t provide a timeline for issuing them.
Meanwhile, Bush once again circumvented Congress and reinstated MSHA administrator Richard Stickler to head the agency. Stickler, a former coal company executive, twice failed to win Senate confirmation, but in late 2006, with Congress out of session, Bush used a recess appointment to install Stickler in the post, officially known as the assistant labor secretary for mine safety and health.
The recess appointment expired at the end of 2007. In a somewhat bizarre chain of events, MSHA removed Stickler’s bio from the agency’s website and announced Jan. 3 that Stickler’s assistant was the acting assistant secretary. But his tenure was brief: On Jan. 4, Bush named Stickler the new acting assistant secretary, a move that does not require congressional approval and is likely to last until the end of Bush’s term. After press reports that Stickler’s bio had been removed, it’s now back online.
Yep, that's right, George Bush does not care about those dead miners, their families or the thousands more that are still in the mines day in, day out. As long as people like Richard Stickler can make a profit, no one in George's Administration really gives a damn.
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