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Total_Customer_6627 t1_ja5rn5l wrote

The fucked up part about all of this is that there will likely be no tangible and material policy change as a result of this accident.

The government won't fix this going forward, and this shit will continue to happen.

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MultiGeometry t1_ja6aq8k wrote

Whenever you hear someone try to make an excuse for the train industry, just remember how many flights there are in this country on a daily basis, and the rarity of airplane crashes that occur. Safety is not impossible. We can hold the rail industry to higher standards. I hope we do.

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ravensteel539 t1_ja73tow wrote

What’s so sad is that compared to a lot of other commercial transportation (air, trucking, shipping boats, etc.), rail transport CAN be one of the safest and most environmentally conscious mediums. That’s unfortunately contingent on holding the rail industry to a high standard of safety and properly maintaining the associated infrastructure — both of which have been ignored and excused in an effort to cut costs. Even the standards of workplace safety are drastically under par from an OSHAA standpoint, as we’ve been hearing about this year.

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unique_passive t1_ja71jmo wrote

Strict federal guidelines on rail keep entire countries and economies functioning. The EU would be a mess without good rail. Rail was one of, if not the primary reason that Australia even decided to form a federation in the first place.

The US having a failing railway system is a sign that its infrastructure is that of a second-world nation.

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MmmmMorphine t1_ja7bgmc wrote

That's not fair, our bridges totally collapse more often than that

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dofffman t1_ja7ml4x wrote

this is true and one of the reasons the soviets have had trouble both now and historically.

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Kahzootoh t1_ja6lh6y wrote

The federal government is likely to be in gridlock for something like 99% of legislation for the next two years, and executive orders have limits. People voted for gridlock when they voted for Republicans, I’ve yet to see any Republican who actually campaigns on a platform of being able to find compromises with Democrats (whereas Biden himself actively campaigned on being eager to work with Republicans in earnest).

I really admire the branding campaign that the Republicans have, they’re like the Harley Davidson of political parties. They’re inferior to the Democrats in performance whether you’re liberal or conservative, but they’ve got a whole bunch of older conservatives voting for them despite the obviousness of them get ripped off.

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[deleted] t1_ja77u65 wrote

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Indercarnive t1_ja7unam wrote

You need 60 to break a filibuster. Dems have 51, and that's assuming you get them all to agree on something.

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[deleted] t1_ja7vebi wrote

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Indercarnive t1_ja7w8mm wrote

Dems wanted to allow sick days in the bill, Republicans refused. Dems wanted to avoid a strike during the holidays more than put their neck out for the workers so they capitulated.

Literally 53 votes to allow sick days but failed in senate due to filibuster by Republicans

Dems may not be perfect, but Republicans are the problem. This isn't both sides.

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[deleted] t1_ja7wdhz wrote

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Indercarnive t1_ja7x6da wrote

>Dems wanted to avoid a strike during the holidays more than put their neck out for the workers so they capitulated.

Reading comprehension not your strong suit huh?

Dems could've rejected the bill sure. But then you have a rail strike during the holidays during unprecedented inflation. It was a lose-lose situation brought about only because Republicans refused to allow sick days.

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[deleted] t1_ja7xnpo wrote

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Indercarnive t1_ja7y37c wrote

The people of Ohio voted for Republicans. East Palestine in particular voted hard red. And Trump helped remove safety regulations. And republicans filibustered the sick days.

>They should have voted no and put pressure on republicans.

how does a crashing economy while Dems control the house and Presidency put pressure on Republicans?

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midsprat123 t1_ja7bge9 wrote

Y’all wanna know something really fucked up?

The company handling this in Houston? Right next door to another company that had a multi week long raging fire a couple years ago.

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RSchenck t1_ja8nml7 wrote

Yes this won't be fixed and will keep happening largely because of one political party, a party that Ohio keeps electing into State and Federal office.

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