This week Senator Max Baucus, chair of the powerful Finance Committee, released a policy paper on healthcare reform. Ezra Klein notes that itâs not a reform proposal, but âthe beginning of Max Baucus’s attempt to create a health care reform processâ â and he explains the plan and the politics surrounding it in two separate […]
Last night, I read a bunch of posts in the blogosphere and then watched a segment on MSNBC’s Keith Olberman talking about the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (CRA) and how it could be used to undue regulations issued in these final weeks of the Bush Administration. Some people seem to be chomping at the bit thinking that the CRA […]
 CBSâs 60 Minutes sent a news crew to Guiyu, China to capture the terrible conditions under which many of the discarded electronics from the U.S. are recycled. Hereâs a description from 60 Minutes producer Solly Granatstein: Through the smoke, workers could be seen dismantling electronic components by hand, or melting them down over coal fires, […]
Members of the media are gravely enumerating all the challenging circumstances that President-Elect Obama faces (financial collapse, two wars, global climate disruption, etc), so itâs worth noting that this is also a tough time for product safety. Recent problems with lead in childrenâs toys, contaminated food, and tainted drugs have demonstrated how many holes exist […]
A wrongful-death lawsuit related to Massey Energy’s Aracoma Alma coal mine commenced yesterday in West Virginia courthouse. Mr. Donald Bragg, 33, and Mr. Elvis Hatfield, 46, died in a mine fire on January 19, 2006. According to an Associated Press account (here) the widows’ attorney Bruce Stanley told the jury that Massey Energy’s CEO, Don Blankenship urged the mine’s managers to focus on […]
OSHA’s Asst. Secretary Edwin G. Foulke Jr sent a farewell letter to the staff, dated Election Day Nov 7, recounting his goal on taking the job in March 2006: “I just want OSHA to be the best Agency it can be” Reading his 4-page farewell letter, he thinks he accomplished it. He asserts: “without a doubt, we […]
A former Department of Labor career employee who is expert in administrative law offers three simple steps for the Obama Administration to revitalize the federal rulemaking system. Pete Galvin’s open letter to President-elect Obama provides thoughtful insight and recommendations that, if implemented, would go a long way to get our public health agencies (OSHA, MSHA, EPA) back […]
This weekâs edition is devoted to blogging about election results: the performance of state-level ballot measures, what the new Congress looks like, speculation about cabinet picks, and priorities for President-Elect Obama and the 111th Congress.
By Myra L. Karstadt, Ph.D  Did you enjoy your acesulfame today? How much did you eat? Do you know whether acesulfame is safe to eat?  Those are not trick questions. Acesulfame is currently one of the best-selling artificial sweeteners in America, but itâs likely that very few people even know that acesulfame is in […]
by Bob Snashall, retired Labor Dept employee (Op-Ed Charleston Gazette, Nov 7, 2008) George W. Bush & Company did one thing well – it bagged a lot of public information and taxidermied it into secrets. The shroud of secrecy even spread over mine safety. Mine safety? The law envisions everybody chipping in to protect miners from the perils of […]