A September 9 report, Tea bagger bus company sued over blaze that killed 23 seniors, by Lindsay Beyerstein, links the bus company which carried the teabaggers across the country for the infamous Million Moran March in Washington DC with a whole stream of RNC connections, as well as a whole stream of outrageous safety violations:

In 2005, a bus carrying seniors fleeing Hurricane Rita burst into flame outside of Dallas, immolating 23 nursing home residents. Investigators later found that the bus was: driven by an undocumented migrant without a valid U.S. driver's license, lacking adequate fire extinguishers, and not licensed to operate in Texas. When the bus had mechanical problems before the crash, the driver took it to an unqualified mechanic who failed to notice the critical fault--an unlubricated axle that eventually melted and burst into flame. BusBank(aka Global Charters) hired the subcontractor, Global Limo. BusBank boasted on its website that it had a "rigorous operator certification process" to ensure the safety of contracted bus drivers. BusBank used Global even though the subcontractor had a long record of federal and state safety violations, had entered bankruptcy, and was being sued.

Note: Besides all of the other head-spinning revelations in these two paragraphs, note that the bus that burst into flames was being driven by an "undocumented migrant without a valid U.S. driver's license."

Hypocrisy much?

I don't even know where to start. My mouth is just hanging open as I read through this report from Beyerstein. What a marvelous job of pulling this together.

In an interview published on Firehouse.com, two of the survivors talked about first fleeing Hurricane Katrina, then fleeing Hurricane Rita, only then to survive their bus exploding.

An aide rescued Briant, who is 87 years old and confined to a wheelchair, by throwing her ''on her shoulder or something,'' quickly putting her down on the ground and going back for more patients. ''I couldn't move, and I said, 'Please God, don't let my back be broken,''' Briant said. ''I said, 'Get Claire!''' Her 84-year-old sister Claire was still on the bus. The sisters had already escaped one hurricane, evacuating from New Orleans to the Houston area ahead of Hurricane Katrina. Less than a month later, Hurricane Rita forced an evacuation from their Brighton Gardens nursing home in Bellaire, Texas.

Read everything Beyerstein wrote, click on every link. It just goes deeper and deeper, until your head explodes.

Beyerstein reports that Global Limo owner Jim Mapleswas convicted in 2006 after a federal court found him guilty of failing to maintain his four busses - which had 168 violations.

Just a month later, according to Beyerstein, BusBank was awarded a Homeland Security contract worth up to $55 million. I can't find the actual source to Beyerstein's report, using the search at

US Fed News. I might be doing it wrong though.

But it appears as though Beyerstein has it right, as BusBank has a 'government' section on its

website complete with Bald Eagle and American Flag.

While NASA, the Justice Department, FEMA and other important agencies had different event transportation requirements, they all agreed on the common solution... The BusBank®.





The BusBank website also says they only use safe, quality operators, so who knows what to believe.



We are always looking to discover quality operators who have good equipment and are committed to our standards, but we are not for everyone. We want operators who are committed to safety and superior service delivery and who have the wherewithal to deliver on that commitment. Operators who are open to a mutually beneficial business relationship, are willing to embrace technological innovation and are committed to a superior customer experience will get most of our business.



Our commitment is to provide new business and new service offerings that will help your business grow, in addition to special services and savings unavailable through other means. In short, our commitment to help shape and ensure a brighter future for all of us.

Burnt Orange Report picked up on Beyerstein's story and used that report to connect the dots in a quick synopsis of Beyerstein's work.

Burnt Orange Report

Republicans are fanning the flames of fear and spreading lies for their Pro-Insurance-Company-Secession tour, in an effort to scare senior citizens into opposing Obama's health care plan -- while hiring a bus company that was so irresponsible it led to the death of twenty-three senior citizens.

By now, the story is getting out.

The PAC which is funding the Tea Party Express, Our Country Deserves Better Committee is headed up by a guy named "The Honorable" Howard Kaloogian (Republican-California, 1994-2000). (I'm not completely sure why he has "The Honorable" in front of his name.)

Yea, Kaloogian (feel free to pronounce it 'hooligan,' I don't mind) is the same guy who apparently doesn't know the difference between

Iraq and Turkey.

Yea, and Dick Armey is involved too, as his Freedom Works was a major sponsor of the 9/12 million moran march. The PAC Our Country Deserves better was also a sponsor.

Beyerstein reports that BusBank and Global Limo settled a lawsuit stemming from the 2005 immolation of the 23 senior citizens for around $11 million, and filed for bankruptcy last month. But apparently there is more to come with this story.