Massey Energy & Don Blankenship: Million-dollar Tea Party sponsors
Meet Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy Company. Blankenship is also on the Board of Directors of the US Chamber of Commerce. In this speech above, he denies climate change, derisively refers to Speaker Pelosi, Senator Reid, and others as "greeniacs", and calls them all crazy. Watch the speech, you'll see. In his mind, "the greeniacs are taking over the world."
Massey Energy Company, Blankenship's highly successful strip-mining and mountaintop removal operation is the parent company of Performance Coal Co, where a tragic explosion occurred on April 5th. As of this writing, 25 miners have died and 4 more are still missing. Twenty-five families are without a loved one. Four more may discover they have lost someone they love too. 29 families in all, forever changed by one single, violent event in a coal mine. One single violent event in a coal mine run by a company so obsessed with profit it runs roughshod over employees' and neighbors' health and safety.
Here's something else about Don Blankenship and Massey Energy Company: Blankenship spent over $1 million dollars along with other US Chamber buddies like Verizon to sponsor last year's Labor Day Tea Party, also known as the "Friends of America Rally." Here's Massey's pitch. Note how he makes it sound like he isn't one of the corporate enemies of America.
The Friends of America Rally featured such notables as Sean Hannity, Ted Nugent, and Hank Williams, Jr., and was graced by Blankenship himself going off on a diatribe that seemed strange at the time, but has come to be commonplace these days. It concerned President Obama, Democrats, and any one who doesn't salute God, coal, and apple pie. Oh, and we're also going to 'steal their jobs,' if Hannity is to be believed.
Blankenship and Massey Energy spend millions to defend unsafe workplaces
Even while coal dust settles on nearby schoolchildren, there are lessons to learn from this disaster about Massey Energy in general, and Don Blankenship in particular.
It seems that Performance Coal's safety record is spotty, at best. From the Mississippi Business Journal:
Massey ranks among the nation’s top five coal producers and is among the industry’s most profitable. It has a spotty safety record.
The federal mine safety administration fined Massey a then-record $1.5 million for 25 violations that inspectors concluded contributed to the deaths of two miners trapped in a fire in January 2006. The company later settled a lawsuit naming it, several subsidiaries and Chief Executive Don Blankenship as defendants. Aracoma Coal Co. later paid $2.5 million in fines after the company pleaded guilty to 10 criminal charges in the fire.
Massey and Blankenship also settled a lawsuit brought by the Manville Trust in 2007 with regard to workplace safety and environmental compliance.
The Manville Trust filed the case in July 2007 against company Chairman, CEO, and President Don Blankenship and certain other current and former officers and directors. The plaintiff sought several corporate governance reforms, specifically regarding environmental compliance and worker safety. Citing several incidents involving Massey Energy, including a major federal water pollution lawsuit, penalties for two coal miners' tragic deaths and other safety and environmental compliance problems, the lawsuit claimed that a "conscious failure" by the defendants to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations and other legal obligations posed a "substantial threat of monetary liability for violations."
Keep unions out, let teabaggers in
Don Blankenship inhabits a strange and bizarre world. In his world:
- It's fine for elementary school-age children to inhale coal dust while playing at school because Massey Coal "already pays millions of dollars in taxes each year".
- Blankenship truly believes that government regulation means "we all better learn to speak Chinese."
- He has absolutely no problem paying $3 million to elect state Supreme Court justice Brent Benjamin just ahead of a scheduled hearing of his appeal to overturn a large damage award for driving competitor Harman Mining Corporation into bankruptcy.
- Blankenship will spend millions to keep the Massey Energy's workforce non-union, is perfectly happy to discriminate against union workers even if it means being sued and losing, and might hate unions as much as he hates 'greeniacs'.
This is the same mine where the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently ruled that Spartan Mining illegally discriminated against 82 UMWA members by refusing to hire them because of their union membership status.
