A little backgroundJust this past May, after more than five years at trial, a federal jury
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/09/nation/na-asbestos-trial9">acquitted WR Grace and three of its former officers of charges that they knowingly exposed residents to and conspired to hide residents from the asbestos poisoning associated with their mining operation.
It was bad enough that no one would he held legally accountable for the disaster, but this meant that neither the company nor its officers were liable for the more than 1,200 asbestos-related health problems directly attributable to the operation.
Which brings us to ...June, 2009. The seventeenth to be exact. That's when this occurred:
Both Montana Senators (Baucus at left in back and Jon Tester at the podium) join EPA director Lisa Jackson (in back, second from right) and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for a little ceremony.
June 17, 2009 was when the federal government (embodied by the bureaucracy the EPA) formally declared a public health emergency for the two Montana communities polluted by WR Grace's asbestos operations.
This declaration will
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/0d16234d252c98f9852575d8005e63ac!OpenDocument">provide area residents with health care (as well as money to clean up the mess) which the criminal trial failed to do (a civil trial is
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/09/nation/na-asbestos-trial9">still pending).
So, again I must ask, "What the hell is wrong with Max Baucus?"He seemed to appreciate the value of a public health care option back in June after the EPA declaration,
“This is a great day for Libby. This is a town that was poisoned by W.R. Grace, then had to wait year after year as the last administration failed to determine that public health emergency exists. But today is a new day,” said Sen. Baucus. “Today is the day that Administrator Jackson did the right thing and made this vital determination. Today is the day that Secretary Sebelius declared that people in Libby will get the health care they need. Today is the day that after years of work we were able to succeed in getting this done. Yet, we won’t stop here. We will continue to push until Libby has a clean bill of health.”
--
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/0d16234d252c98f9852575d8005e63ac!OpenDocument">EPASenator Baucus, don't you think 47 million Americans without healthcare is an emergency too? Or, do you want us all to wait to be poisoned before we can get any help?
Senator Baucus, doesn't every American deserve to get the healthcare they need? Please stop playing "bipartisan games" with the party that blocked Libby from getting help.