Markey ups regulation rhetoric in wake of fatal accident at Darien Lake

Rebuttal for Market is simple: Federal oversight would not have prevented this accident.

So, we had a couple of fatal shootings in the area last weekend. Obviously we need more federal police because the local agencies can't handle it.

I wonder what the root/deep cause is for Markey's resentment towards the ride industry...

All the other issues are taken. And, I don't mean that as a joke. No other elected official has made this "their cause" so he can get a lot of attention anytime there is an accident.

I figured maybe his dad made him ride the CI Cyclone when he was little, or he bumped his head on a Miler Mad Mouse or something....

CoasterDemon Billy, It is a sad story really...

Ten-year-old Eddie Markey enjoyed a wonderful life. His altruistic parents owned a lot of the city of Mordred, Ohio. They enjoyed success, and were very happy to use their power and wealth to make Mordred a better place for all, especially for the unfortunate. Eddie had everything that he ever wanted as a child, and lived a privileged and satisfying life.

The night that changed his life was dark and cold. His parents took him to Mordred's Funland, the local amusement park, for the afternoon. A few hours before the park was to close, it began to rain, so the family decided to head out, just behind the small crowd of park patrons.

Ed will never forget that night. Passing the entrance booths, leaving the park, his dad decided to take a shortcut between some of the old unoccupied park office buildings, to get to the car park. This shortcut was a long, winding paved path, enclosed with tall buildings on each side. The fog was rolling in, and made it difficult to see very far. Halfway to the car park, seemingly from out of nowhere, a man in a Mordred's Funland ride operator's uniform sprung out from behind a dumpster.

"Gimmie all your money, rich guy", he shouted at Ed's father. He quickly pulled a pistol from his jacket pocket. Ed and his mother hid behind father in horror.

Ed's father held up his hands and explained that the man could take whatever he wanted, "Just please don't hurt my family".

"Your wallet! Your wallet! come on, mannn!"

Ed's father nervously reached for his wallet on the inside of his rain jacket. He then reached it out to the ride operator, and droped it on the ground just before the operator had a grip on it.

The ride operator followed the falling wallet with his glare, and Ed's father used the temporary distraction to his advantage, swatting at the gun, trying to knock it away from the ride operator's hand.

But the ride operator backed up, away from Ed's father...

"That was a very bad idea, mannnn!" the ride operator said. He pointed the gun at Ed's father, sideways. Young Eddie closed his eyes, and heard a loud shot. Then another.

He opened his eyes, and laying in a pool of blood was his mother and father. Young ed, falling to his knees, in the rain, looked up to the sky. He slowly raised his fists into the air, and mad at God, shouted, "Nnnnoooooooooooooo!"

His life was never the same. He vowed to protect the innocent from ride operators and the terrible machines that they operate for as long as he lived. He first though about becoming a superhero, at the suggestion of his butler and father figure, Ingrid, but after careful consideration, he felt that he could best serve his cause as a politician instead.

:) Thanks, Travis.

More people die from bathtub slip and falls than at theme parks.
So I propose we start the BFA (bathtub fall agency) who will station
someone at every bathtub in the United States.That would provide 8-10 jobs just for my house.(probably more since federal employee's get lots of days off)

Well done Travis. He not only goes after a recreational passion of mine, but also loves to go after the industry of my real job too and I still don't have the effort to write something like that.

Every U.S. House Rep has their own pet project. Why? Because if it ever actually gets funded, that Rep will be the chair of the committee. As chair, they are in charge of how the funds are allocated. It's like putting the elephant in charge of the peanuts, really. He gets to do whatever he wants - for good or for bad - all on the taxpayer's dime. Backs are scratched, palms are greased and the Markey legacy goes down in history as the "savior of our amusement-seeking children."

Blah.

It's all politics, rhetoric and ABOVE ALL... money. I really want to move to Mass. just to get a vote to oust this fool. (sadly some other tool will be waiting in line behind him with another bogus pet project)

Travis, as much as I like your explanation, I think the truth is that Markey, like so many other politicians is a power hungry p***k who truly believes that people should not be able to make decisions for themselves. Therefore, he must convince the mindless sheep they need protection from the big bad wolf (and all the other coasters still operating), and only he can provide that badly needed protection from the evil business.

Of course, he will only be able to run his little protection racket by extorting money from the very business he condemns. So if he ever gets his way, you'd probably see parks have to "contribute" funds in order to keep his little agency running. As is typical politics, it's a solution in search of a problem.

Politicians don't think that people shouldn't make decisions for themselves. I think that's fundamentally not what they're about. The problem is that some look for ridiculous ways to justify keeping their jobs, instead of legislating in a common sense way.

Well, RGB, I could have told a different story how he fell into a vat of acid because of that pesky superhero trying to catch him, to emerge deranged and scared. lol

Anybody else ever actually read his legislation? It's a pretty simple read...

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02320:

There's not much to it, and it mostly amounts to a half-million dollar annual appropriation to the CPSC, which is not earmarked for amusement ride safety.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

So in other words, he's getting all worked up so he can get people to think he's passing some kind of safety measure when its just a way to funnel more funding to a certain group that he probably has some kind of (not benign) interest in. Pass me the bacon!

The article that Dave linked to in the other forum about coaster accidents got me to thinking. Mr. Markey fails to give himself and his cohorts enough credit. Sgt. Hackemer was ejected from the coaster because his legs had been amputated. His legs had been amputated because of combat action he encountered he was serving in Iraq. He was serving in Iraq because of actions taken by and funded by Congress.

If Mr. Markey and his cronies hadn't voted to continue sending troops to Iraq, Sgt. Hackemer would still have both his legs, and never would have been ejected from the coaster. And these are the people who claim they'll protect us? Take a bow, Ed, take a bow.

Sometimes I think that you get somehow into my head and steal ideas out of them so you can post them on CoasterBuzz, RGB.