“This settlement highlights yet again the treacherous and backhanded manner Massey treated the miners who had worked at the Cannelton mine for decades,” UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said. “While it was discriminating against these experienced miners because of their age or union status, the company was at the same time publicly crying about the lack of experienced miners in the coalfields.
“But it wasn’t that Massey couldn’t find experienced miners,” Roberts said. “They were there all along and wanted to work. It was that the company would rather break the law than allow its employees to have a strong voice at work and the tremendous benefits of a union contract.
Penny-wise, pound-foolish. An investment in experienced workers trained in state-of-the art safety measures combined with OSHA compliance and mine safety measures might have saved at least 25, and possibly 29 lives.
Instead Don Blankenship spent that money and more on a US Chamber of Commerce corporate-sponsored tea party to convince good, hard-working honest people to work against their best interests.
I hope those families take a large pound of flesh from him in return.
... at the institutional memory hole. Everyone is comparing this to the 1984 accident in terms of fatalities, but I haven't heard any reports on our air that cited the 2006 accident, and that Massey was linked to it.
They are talking a lot about this horrible situation on msnbc. There was a reporter on just a bit ago giving a little background on this guy. They were talking about the 2006 accident but I didn't hear them connect him to that one.
Blankenship sounds like another who will have a "Get into hell free" card.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
The "liberal" MSM probably won't take a look at this guy. Maybe "60 Minutes" long after the fact.
This is fodder for Rachel Maddow. Hopefully she'll do a good expose of him. Lots to start with here.
And once again a reminder that Senate elections matter....if Repubs retake the Senate, James Inhofe will become chairman of the Committee on The Environment.
It should read "Massey CEO and Mass Murderer Don Blankenship..."
And, evidently, he is also a serial killer.
But the guy is so lawsuit-happy I figured he'd try to sue me or Crooks & Liars. We'd win, but who needs the expense and aggravation?
You may know this but, they're called "slap suits." They're meant to slap around those defendants that have the audacity to call the weasels out. With this outfit, there is always at least one death before they have to show up in court. This is why buying judges is so important. If we had any sense, we would pool our money and buy a few for our side. Might make better sense than contributing to politicians that take the money from us and do nothing for us.
To the tea partiers:
Meet your puppeteer.
The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
and pay the fines and lawsuits then something is wrong with our laws.
Republicans are liars and simply cannot be trusted.
to that, brother.
would have done in safety precautions.
But I suppose it's better to just pay the fines and hope that is less than cost than safety initiatives.
she tells of a mine owner who was more concerned about the safety of the mine mules than that of the miners. His rationalization was that miners could be replaced at no cost, while mules had to be purchased. Different era, same mindset.
was common. You wouldn't send your slaves to do the work, because they were property and cost you $$$. Hire an Irishman instead. When he dropped dead, you'd get another for free.
me-oww!
is probably taking out life insurance on the employees.
they don't call it "dead peasents" for nuthin'
on there to comment, I had to disagree with his assessment of the mining location being (paraphrased) "so well hidden people could drive by and not even see the mine." Ummm, what, then, is that huge, denuded swath of land there that Rachel was showing, courtesy of Google Earth???
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
If I recall correctly, his explanation included "because it's underground."
Someday the corporate fascists will be toppled. And once again people will read about scum like this guy and Bush/Cheney in history books, and wonder how in the hell our generation could be so morally bankrupt - 100 years after the first Robber Barons?
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
that is likely not to happen because the theology driven wingnuts in Texas are re-writing our history as we speak. No more Thomas Jefferson, Phyllis Schafly instead.
They have to do it in the light of day with many of us watching. It may not work to their benefit. :)
Rewriting? These morons can't even spell or put a sentence together that's correct.
Ought to be our new campaign ad.
ALL Chamber of Commerce should be eliminated. They are nothing but anti-american, corporate fascist entities, housed within the government.
They represent nothing but evil scum like this creep.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
nothing at all to do with the government. They are a private corporate sponsored and owned entity. They are the worst example of what the "free" market is all about.
