How come we haven't passed a law about mine safety since Sago?

When Janet Jackson had her wardrobe malfunction, it took Congress 40 days to change the law. It's now over 120 days since Sago, and Congress hasn't done anything to improve mine safety. Maybe if Congress did something about mine safety after Sago, then the recent accident in Kentucky wouldn't have happened.

How come we haven't passed a law about mine safety since Sago?
Actually, the way it works is this: Congress passes laws that give general, non-specific instructions to the federal agency (in the executive branch) that is supposed to enforce the rules and follow Congress's instructions. The laws and the agency regulations are all in place, but the Bush administration has made almost no effort to see that the existing rules are actually enforced. Mining companies face really small fines for major violations -- smaller than most speeding tickets you or I might get, but most mines have just ignored them and not paid them, and the Bush administration has allowed them to do this. Congress did its job, but the executive branch has a very poor record on seeing that those laws are actually put into force.
Reply:Yeah- maybe Congress realized that when they enact laws based on knee-jerk decisions it hurts a lot more than it helps. Maybe Congress realized that it's time to stop wasting $$$ trying to save every single life in the country from every single danger. Some jobs are dangerous- mining is apparently one of them. Congress should stop trying to fix everything that goes wrong (look at Hurricane Katrina) with more legislation - especially when they don't take the time to figure out the best course of action- they just do something quickly for the media.
Reply:Maybe Congress is finally figuring out that it isn't their job to drown us all in legal mumbo-jumbo. Technically, Congress has no business passing 3/4 of all the regulations they do. (Janet included!)