This antipathy toward regulations is shared by many residents here. Politicians and economists credit the stance with helping attract jobs and investment to Texas, which has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country, and with winning the state a year-after-year ranking as the nation’s most business friendly.
Even in West, last month’s devastating blast did little to shake local skepticism of government regulations. Tommy Muska, the mayor, echoed Governor Perry in the view that tougher zoning or fire safety rules would not have saved his town. “Monday morning quarterbacking,” he said.
Raymond J. Snokhous, a retired lawyer in West who lost two cousins — brothers who were volunteer firefighters — in the explosion, said, “There has been nobody saying anything about more regulations.”
Yeah, at this point the Mayor of the now half-flattened town is pretty much accepting that this is the way America is supposed to work. You're supposed to occasionally lose a dozen-plus people and hundreds of houses to a massive plant explosion every once in a while, because what's government going to do about it? And hey, this is an elected government official saying this.
Paul Burka, senior executive editor at Texas Monthly, said he did not imagine that the West disaster would lead to much in the way of change. Tragedies rarely do, he said. “We’re not going to spend our money telling businesses what we should do with their premises,” said Mr. Burka, who grew up near Texas City, the site of the 1947 explosion.
Indeed, days after the accident near West, state lawmakers killed a proposal to provide $60 million in training and resources for volunteer firefighters. And a lobbyist for state firefighters, who backed Mr. Price’s effort, said the bill had little chance of passing because of resistance from the real estate industry.
“Businesses can come down here and do pretty much what they want to,” Mr. Burka said. “That is the Texas way.”
People be damned. After all, the state's number one...in workplace-related fatalities over the last decade, that is. Come on down to Texas. Sure, your employees will die, but hey, the state doesn't care.
If you want to see where GOP America is headed, it's Texas. If you think that's where the country needs to be, move on down there, preferably near a large fertilizer plant.
Good luck!
Four Americans die in Benghazi - wall-to-wall Congressional hearings and investigations.
ReplyDeleteTwelve Americans die in Texas - zero Congressional action.
Lesson learned: it's not whether people died, or how many - it's all about scoring political points.
Personally, this event was much more significant than the Boston Marathon bombing that completely overshadowed it. The West explosion is more likely [far more likely] to recur with even more serious damage and life lost, and is much easier to prevent than a random act of violence like Boston.
ReplyDeleteThe roots of the West explosion are obvious and unfortunately are features of the current political climate and philosophy of the elites that are really running the US, ably abbetted by the small c conservatives/smaller government/anti-Union types that call themselves Republicans and Democrats.
Not surprising that the MSM jumped away from this story so quickly as it is extremely uncomfortable for them and their advertisers/owners.