So not only are they corporate-sponsored, and not only do those corporations deduct what they pay to the USCoC as dues and subscriptions, but they pay no taxes on their revenues or any investment earnings.
That makes them, at the very least, subsidized by the government. In addition, they siphon funds off to non-profits all the time for the purposes of "issues advocacy".
There is no greater example of tax loophole abuse than the US Chamber of Commerce.
Donohue's salary last year from the USCoC and related entities was nearly 1 million dollars. In the land of tax-exempt orgs, that's considered excessive, which it surely is.
I cannot think of a single reason why it should be tax exempt.
...it shouldn't be. I'm ready to really rage about the subsidies given to those who do harm to the people of this country.
.
who would have thought a corporation would put profits before people and workers' safety... i'm shocked!
nader (and others) went into this in great depth a few years back because the Bushies were cutting funding for the inspectors (because after all, we don't need no stinking regulators... the magical market will police itself...)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0107-... (Enforcement of Mine Safety Seen Slipping Under Bush
WASHINGTON - Since the Bush administration took office in 2001, it has been more lenient toward mining companies facing serious safety violations, issuing fewer and smaller major fines and collecting less than half of the money that violators owed, a Knight Ridder Newspapers investigation has found.)
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/3620 (Coal Mine Safety Shortchanged by Years of Budget Cuts
Posted on February 20, 2008
Congress created the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in 1977, placing a new federal focus on miner safety and health. However, the agency's budget and staffing levels have been cut over the past three decades. The budget for MSHA's coal mine safety and health program has been particularly abused. In the past two years, a spike in coal mine fatalities and high-profile coal mine disasters have prompted many Americans and Congress to look to MSHA to improve miner safety, but years of budget cuts and the loss of qualified employees have left the agency struggling to fulfill its mission.)
(x-posted at huffpo)
Here's what Obama is doing to combat corporate access and influence in government:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?contex...
Islam Siddiqui was nominated by US President Barack Obama to the position of Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the office of the US Trade Representative. He is currently Vice President of Science and Regulatory Affairs at CropLife America. CropLife is an agricultural industry trade group that lobbies on behalf of Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta and other pesticide and agricultural biotech corporations.
not surprised?
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.
-- Douglas Adams
should serve in government again unless he has purified his tenure outside govenment by eating only organically grown sustainable sprouts and daily drinks the urine it helped him produce.
--ricky
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
is without trying to stretch the Tea Party label as if that would further discredit him?
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
The Tea Party people are under the impression these folks CARE. They don't give a good damn about anything but money. It's worth linking up the two.
to something else (Tea Party movement) without a logical connection, what you expose is not them. Surely you have something better than a statement by Massey about "environmental extremists and corporate America are trying to destroy your jobs" with which to make the connection?
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
They're all interrelated. Let's start with corporate priorities and what Blankenship tells people, as opposed to the realities. Blankenship presented himself at that Tea Party rally as a "friend of America", a fighter of corporate interests and representative of the "common man".
That's the tea party dog whistle. Populism. Standing for the little guy against those "big money interests" that want to rob them of their freedom.
So let's talk about the real deal now. The real deal is that Blankenship is a hardass corporate strongman who won't spend a dime for employee safety unless he is made to AFTER THE FACT, who denies climate change because it might harm his profits, and who quite possibly sacrificed the lives of up to 29 miners because he doesn't believe in safety compliance, particularly when it's imposed by government regulation.
You bet the two are interrelated. There is a conflicting message here, one that needs to be turned back. These people are no more the friend of the common man than they are compassionate. That "populist" messaging is an effort to hijack the TRUE populist messages in this country while serving high corporate interests.
All he has to do about those who oppose him is brand them as Atheists....it seems as long as you imply that you are Christian then you are given a pass by the T.Party and their ilk. I am no expert on Christianity but I have read lots of stories about wolves in sheep's clothing!
Should their rally have been advertised to be held on anti-labor day?
