Bush Aides Rush to Enact a Safety Rule Obama Opposes »
Posted By Aidenag 7 months, 1 week ago in Political NewsThe Labor Department is racing to complete a new rule, strenuously opposed by President-elect Barack Obama, that would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job.
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Photographer by day, news junkie by night. My main areas of interest are politics and the environment.
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Candida7 months, 1 week ago
This is outright criminal. There are many ways of killing people; this is one of them.
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jordan117 months, 1 week ago
The Labor Department is racing to complete a new rule, strenuously opposed by President-elect Barack Obama, that would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job.>>>
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What a bunch of freaking slobs. Congress needs to squash their nonsense with new laws governing environmental impact. Environmental groups can also sue to overturn the bush administrations filthy assault on our environment & our people. -
PsychoHosebeastComment removed: User banned.
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reallypsst7 months, 1 week ago
People need to voice their opposition directly to congress and put bush on notice of criminal indictment,this is an act of a disturbed madman and also all who serve him should be prosecuted!
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hamy7 months, 1 week ago
How do you like the president you could drink a beer with now? He truly has nothing but disdain for the American people.
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What a shallow and horrible man. -

Bluedragon9127 months, 1 week ago
Surprise! Not really. The inner environmentalist in me was cringing when I read the rule about coal companies dumping into streams and valleys.
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mntnman4447 months, 1 week ago
I find it strange that the govt cares so much about my health that they will take away my freedom to smoke but don't care about the welding smoke I breathe or what chemicals I come in contact with at work.But as long as citizens go along with the "tobacco mania" the govt puts out,they are accomplices in the trashing of rights.
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sanyi_oradea7 months, 1 week ago
If the union reps would not smoke so much pot or crack, and would not be under the pay of the owners, it would be just common sense to install smoke removers at the welding area, and not to wait for the government to force them to do it. I mean, how much would cost to install such ?
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And if you say you are a welder, you could do it yourself, some fan installed with some thin conduits held by some anchors to the roof of the room. I would estimate it would cost less then $ 500-1000 if you do it yourself. So you see, I think some or all of you should see a psychiatrist for not doing it.
As far as other chemicals, if they don't give you protective clothes/inhalers, buy it yourself, file a law suit in small claim court, and force them to pay for your expenses. No judge in his right mind would make you loose the case. If they fire you for this (they will not if they have consciousness ) you sue them in real court, and you make a fortune.
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sanyi_oradea7 months, 1 week ago
Who cares, I just hope they are not going to dismount the toilets, the sinks, and remove the coper tubings from the walls of the White House, like any decent real blue blooded American would do, when he is forced out of his home/house do to foreclosure, and as far as they are concerned, it is a foreclosure situation... for them.
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Progressive7 months, 1 week ago
The White House is "the people's house". No President owns it or its contents.
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orndorffter7 months, 1 week ago
sanyi-oradea:> Shame Shame Shame, Shame on you that was not a very nice thing to hope for. The White House dose not belong to any of them , and you say those Shamful thins like that. you need your mouth washed out with soap, only a child would talk like that.
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aceofspades17 months, 1 week ago
"like any decent real blue blooded " probably blue colored blood from the toxic waste
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cowboygrandpa7 months, 1 week ago
Just another reason to view Bush for what he is. A murdering, lieing, thieving, heartless, brainless idiot. Who has not had to work hard for a living ever.
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Whose ideas of protecting people is protecting the profits of the greedy no accounts who could care less about man kind.
Those who defend him are either stupid or have not had to put it on the line every day, looking forward to a day when one can retire in somewhat good health.
You Bush backers really need a lesson, you go do the work and see.
Nah you couldn't hang !!!!! You'd be whining after the first week !!!!! LMAO hahahahahaaaaa-

RRcon7 months, 1 week ago
Grandpa, the left is using this as a scare tactic to push their wack job agenda. We already have an EPA, and OSHA. These agencies and the government are too bureacratic. This isn't about Bush pushing to make it alright to poison us, it's to keep the bureacracy out of it. All the left wing hopes to accomplish is the hidden agenda of no manufacturing in this country. All that they will accomplish is to push more jobs overseas. I work in manufacturing plants, and the hazards that we are exposed to now days are like being in the garden of eden 30 or 40 years ago. Think about it again. Please.
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beavith17 months, 1 week ago
did any of you clowns read the article?
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jordan: labor hygiene rules have nothing to do with environmental rules.
psycho: this is a worker safety issue, beyotched mainly by the AFL CIO. you're being played. are you saying that we are likely to be dirtier than China? LOL. you must be a kid. we used to BE like China. we cleaned up.
bluedragon: sheesh. google up the rule and see for yourself what they are talking about. its a restriction ON dumping overburden. historically, mountaintop mining has been doing it for years and years.
mountainman: if you are a welder, you know that OSHA rules already apply. whasamatter? you can beeyotch here, but you can't complain to your employer? make them meet the regs. its your right.
CG: what are you? the cheerleader for a bunch of mental midgets?
folks. if you want to complain about crappy politics, go right ahead. if you want to complain about the technical aspects of some of these bills, go right ahead,too. just to go on and on about something you don't understand and have made no attempt to understand either, is just plain silly.-

