The (other) Nukular Option

posted by The Sailor @ 6:32 PM Permalink

Feds tried to cut aid
Limits sought on help for ill workers

Federal officials secretly schemed to limit payouts for sick and dying nuclear weapons workers, including thousands from the Rocky Flats plant outside Denver, newly released documents show.

The officials responsible for helping those workers went behind their boss's back, called on White House officials for help and tried to hide their efforts, according to internal e-mails and memos obtained by a congressional committee and posted on its Web site.

They also wanted to get the White House to override scientific decisions granting compensation and pack the program's advisory board with members less sympathetic to workers.
[...]
Now, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, is looking into whether the Labor Department overstepped its bounds and meddled in the payments illegally.
[...]
Labor officials suggested in memos to the White House's Office of Management and Budget that OMB should have final say on future requests for special cohorts. That would mean budget officials would overrule scientific conclusions about exposures.

Does anyone else remember when the Department of Labor actually looked out for the laborers in our country!?