TELL ME HOW AND TELL ME WHY

Tell me how it is that republicans can so consistently get people to vote against their own interests?  There is not a single major issue of the day on which the republicans are on the side of the people and not big business, not one. Be it education, clean air, clean water, health care, consumer safety, worker safety and on and on.


Take the issue of worker safety as an example, which in light of recent events is highly illustrative.


Let's start with the fact that the biggest industry in West Virginia is coal mining. Naturally, mine safety is among the most important issues concerning the people of West Virginia whose husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers and brothers are at risk everyday.


With this in mind, let us examine the results of the 2008 presidential election in West Virginia.


McCain 56%
Obama 43%


Now back to the future where 25 West Virginian Miners were killed this week in an explosion in a mine with a questionable safety record -

Deaths at West Virginia Mine Raise Issues About Safety
Mines Fight Strict Laws by Filing More Appeals - NYTimes.com

Back to 6-13-06;

In 2006 President Bush nominated the chicken to be in charge of the hen house.


"The former coal industry executive who told the U.S. Senate the nation’s mining laws are adequate—just weeks after a series of disasters killed 15 miners—faces a critical vote Tuesday in the Senate, as the Bush administration attempts to make him the top coal mine safety cop.


While Richard Stickler’s nomination to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has been on hold by Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) who opposes the nomination, 2006 coal mine deaths have climbed to 33—more than in any full year since 2001. If Senate Republican leaders win a cloture vote to end the hold, they’ll move to a confirmation vote on Stickler. Cloture requires 60 votes, but confirmation needs only a simple majority.


The Mine Workers (UMWA), the AFL-CIO and other workplace safety advocates oppose Stickler’s nomination.


UMWA President Cecil Roberts says:


Mr. Stickler spent the overwhelming part of his career as a coal mine executive….The nation’s miners cannot tolerate another mine executive running the agency responsible for protecting their health and safety. Too often these mining executives place priority on productivity, but fail to focus on miners’ health and safety. Too many times, MSHA has not done all it is charged to do to promote miners’ health and safety.…Miners need someone leading MSHA who makes their heath and safety their number one priority.


At his Senate confirmation hearing, Stickler declined to endorse new mine safety rules, such as those passed by the West Virginia Legislature in January in response to the Sago explosion that killed 12 miners and other mine deaths." Bush and mine safety


Now tell me again why these people voted for McCain in 2008?