Early Warning Systems

According to many sources (blog title linked to msnbc), banking industry lobbyists protested regulatory changes that would have helped prevent the current financial crisis. And, the Bush Administration ignored all the warnings. Sound familiar? Think about the other ignored warnings in this administration:

• Sept. 11--they ignored CIA & FBI alarms going off all over the place
• Iraq--no WMD's, no Al-Kaida and we'd walk into a mess
• Mine Safety--mine safety suggestions were ignored (in fact, standards were reduced) and more miners died in cave ins
• Hurricane Katrina--the levees could not withstand a 4 or 5 cat storm
• Climate Change--the administration not only ignores all scientific studies (including from the Pentagon), but declares CO2 is not a harmful pollutant
• Torture--senior military lawyers dissented with the administration's conclusion that the President could order harsh interrogations
• Security firms in Iraq--the administration ignored repeated warnings about using private security frims
• Border Fences--the administration ignores warnings about the environmental impact of the border fence with Mexico
• Pakistani drone attacks--the American intelligence community warned it would benefit the Taliban & destabilize the Pakistani army

When it disregards experts & career professionals, the Bush Administration responds with denial. They attack dissension, instead of learning from it.

The White House has issued a list of times (17) where they allege to have urged Congress to do something about the banking industry. Several right-leaning blogs are using it to blame the Democrats, failing to point out that Congress was Republican-controlled until just over a year ago (and have kept threatening to filibuster since). I wonder what other warnings have been ignored.