Am I surprised? No. Disgusted? Yes. Yet I have been disgusted so many times during eight years of the Bush administration that my disgust is automatic. We have all heard that the Bush administration is trying to do as much damage as possible before riding into the sunset. In a specific instance reported in the New York Times, The Labor Department is scurrying to complete a new rule, adamantly opposed by President-elect Barack Obama that would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals that workers encounter on the job. The proposal applies to two agencies in the Labor Department, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
In the November 30 New York Times article Robert Pear wrote, “The rule, which has strong support from business groups, says that in assessing the risk from a particular substance, federal agencies should gather and analyze “industry-by-industry evidence” of employees’ exposure to it during their working lives…Public health officials and labor unions said the rule would delay needed protections for workers, resulting in additional deaths and illnesses.”
The administration and business interests deny that they are attempting to undermine worker safety, by suggesting that the situation is more nuanced because they need to spend years and years looking at different industries. In his article Mr. Pear quoted Margaret M. Seminario, director of occupational safety and health for the AFL-CIO, “This rule is being pushed through by an administration that, for the last seven and a half years, has failed to set any new OSHA health rules to protect workers, except for one issued pursuant to a court order.” Apparently nuance in this case is code for unbridled greed on behalf of the corporate bottom line.
Let’s hope that it is too late to finalize this and many other regulations that suddenly became top priorities once it was clear that Obama is taking over the White House. Otherwise, there will be one more item to add to Obama’s unimaginably daunting “to do” list — trying to clean up after Bush’s last minute farewells. Most people wave goodbye with their hands when they leave. George Bush seems to be using only one finger.
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