'We, the People'............rimshot................hahahahahaha!
to have enough money to take care of it's safety violations or pay it's fines. They'd probably like a rollback of wages and benefits and are trying to figure out how to accomplish it.
I hope some at the top go to jail - but I know they won't.
They are like the Rupert Murdoch's of the world. They would rather spend billions creating a parallel propaganda universe in order to avoid paying taxes; instead of just paying the taxes and benifitting the country they profess to love.
I can only think it gives them some kind of sick pleasure. Because it is obvious that wealth doesn't seem to satisfy the black hole in their hearts.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
Oh will ya look at this. Another 'Bob Murray' (Crandall Creek mining disaster, UT). Geez - what a fucking surprise that is.
Plus the many upon many violations regarding methane gas buildup.
Friends of
AmericaStrip Mining Rally.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNAuDEUcHvU
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Black Diamonds is an excellent documentary about how much coal companies suck. It features Massey and Don Blankenship prominently. It also has a nice featuring of Jay Rockefeller and his protection of coal companies.
http://www.blackdiamondsmovie.com/
From the tea parties and their corporate sponsors, to the militant thread of anti-society paranoia, a lot of disparate forces in America are quickly converging on fascism.
They have all been duped into thinking that the half-black guy is the one trying to bring fascism to this country.
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
Whether or not you agree with Obama on everything, he's at least willing to try to take some small chunks out of these guys. First thing he did was fully staff OSHA for the first time in 10 years.
sufficient to catch this Blankenship's attention (many which Massey has refused to pay), maybe stiff prison sentencing for negligent homicide (25+ counts) might. This guy is a malignant sociopath and the company he runs is a reflection of the person in charge. He needs to be put away for the rest of his days, for the good of the community and as justice for the dead and grieving.
a fine levied by the Federal Government? We all know what would happen to you or I. What is the enforcement, or does the government simply huff and puff if the enity fined is a major corporation?
it seems to me that it's more 1st degree murder then negligence.
....once again our hearts are breaking. It has ALWAYS been like this with the coal barons getting fatter and the miners dying. What's particularly evil about Blankenship is how he's fooled most of the miners into believing that liberals like me - who despise mountain top removal/strip mining - hate the miners and their way of life. That's as crazy as saying that since we hate the war we must also hate the soldiers!....what a load of crap.
And so, even tho some miners have shown up to taunt and threaten activists, we are all collectively crying today (and for days to come) knowing that many families lives have been tragically changed forever.
Please pray for our miners and their families......and hope that karma will take care of the evil Mr Blankenship.
all it takes is all of us
what the obama administration will do about things like this.
i am putting my money on pious pronouncement with froth on top.
some extra squeeze for
bribescontributions.Repeat ... this is fascism , the right wing / Repugs are fascists and they want to turn this country into a fascist state , they've gone a long ways in doing so already ! The right throws all these "isms" around about Obama and the Dems , first of all it's just propaganda meant for the dumb f@#ks in this country who wouldn't know Joe McCarthy from Robert Kennedy . These "isms" are scary words the dummies don't even understand . Secondly it's reverse psychology , they constantly accuse the opposition of doing exactly what they are guilty of doing ! Take Limbaugh for instance , accusing Obama of character assasination , accusing his target of doing ecxactly what he is doing .People better wake the F up , it may already be too late to stop them , I think it is , besides there is no cure for stupidity and they are many . Joesph Goebbels : Lie , lie big , and repeat the lies ,the people will believe . The truth is the enemy of the state ( the party ).
The sick bastard gives millions to the racist tea partiers and won't pay his workers a living wage or protect them. A typical, fucking lowlife Reslug.
helped expose the lies this guy is telling Tea Party people to you,
Limp-Dick.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
A multi-million dollar fine is a bookkeeping entry to Massey Coal. Put that fat ********** Blankenship in jail. That is the only punishment these people understand!
"Undercover Boss" or whatever that show is called. Just don't give him the safety equipment...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
there IS no safety equipment. That stuff costs money you know and then where would they get all the money for the teabagger scum.
