Unsafe at any location: Texas workers

In light of Rick Perry's indictment and its relationship to crony capitalism practiced by him at the Texas Enterprise Fund and him and Greg Abbott at the the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas, the Dallas Morning News has a timely piece.

Due to a mix of no state occupational safety administration, an overstretched federal OSHA and a strong anti-union atmosphere in The Pointy Abandoned Object State, the News shows that in many individual industries, like construction, Texas' per-capita death rates far exceed those in any other state. 

Shock me.

That's with Abbott recently accepting money from Koch Industries' fertilizer division, and telling people to "just drive around" if they want to make sure a nearby fertilizer plant is safe. That's after fertilizer manufacturers told residents of West, Texas, to basically go fuck themselves.

Per the News, after construction, warehousing, manufacturing, retail trade, wholesale trade, and hospitality and food services are some, but by no means all, of the industries where Texas is more dangerous to work than the national average. Go read the story. 

It's also, of course, tied to the high number of "illegal immigrants," not just in agriculture and construction, but other industries. Food service? Don't forget about chicken processing plants, etc., in the state, as well as restaurant food prep and "pre-cook" food processing for "fast-casual" restaurants like Chili's and others. Landscaping, primarily for rich folks like GOP political contributors (and some Democratic ones) also employs many. In all of those, if you're an "Ill Eagle," you're more expendible.

This is a made-for-the-campaign in the governor's race, too. Let's see if Wendy O. Williams (yep, that's Wendy Davis' nickname in these parts for the duration) picks up on it or not; don't hold your breath. Libertarian Kathie Glass would say regulations are Communism and that the answer is workers suing lawyers (even though tort "reform" gutted non-rich people's legal recourse), and Green Brandon Parmer might say something if he were alive.