So Congress got off their collective duffs this week because they couldn't stand the thought of America having to wait at airports for screening and funded the FAA fully, apparently:
Terrific.
But check out their priorities--check out the things they AREN'T taking care of:
12 Programs Congress Refuses To Save From Automatic Spending Cuts
Long term unemployment, cancer research, Head Start, health research, low income housing, heating assistance, child care and the list goes on. If you're middle- or lower-class--especially if you're poor--don't expect the government or Congress to do much for you.
But of all of them, things for the poor and for education and the elderly, this one, number ten is one that especially chaps my hide:
10. Workplace safety: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has long suffered from a lack of funds, which means its staff is so stretched that many workplaces go without an inspection for 99 years. The fertilizer plant that exploded in West, Texas, for example, hadn’t had a visit from OSHA since 1985. That will get worse, as sequestration will cut the agency’s budget by $564.8 million, likely leading to 1,200 fewer workplace inspections.
Remember that West, Texas explosion last week that leveled the entire town, for all intents and purposes? The one where homes were blasted and so many people killed, maimed and wounded? Yeah, that one.
If OSHA were fully-funded, it seems clear that could possibly, likely have been avoided.
Imagine that, if our government were doing its job.
It's why we need government, of course. Not just to build roads and sewer systems and schools and airports and all the rest but to KEEP THE WEALTHY AND CORPORATIONS and the GREEDY FROM TAKING ADVANTAGE OF US, as a nation, all of us, all the rest of us.
Disgusting.