25 American coal miners dead. 25 Chinese coal miners saved last week in a miracle rescue, with 4 still missing. 18 Chinese coal miners die every day. Global warming partly due to heavy coal burning. Coal kills.
Just a little reminder for you to get on the H.O.R.N!
Americas only Lister Supported, Liberal, and Southern conversation radio
The Head On Radio Network is out of West Virginia and has been trying to shine light upon Don Blankenship and the rest of the Coal thugs for years.
http://headonradionetwork.com/
...all for the Corporate "bottom line".
People:
Take this link...and BOOKMARK it!
Conservatives...consider yourselves put on notice:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blo...
I just for the life of me don't see how Blankenship can't be charged with murder for this given the number of safety violations. There certainly isn't anything surprising about this happening, it was bound to when you look at the disregard for worker safety that Blankenship illegally committed. And don't forget that Bush put this worker and worker safety criminal at the head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Or that Bush gutted the MSHA of dozens of it's safety inspectors. Bush should probably be considered a co-defendant in the murder of these miners.
corporate universe. And never the twain shall meet.
Yeah, first we'll be car pooling, next we'll all be sharing bathrooms. All because we believe protecting our environment is sound policy.
All this clown cares about is his own pocketbook. He knows his party needs ignorant rubes to keep his profit margins where he wants them.
And of course, he conveniently forgets how much debt his deregulator in chief, Dumbya Bush, racked up while he was looking the other way for 8 years.
The icing on the cake is discovering Exxon Mobil paid ZERO in federal income taxes last year. The poor little company only made $46 billion, but we allow these cheats to stash every available dollar in offshore tax havens.
Wake up. These assholes are crooks and liars.
legal obligation is to make money. He's "bullet proof," so to speak, as he, personally, did not do anything wrong. He's making money as is his duty by law. And he does not act alone. The corporation cannot be put in jail, even thought SCOTUS has ruled that they are persons. Wait a minute...let me think about this for a while. The coup de grace is that corporate "persons" have all the rights of a real person, but none of the responsibilities. Sweet for them, bummer for us, huh?
This is a slam dunk - Deprtment of justice - do what is right and be done with this murder!!
Criminal Penalties
The Mine Act provides for criminal sanctions against mine operators who willfully violate safety and health standards. MSHA initially investigates possible willful violations; if evidence of such a violation is found, the agency turns its findings over to the Justice Department for prosecution.
http://www.msha.gov/mshainfo/factsheets/mshaf...
joebaffa
one person, and this DOJ? The one that can't shoot straight? That won't shoot straight? What should happen and what will happen--two entirely different things. Fines, maybe, but no criminal charges, I bet. Civil suiys would be appropriate, too, but remember how the Republikans wanted tort reform? Watch this next act.
I'm not sure I've ever seen such concentrated and distilled pure bullshit. Good job highlighting the evildoers! :-)
Lord give me patience to bear another day in Orwell-Kafka land...
The 2006 disaster at Sago, WV was in a mine owned by International Coal Group (a different coal company that doesn't give a damn about its miners). ICG operates a mine at Eccles, WV, not far from Montcoal, where they've dumped toxic coal waste down an abandoned mine that STILL contains over a hundred bodies from an early 20th century mining disaster.
Although most folks don't know it, we, as Americans, go blithely along, happy in our ignorance, letting the 125 year history of Appalachia as the national Sacrifice Zone continue.
Welcome to the ongoing Appalachian Apocalypse.
You can bash these companies all you want. But when my light bill is 250 a month in the summer and gas bill 300 in the winter and you'll triple that with cap and trade how in the world are we going to pay for this.More people die every year in construction accidents than coal mining so maybe we should quit building roads and new buildings.Come on people use your heads. Massey is sueing the gov now over their inspector making them install a new vent system. They finished the new system on friday and the mine blew up on monday.You should ck your facts before blaming somebody.
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