Believe me, you have made some very good points and I would be the last person to discourage anyone from voting or activism. In the case of the WV spill (and not only the WV spill, but similar spills in OH, VA, and NC) there doesn't seem to be a single government agency that didn't fail in its job. OSHA, the CDC, the EPA, the courts, you name it. This was a failure on multiple fronts and a good portion was assisted by the very government agencies whose job it is to protect the citizenry.
This is the kind of keystone cops operation we've been following at Appalachia group and here's a sampling:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/127219
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1272244
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1272128
Yes, you can have laws in place but they won't do the people any good if they are not enforced. It reminds me of all the supposed protections put in place for miners:
WHARTON, W.Va. (AP) — Two miners who were killed on the job Monday night worked in a coalfield that had so many safety problems federal officials deemed it a "pattern violator," a rare designation reserved for the industry's worst offenders.
Brody Mine No. 1 was one of only three mines last year to earn the label that regulators have put greater emphasis on since the 2010 Upper Big Branch explosion killed 29 miners about 10 miles away.
The designation subjects the mine to greater scrutiny from regulators, and it's the strongest tool the Mine Safety and Health Administration has, said Kevin Stricklin, the agency's administrator of coal mine safety and health.
"We just do not have the ability or authority to shut a mine just because it has so many violations," Stricklin told The Associated Press on Tuesday.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/13/brody-coal-mine-accident-wv_n_5315496.html
So if you own a company, you can get away with 253 serious violations in one year (at one mine!), kill miners, declare bankruptcy and start all over again, fresh as a daisy. Yea, capitalism!
In the case of West Virginia, every major state office save one is held by the Democratic Party, as are both houses. What would you have them do now? Do you wonder why they have given up hope? I don't.
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