Beau78907 months, 1 week ago
OSHA rules may or may not apply to zinc poisoning. But that's not the point of the article, or of Bush's new rule.
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It's not about whether mntnman's friend has a grievance--it's about actually preventing all workers from future harm.
FTA:
"The Labor Department regulates occupational health hazards posed by a wide variety of substances like asbestos, benzene, cotton dust, formaldehyde, lead, vinyl chloride and blood-borne pathogens, including the virus that causes AIDS.
"Public health officials and labor unions said the rule would delay needed protections for workers, resulting in additional deaths and illnesses."
and:
"The department is constantly considering whether to take steps to protect workers against hazardous substances. Currently, it is assessing substances like silica, beryllium and diacetyl, a chemical that adds the buttery flavor to some types of microwave popcorn.
"The proposal applies to two agencies in the Labor Department, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
"Under the proposal, they would have to publish 'advance notice of proposed rule-making,' soliciting public comment on studies, scientific information and data to be used in drafting a new rule. In some cases, OSHA has done that, but it is not required to do so."
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amazed7 months, 1 week ago
Here come the torrents of negs, but....
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all of the same people who are carrying on about how this regulation amounts to "murder" on Bush's part -- (the way I read the regulation is that OSHA should know that the toxin is a threat in the manner in which it is used in the particular industry) before it issues work rules banning the substance or making very restrictive rules on how it must be handled) -- are, for the most part, the same ones yelling about the evil corporations who keep sending all the work overseas.
Now, it makes tons of sense to me, that the way to entice corporations to keep their production in the states is to throw EVEN MORE regulations at them...yeah, right.
This headline and, to a bit lesser extent the article, is just aimed at (pretty effectively, apparently) whipping up people with an anti-business mindset into a frenzy.
Kind of like when they sent my kid's entire school home for the rest of the day because a teacher broke an old mercury thermometer in a closet.
We need a little more rationality and a lot less hysteria when it comes to work place regulations.-

libsRfunny7 months, 1 week ago
You should know better than to throw facts and logic against an emotional, liberal argument.
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Will13137 months, 1 week ago
Kind of like when they sent my kid's entire school home for the rest of the day because a teacher broke an old mercury thermometer in a closet.
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yep and given the right temp.. it can evaporate into the air and your kid could have inhaled it....
better safe than sorry...
your comment shows just exactly how uninformed you are...
Metallic mercury is a hazardous chemical that can cause serious health problems. Children (especially very young children) and fetuses are most vulnerable. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), part of the U.S. Public Health Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Exiting ATSDR are jointly issuing an alert to the general public. There is a continuing pattern of metallic mercury exposure in children and teenagers and in persons using certain folk medicines or participating in certain ethnic or religious practices.
It is important for the general public to understand that either short-term or long-term exposures to metallic mercury can lead to serious health problems. Human exposure to metallic mercury occurs primarily from breathing contaminated air. Other forms of mercury can be absorbed by drinking contaminated water, eating food (usually fish containing mercury), and from skin contact. At high levels, metallic mercury can cause effects on the nervous system and the developing fetus. Other forms of mercury can damage other organs. Even at low levels, metallic mercury can cause health problems. Metallic mercury exposure can cause harm before symptoms arise. Once released into the environment, mercury is very hard to clear up. If it is left unattended where exposures can occur, it can have dangerous effects on human health.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/alerts/970626.html -
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BlueAutumn_1989Comment removed: User banned.1 Reply
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ForrestPhelps7 months, 1 week ago
Just curious, have the posters Amazed or libsRfunny ever worked (more than visited) an industrial environment?
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beavith17 months, 1 week ago
that's a pretty snarky question from someone who may not have himself.
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their opinion is just as valuable as you of the peanut gallery. the 'deeply offended' self righteous Bush haters.
sorry gang. this issue has almost nothing to to with Bush. at worst, you can say 'politics sucks' and 'he's doing something i don't like.'
welcome to the cold cruel world. -

amazed7 months, 1 week ago
I worked for several years at a printing company and I own a auto body repair and truck repair shop.
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For nearly every OSHA regulation, there is a contradictory regulation further down in the rules.
I am required to insist that my workers use hearing protection and eye protection (no problem with that) but their refusal to use is neither legitimate grounds for dismissal, nor exonerates me from the fines that could be incurred.
The original OSHA requirements were good things and truly contributed to worker's safety. We provided fresh air masks and most other safety equipment (that we could afford) even before it was required and are now looking to switch over to waterborne paints.
However, new OSHA regs, more often than not, provide incremental improvements in worker safety and health for draconian price tags.
If a company cannot be competitive, it cannot remain in business. If I go out of business, 20 people lose their jobs. A small number to be sure, but many small businesses going out of business add up to real numbers of people out of work
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RRcon7 months, 1 week ago
This could be one good thing that the out going Bush administration can do. The left wingers and tree huggers are using the EPA and OSHA to push their wack job agendas. If Obama attacks this, and it doesn't get passed, you can kiss even more manufacturing jobs goodbye. We all need a clean and safe working environments, but to propagate that Bush is going to push thru this legislation for the "BIG EVIL BUSINESS COMMUNITY" so that we all get to work in toxic sweat shops just goes to show the scare tactics that the left wing uses. It just might keep some manufacturing companies here. It just means that there won't be the bureacracy that the left so loves.
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