The ugly Bush stain: OSHA's "dismal inaction" edition

By GottaLaff

Once again, Bush leaves behind a malodorous, toxic stainy mess that has resulted in even more lost lives and further erosion of formerly high standards:

Current and former career officials at OSHA say that such sagas were a recurrent feature during the Bush administration, as political appointees ordered the withdrawal of dozens of workplace health regulations, slow-rolled others, and altered the reach of its warnings and rules in response to industry pressure.

The result is a legacy of unregulation common to several health-protection agencies under Bush: From 2001 to the end of 2007, OSHA officials issued 86 percent fewer rules or regulations termed economically significant by the Office of Management and Budget than their counterparts did during a similar period in President Bill Clinton's tenure, according to White House lists.

White House officials have dismissed such tallies, emphasizing in recent regulatory overviews that their "objective is quality, not quantity," and that heavy restrictions on corporations harm economic performance. [...]

"The legacy of the Bush administration has been one of dismal inaction," said Robert Harrison, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco and chairman of the occupational health section of the American Public Health Association. It has been "like turning a ketchup bottle upside down, banging the bottom of the container, and nothing comes out. You shake and shake and nothing comes out," Harrison said.

More than two dozen current and former senior career officials further said in interviews that the agency's strategic choices were frequently made without input from its experienced hands. Political appointees "shut us out," a longtime senior career official said.

Among the regulations proposed by OSHA's staff but scuttled by political appointees was one meant to protect health workers from tuberculosis. Although OSHA concluded in 1997 that the regulation could avert as many as 32,700 infections and 190 deaths annually and save $115 million, it was blocked by opposition from large hospitals.

In the summer, the agency decided against moving further toward the regulation of crystalline silica, the tiny fibrous material in cement and stone dust that causes lung disease or cancer. OSHA promised a scientific peer review of the health risks by early 2005 and then by early 2007, but it never acted. Regulating silica exposures would have prevented an estimated 41 silicosis deaths and 20 to 40 lung cancers annually, according to OSHA.

In the spring, political appointees quietly scrapped work on another long-pending regulation of hazardous exposure to ionizing radiation in mailrooms, food warehouses, and hospitals and airports. It cited "resource constraints and other priorities" -- the same reason officials gave for withdrawing more than a dozen regulatory proposals in 2001.

With BushCo, economic considerations (their own and their cronies') always trump the physical well-being of the U.S. population (actually, that of the entire planet), the health of the U.S. economy, morale, and/or the environment.

What's so disturbing is that their filthy, self-serving, homicidal policies will have exponential repercussions, but of course, none of those will be legal ones. Those responsible will skate.

Many more details can be found here, if you can stomach them.

Irish eyes keep on smiling, according to latest research

I'm telling you wotching, one of these days I'm just going to show up on your front step. Their secret? IMHO, it's all the damn walking they do.

IRISH PEOPLE are among the happiest and most optimistic in Europe and believe themselves to be the healthiest, according to a major new survey.

Ireland also ranks third out of 27 countries on an index of mental health contained in the quality of life survey carried out by an EU agency.

Only Norway and the Netherlands scored higher in the index, which measured how calm, active, rested and interested in life respondents were.

Some 83 per cent of Irish people said their health was good or very good, higher than in any other European country, even those like France with much-lauded health systems. Yet more than one-third reported difficulties accessing health services, in terms of waiting times for appointments, waiting times to be seen and the cost of medical treatment.

What is wrong with McCain's left eye?

I noticed it the other day and asked Gotta but she hadn't seen it. Now Duncan brings up the same thing. Looks like John A saw it too, and I'm pretty sure that's the same speech where I noticed it. Stroke? Result of his melanoma surgeries? (btw- Who needs $5k of makeup?)

UPDATE- Check out this video from today.

Doctor: Obama in ‘excellent health’

By Paddy


What struck me on this was the "one page statement" vs "1173 pages" of John McCain's medical records. (Btw, no excess body fat? Wow.)

Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) released a statement from his doctor on Thursday stating that the Democratic presidential front-runner has been “in excellent health” over the last 20 years.

The letter from Dr. David L. Scheiner says Obama had his last checkup in January of 2007. Its release comes less than a week after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) gave reporters a chance to sift through his medical records.

(snip)

Scheiner noted that Obama, 46, has been an “intermittent” cigarette smoker who has failed in previous attempts to quit. He said Obama is currently having success in that regard by using Nicorette nicotine gum.

Obama pledged to quit smoking when he began his campaign for president.

“His build was lean and muscular with no excess body fat,” Scheiner wrote. “His physical examination was completely normal.

“In short, his examination showed him to be in excellent health. Sen. Barack Obama is in overall good physical and mental health needed to maintain the resiliency required in the Office of President.”

Scheiner, who said he has been Obama’s doctor for 21 years, also detailed various test scores for Obama, including his blood pressure, and determined all of them were either normal or very good.