Minnesota Bridge findings based on facts, not politics, says NTSB chairman

[Robbien]

Source: Star Tribune

"My job is to call it like it is," said the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), who tied the Aug. 1 catastrophe not to corrosion and improper maintenance, but to a design failure in the bridge's original construction. "We deal in facts, analysis and science. Politics, in any way, shape or form, does not enter into the decisions we make."

Rosenker, 61, brought a lifetime of experience in the military, electronics, communications and politics when President Bush appointed him to the safety board in 2003. By then, he had worked on most of the Republican presidential campaigns since Richard Nixon's 1972 reelection.

When he was sworn in as board chairman in 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney credited him with overseeing some of "those secure, undisclosed locations where I've been known to spend some of my time."

. . .

Politics have long been a little more than peripheral in Rosenker's career. Before his appointment to the NTSB, he worked as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office. That's where he worked closely with Cheney.

Alongside his 37 years in reserve and active duty the Air Force, Rosenker spent 23 years lobbying for the Electronic Industries Alliance.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/local/13852836.html

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Controversy has been that this very loyal GOPer made public the preliminary findings of his team. Findings which of course averts all blame from Bush Admin's infrastructure maintenance program and puts the blame on original bridge design.

[MidwestTransplant]

1. Surely Bill Clintons genitals had to have something to do with it.

[tom_paine]

2. Just another Bushie Liar. They have lost all credibility.

[tabasco]

3. Heckuva job Rosie!

Try to cover up the degradation of our infrastructure under your fuhrer.

[Thothmes]

4. The State of Minnesota

Was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance on that bridge. The State bears the lion's share of the responsibility for the collapse of the structure.

[tabasco]

5. Isn't it an interstate highway?

I'm thinking money for interstates comes from the Feds.

Money that went to Iraq.

[Thothmes]

7. Not the way it works

The Feds provide a substantial amount of the construction money for the Interstate system. Once the road or bridge is completed, it becomes the responsibility of the State to maintain the infrastructure. Thats why each state has their own speed limits. That why some states do a very good
job of maintaining their portion of the inter state, and others do less adequate job at their maintenance responsibility. Now each year States do get Federal money that is discretionary as to how it is spent. They are required to match it.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

6. Politics is FIRST for anyone who works for the Bush administration.

This guy is probably no different, being a Bush appointee to the NTSB.
Bush and his administration politicizes everything. Everything

[Justice]

8. Sad that he felt he had to make the statement - he knows people doubt even the NTSB